Welcome to the Home Work page for JHist '11. Every Monday and Tuesday (or sometimes Wednesday) I'll post some artifact and look for your great questions.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
HW 10/18
The Volozhin Yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and inspired by the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna. Your questions are due Monday at 11:59pm.
If this is a Yeshiva, where are the proud Jewish markings such as a Jewish star? Were they living in an area that would frown upon advertising that this was a place of study and worship? Is the photographer trying to show us how secretive this ordinary building really was?
Was it this typical for a Yeshiva to be this small? If Vilna used to have a Jewish population of over 200,000, than why isn't this Yeshiva of greater size?
I understand that bad things have happened to this yeshiva. For example, Rabbi Berlin deciding to let the Russian Government take control of the building rather than including secular studies into his school. If you look closely at the photo you can see people in the door way, buildings surrounding the yeshiva, and tools for renovations on either sides of the building. Obviously, at one time, this yeshiva was a successful, happy place for jews to learn. Why is it that this photographer chose to show the yeshiva in such a dark light? Why not remember the good things that went on there rather than the bad?
As Talia pointed out there were clearly plans at some point to renovate the building, as evident by the support beams on the sides. We can assume that since when Googled, even recent photos of this Yeshiva show no considerate differences, the photo was not simply taken before the plans were finished, but rather that the plans were never fulfilled.
What would cause the renovation plans to fall through? It is possible that since the curriculum was changed to include Russian class that were taught in Russian that some students and families felt it was going the wrong way and did not feel as obligated to pay for the renovations. It also may be that the Government did not allow such work to be done on a religious school that the Tsar did not respect anyway. Which if either of these could be the reason for the unfinished renovations?
While this structure may not be so impressive by our modern standards, it was probably held in high esteem by the Jews of the nineteenth century. How did this group of Jews who presumably learned all day raise the money for such a building? Did they have wealthy benefactors who built the yeshiva and supported the students/full time learners?
Arguably, the lighting conditions and framing of a photograph can be almost as important as the object/place/person(s) being photographed. With the assumption that the photographer deliberately chose a time of day and an angle at which the lighter hues at the top of the photograph, the bright spot in a specific area of the roof, and the large chunk of sky could be captured, what was his/her intent? Was he/she attempting to use the brightness of the sky as a sort of "halo" around the yeshiva in order to turn an otherwise ordinary building into something distinct/holy or at least partially iconic? Or did he/she perhaps have no such intent and just wanted to take a pretty picture (or possibly wasn't aware of the lighter area at the top, especially given that cameras took much longer to capture/develop a couple hundred years ago)?
"ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם" - The Zohar tells us that also included in this mitzvah is the obligation to build synagogues (as a replacement of the tabernacle). As Ami questioned the reason for the lack of renovations could possibly be attributed to the tzars; but its decades later, the current Russian government would most definitely permit the Jews to renovate it and establish a Jewish community, why haven't they? Is it a lack of benefactors? Surely some wealthy individuals would donate money to rebuild this internationally noted Yeshiva and Synagogue.
When comparing the Yeshiva to notable churches in the area, (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Brest_Kirche.jpg) the Volozhin Yeshiva is notably unimpressive and plain. Today we discussed the Vilna Gaon and his asceticism. By all appearances this Yeshiva is a reflection of the Vilna Gaon’s beliefs. It is plain, modest, and functional; at the surface it is devoid of all personality whatsoever. Obviously, a Yeshiva of this scope would be able to earn money for aesthetic appeal, provided the government allowed. The Volozhin Yeshiva was closed because the government forced the Netziv to meet secular demands he had no time or interest in meeting. Obviously the government was less than supportive of a strictly Jewish Yeshiva. At the end of the day was the modesty of the Yeshiva because it could not earn enough money for extravagance, because the government was oppressive, because a fancy yeshiva is against the Vilna Gaon’s school of thought?
The Volozian yeshiva doesn't look like any yishva ive seen. There are people on the steps and theirs a statue in front of the building. What do they learn in t he yeshiva? Is it what normal yeshiva's learn? The people on the steps look like there gaurding something, what would be worthwhile to gaurd. How come theirs a statue in front? isn't that a prohibition to the torah since it says your not allowed to worship idols. Who does the statue represent? and why was she he made into a statue?
