Framing the Sacred: Shrines in European Architecture
International Workshop of The Torah Ark in German Lands Research Project
Bar-Ilan University and Braunschweig University of Technology, 2018

June 19

9:00-9:30 Registration Building 410, room 311

9:30-10:00 Greetings and Opening Remarks:
Eliahu Assis, Dean, Faculty of Jewish Studies, Bar-Ilan University
Ilia Rodov, Workshop Organizer, Bar-Ilan University

10:00-11:30 Session 1. Keynote Lecture
Chairperson: Elisheva Revel-Neher, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Jelena Bogdanović, Iowa State University
Nesting of the Altar Canopy and the Church in the Byzantine-rite Tradition

11:30-12:00 Coffee break

12:00-14:00 Session 2. Sanctity on Display
Chairperson: Katrin Kogman-Appel, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität

Elisheva Revel-Neher, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Unseen Presence, Ever-present Absence: From the Biblical Ark of the Covenant to the Torah Ark

Steven Fine, Yeshiva University
From Torah Chest to Ark of the Master of Heaven: The Earliest History of the Synagogue Torah Shrine

Yeshu Dray, Restoration of Ancient Technology Center, Kinneret Institute for Galilean Archaeology
The Hechalit (Torah Shrine) of Umm el-Qanatir: Orientation Correction?

Maria Stürzebecher, Culture Directorate, City of Erfurt
Disappearance on Display: Torah Arks in German Museums

14:00-15:00 Lunch

15:00-16:30 Session 3. Sanctity and Ritual
Chairperson: Steven Fine,
Yeshiva University

Leor Jacobi, Bar-Ilan University
An Art Historian on the Talmud, Calling the Holy Ark “Arna” and Dangerous Things

Yechiel Goldhaber, Jerusalem
Opposition Override: The Decalogue Tablets on the Torah Ark

Jeffrey Woolf, Bar-Ilan University
Between Aron and Kapporet: The Torah Ark in Halakhah

June 20

9:30-11:30 Session 4. German Torah Shrines in the Middle Ages and Beyond
Chairperson: Jelena Bogdanović, Iowa State University

Simon Paulus, University of Stuttgart and Braunschweig University of Technology
The Torah Ark in the Medieval Synagogue: Structural and Tectonic Characteristics

Annette Weber, University of Heidelberg
The Torah Ark as the Gate of Mercy in the Middle Ages and Beyond

Ilia Rodov, Bar-Ilan University
Mystery Encircled and Enclosed: Pediments of Medieval Ashkenazi Torah Arks

Zvi Orgad, Bar-Ilan University
Paint me... the Ark

11.30-12:00 Coffee Break

12:00-14:00 Session 5. Modern Torah Shrines: Structure and Message
Chairperson: Annette Weber, University of Heidelberg

Sergey Kravtsov, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Domed Torah Arks in Eastern Europe: Breaking Baroque Schemes

Bracha Yaniv, Bar-Ilan University
The Warka Torah Ark: A Test Case of Jewish Iconography

Miriam Grobman, The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, Jerusalem
Triumph of the Torah: Gate-Shaped Synagogue Arks in Belarus

Mirko Przystawik, Braunschweig University of Technology
Aedicula, Ciborium, and Baldachin: Architectural Patterns in Nineteenth-Century Torah Arks

14:00-15:30 Lunch

15:30-17:00 Session 6. Sanctity in Contexts
Chairperson: Bracha Yaniv, Bar-Ilan University

Yoram Meital, Ben-Gurion University
Cairo Synagogues, Past and Present

Vladimir Levin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Sephardi Religious Reform? Synagogues of Izmir and their Prayer Leader's Pulpits

Susan Nashman Fraiman, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Influence and Innovation: Arthur Szyk's Torah Ark

17:00-17:30 Closing Remarks