Between Jewelry and Magic:
Jewish Amulets in the Lands of Islam

Jewelry has been always a highly esteemed craft in Islamic societies, attracting attention to its beauty, elaborate designs, and intricate artistry. The function of jewelry, however, often goes beyond aesthetic adornment or even a status and wealth symbol. Jewelry often served amuletic purposes, believed to protect their wearers. In the lecture, we will examine some typical precious Jewish amulets, created among the communities of Iran, Kurdistan, Iraq, and North Africa. We will try to understand the basic visual and textual components of these amulets, and how central motifs such as the fish and the hamsa were totally "Judaized" in the process.

"You Don't Look Moroccan"
  The Cultural Image of the Jews of Morocco in the Land of Milk and Honey

The lecture will examine the immigration of Moroccan Jewry and its impact on and reflection in Israeli culture till around the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Using ephemeral materials and folk visual items, we will try to understand the negative image the new immigrants, expressed in various media of the time. A pioneering cultural attempt on a grand scale to change the pejorative characterization has been the impressive exhibition on Moroccan Jewry at the Israel Museum in 1973 - the first significant "ethnic display" in Israel, which will be examined in detail. 

 Shalom Sabar

Jewish Art and Folklore, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
(PhD. in Art History, University of California Los Angeles )

Shalom Sabar lectures widely across Europe and the United States on Jewish and folk material culture, objects associated with the cycles of life and of the year, and ritual and custom in the Jewish communities in Europe and in Islamic Iands. He is also interested in the culture of Italian Jews and the Sephardic diaspora in Europe, the cultural and artistic interrelationships between the Jewish communities and their Christian and Muslim neighbors, and the image of the Jew and Hebrew writing in art. 

Prof. Sabar lectures in the Departments of Jewish and Comparative Folklore and Art History. His areas of research include Jewish Art and Folk Art, material culture and ephemera, objects associated with the cycles of life and of the year, ritual and custom in the Jewish communities in Europe and in Islamic Iands, with especial emphasis on the culture of Italian Jews and the Sephardic diaspora in Europe, the cultural and artistic inter-relationships between the Jewish communities and their Christian and Muslim neighbors, and the image of the Jew and Hebrew writing in art. He has published over 200 books and articles in these fields. At the same time, he collects Jewish art objects and Israeli ephemera and lectures and guides tours to Jewish sites in Europe, North Africa, India and Central Asia.

Books by Shalom Sabar include
A Crown for a King: Studies in Jewish Art, History & Archaeology
The Sarajevo Haggadah History and Art







Shalom Sabar's book on the art of the Ketubbah was published by Rizzoli and The Israel Museum. He discusses the art of illumination of of the Ketubbah as Jewish folk art. He includes ketubbot from the Middle East and Europe with special attention to Italy.  

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