It's very interesting how much the style of this place of worship differs from that of the Bal Shem Tov. The Chassid's building had much more flair to it's design(such as the structure of the roof, and jewish stars), as opposed to Volohzin's which is very uniform and plain. Was this an attempt by Volohzin to show his disdain for the chassidic style of worship, which often did not follow the exact letter of the law (and also contained copious amounts of 'flair'), by building his yeshiva and synagouge so boringly, for lack of a better word? - Joey Rubinstein
“At the end of the day was the modesty of the Yeshiva because it could not earn enough money for extravagance, because the government was oppressive, because a fancy yeshiva is against the Vilna Gaon’s school of thought?”(The school of thought being “plain, modest, and functional; at the surface it is devoid of all personality whatsoever”), Joey Eleff states, yet he leaves out a critical piece of the puzzle; some people like to be realistic. While a Jewish star on the outside might induce some “flair” and still be within the parameters of plain, modest and functional, in the big scheme of things it doesn’t matter. The point of the yeshiva is to learn; therefore, anything that’s not helping with the goal of learning is a waste of time and money.
Additionally, tying in with the theme of icons, maybe Rabbi Chaim Volozhin wanted the building to be an icon, a sign for what they believe in, of a furthering of torah. This knowledge gets imparted within the building, and by having a bare façade they are showing their focus is knowledge, as opposed to either expressing political opinions, making Judaism seem attractive, etc.
The archetectural detailing on the Yeshivah itself is quite dazzling. The white outlining and collumns of this masterfully crafted Yeshivah shows how artful they were. The whiteness of this building signifies holiness and elegance. What was the impetus for making the Yeshivah this way? In addition, Belarus was also named "White Russia." Does the architecture and design of the Yeshivah have to do with what the Jews were surrounded by? -Aaron Zuckerman
The yeshiva seems to be in the middle of the town, near all the rest of the buildings. There is another building directly to the right and the corner of another is in the top left. Also, the yeshiva itself has windows open and shows no signs of defense mechanisms. What does this openness of and about the yeshiva say about the relationship the jews had with the neighborhood? was this the outcome of the jews living separately from the non-jews, and for this reason the jews didn't worry about the threat of anti-Semitic attacks? Or was it because there was a good relationship between the jews and their host people in the area of Volozhin?
While a picture may say a thousand words, what happens to the picture adds another couple hundred. Look at the picture itself. The actual physical picture. the picture is worn, crinkled in the top left corner. A slice is in the bottom right. scratches pepper the roof and the picture has yellowed with age. Who owned this picture? Why did the owner hold on too it so long? What caused this picture to get so worn? Overall, what did this picture of the Volozhin Yeshiva mean to the owner?
How do we know that this was built in the first place to be a Yeshiva? I think that maybe this could have been a broken down building in the past, and now sense the jewish population is growing so widely, as Rose said, they decided to buy this big building and renovate it to create a new Yeshiva. Though, even if we are looking at this picture from a positive side, there is still one question: Why haven't they renovated it yet? What's stopping them? Lastly, how does this picture look to you? A broken down Yeshiva, or a broken down building soon to be renovated into a beautiful place for Jews to learn?
The Volozhin Yeshiva was considered the most important institution in Eastern Europe. This Yeshiva attracted many people from all over and people were learning in it 24 hours a day. People were in his yeshiva and it was always packed. Why didn't Ḥayim ben Yitsḥak, the founder of the yeshiva, Expand his Yeshiva to a larger facility if their were so many people as we can see from the Picture that people were standing outside the yeshiva? Why didn't he build his yeshiva in a more respectable nice looking place for God?
is that yeshiva still around? and if it is, has it been kept in the same condition as it was in at the time of this picture, or has it been made into a museum? in the picture there is no date so i am assuming it was taken a long time ago and the yeshiva may look different now. -david reiz
In this picture we see a building, a yeshiva. We can only see the outside, we see how it looks where it was but, the picture can not show us whats inside. We don't know what it was like during that time on the inside. The picture doesn't show us how important this yeshiva was to the Jewish people living during that time. What was it like inside of the yeshiva? Were there a lot of dedicated jewish people learning and teaching in it all the time or was it just a building that was called a yeshiva but not taught or learnt in?
The Volozhin Yeshiva, founded by Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and inspired by the teachings of the Gaon of Vilna. Your questions are due Monday at 11:59pm.
If this is a Yeshiva, where are the proud Jewish markings such as a Jewish star? Were they living in an area that would frown upon advertising that this was a place of study and worship? Is the photographer trying to show us how secretive this ordinary building really was?
ReplyDeleteWas it this typical for a Yeshiva to be this small? If Vilna used to have a Jewish population of over 200,000, than why isn't this Yeshiva of greater size?
ReplyDelete-Rose L
I understand that bad things have happened to this yeshiva. For example, Rabbi Berlin deciding to let the Russian Government take control of the building rather than including secular studies into his school.
ReplyDeleteIf you look closely at the photo you can see people in the door way, buildings surrounding the yeshiva, and tools for renovations on either sides of the building. Obviously, at one time, this yeshiva was a successful, happy place for jews to learn.
Why is it that this photographer chose to show the yeshiva in such a dark light? Why not remember the good things that went on there rather than the bad?
As Talia pointed out there were clearly plans at some point to renovate the building, as evident by the support beams on the sides. We can assume that since when Googled, even recent photos of this Yeshiva show no considerate differences, the photo was not simply taken before the plans were finished, but rather that the plans were never fulfilled.
ReplyDeleteWhat would cause the renovation plans to fall through? It is possible that since the curriculum was changed to include Russian class that were taught in Russian that some students and families felt it was going the wrong way and did not feel as obligated to pay for the renovations. It also may be that the Government did not allow such work to be done on a religious school that the Tsar did not respect anyway. Which if either of these could be the reason for the unfinished renovations?
While this structure may not be so impressive by our modern standards, it was probably held in high esteem by the Jews of the nineteenth century. How did this group of Jews who presumably learned all day raise the money for such a building? Did they have wealthy benefactors who built the yeshiva and supported the students/full time learners?
ReplyDeleteArguably, the lighting conditions and framing of a photograph can be almost as important as the object/place/person(s) being photographed. With the assumption that the photographer deliberately chose a time of day and an angle at which the lighter hues at the top of the photograph, the bright spot in a specific area of the roof, and the large chunk of sky could be captured, what was his/her intent? Was he/she attempting to use the brightness of the sky as a sort of "halo" around the yeshiva in order to turn an otherwise ordinary building into something distinct/holy or at least partially iconic? Or did he/she perhaps have no such intent and just wanted to take a pretty picture (or possibly wasn't aware of the lighter area at the top, especially given that cameras took much longer to capture/develop a couple hundred years ago)?
ReplyDelete"ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם" - The Zohar tells us that also included in this mitzvah is the obligation to build synagogues (as a replacement of the tabernacle). As Ami questioned the reason for the lack of renovations could possibly be attributed to the tzars; but its decades later, the current Russian government would most definitely permit the Jews to renovate it and establish a Jewish community, why haven't they? Is it a lack of benefactors? Surely some wealthy individuals would donate money to rebuild this internationally noted Yeshiva and Synagogue.
ReplyDeleteWhen comparing the Yeshiva to notable churches in the area, (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Brest_Kirche.jpg) the Volozhin Yeshiva is notably unimpressive and plain. Today we discussed the Vilna Gaon and his asceticism. By all appearances this Yeshiva is a reflection of the Vilna Gaon’s beliefs. It is plain, modest, and functional; at the surface it is devoid of all personality whatsoever. Obviously, a Yeshiva of this scope would be able to earn money for aesthetic appeal, provided the government allowed. The Volozhin Yeshiva was closed because the government forced the Netziv to meet secular demands he had no time or interest in meeting. Obviously the government was less than supportive of a strictly Jewish Yeshiva. At the end of the day was the modesty of the Yeshiva because it could not earn enough money for extravagance, because the government was oppressive, because a fancy yeshiva is against the Vilna Gaon’s school of thought?
ReplyDeleteThe Volozian yeshiva doesn't look like any yishva ive seen. There are people on the steps and theirs a statue in front of the building. What do they learn in t he yeshiva? Is it what normal yeshiva's learn? The people on the steps look like there gaurding something, what would be worthwhile to gaurd. How come theirs a statue in front? isn't that a prohibition to the torah since it says your not allowed to worship idols. Who does the statue represent? and why was she he made into a statue?
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting how much the style of this place of worship differs from that of the Bal Shem Tov. The Chassid's building had much more flair to it's design(such as the structure of the roof, and jewish stars), as opposed to Volohzin's which is very uniform and plain. Was this an attempt by Volohzin to show his disdain for the chassidic style of worship, which often did not follow the exact letter of the law (and also contained copious amounts of 'flair'), by building his yeshiva and synagouge so boringly, for lack of a better word? - Joey Rubinstein
ReplyDelete“At the end of the day was the modesty of the Yeshiva because it could not earn enough money for extravagance, because the government was oppressive, because a fancy yeshiva is against the Vilna Gaon’s school of thought?”(The school of thought being “plain, modest, and functional; at the surface it is devoid of all personality whatsoever”), Joey Eleff states, yet he leaves out a critical piece of the puzzle; some people like to be realistic. While a Jewish star on the outside might induce some “flair” and still be within the parameters of plain, modest and functional, in the big scheme of things it doesn’t matter. The point of the yeshiva is to learn; therefore, anything that’s not helping with the goal of learning is a waste of time and money.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, tying in with the theme of icons, maybe Rabbi Chaim Volozhin wanted the building to be an icon, a sign for what they believe in, of a furthering of torah. This knowledge gets imparted within the building, and by having a bare façade they are showing their focus is knowledge, as opposed to either expressing political opinions, making Judaism seem attractive, etc.
The archetectural detailing on the Yeshivah itself is quite dazzling. The white outlining and collumns of this masterfully crafted Yeshivah shows how artful they were. The whiteness of this building signifies holiness and elegance. What was the impetus for making the Yeshivah this way? In addition, Belarus was also named "White Russia." Does the architecture and design of the Yeshivah have to do with what the Jews were surrounded by?
ReplyDelete-Aaron Zuckerman
The yeshiva seems to be in the middle of the town, near all the rest of the buildings. There is another building directly to the right and the corner of another is in the top left. Also, the yeshiva itself has windows open and shows no signs of defense mechanisms. What does this openness of and about the yeshiva say about the relationship the jews had with the neighborhood? was this the outcome of the jews living separately from the non-jews, and for this reason the jews didn't worry about the threat of anti-Semitic attacks? Or was it because there was a good relationship between the jews and their host people in the area of Volozhin?
ReplyDeleteTani
While a picture may say a thousand words, what happens to the picture adds another couple hundred. Look at the picture itself. The actual physical picture. the picture is worn, crinkled in the top left corner. A slice is in the bottom right. scratches pepper the roof and the picture has yellowed with age. Who owned this picture? Why did the owner hold on too it so long? What caused this picture to get so worn? Overall, what did this picture of the Volozhin Yeshiva mean to the owner?
ReplyDeleteHow do we know that this was built in the first place to be a Yeshiva? I think that maybe this could have been a broken down building in the past, and now sense the jewish population is growing so widely, as Rose said, they decided to buy this big building and renovate it to create a new Yeshiva. Though, even if we are looking at this picture from a positive side, there is still one question: Why haven't they renovated it yet? What's stopping them? Lastly, how does this picture look to you? A broken down Yeshiva, or a broken down building soon to be renovated into a beautiful place for Jews to learn?
ReplyDeleteThe Volozhin Yeshiva was considered the most important institution in Eastern Europe. This Yeshiva attracted many people from all over and people were learning in it 24 hours a day. People were in his yeshiva and it was always packed. Why didn't Ḥayim ben Yitsḥak, the founder of the yeshiva, Expand his Yeshiva to a larger facility if their were so many people as we can see from the Picture that people were standing outside the yeshiva? Why didn't he build his yeshiva in a more respectable nice looking place for God?
ReplyDeleteZeke
is that yeshiva still around? and if it is, has it been kept in the same condition as it was in at the time of this picture, or has it been made into a museum? in the picture there is no date so i am assuming it was taken a long time ago and the yeshiva may look different now.
ReplyDelete-david reiz
In this picture we see a building, a yeshiva. We can only see the outside, we see how it looks where it was but, the picture can not show us whats inside. We don't know what it was like during that time on the inside. The picture doesn't show us how important this yeshiva was to the Jewish people living during that time. What was it like inside of the yeshiva? Were there a lot of dedicated jewish people learning and teaching in it all the time or was it just a building that was called a yeshiva but not taught or learnt in?
ReplyDelete