tales from the geniza: Mrs. Harry goldman

2006

“UNCOMMON OBJECTS” EXHIBITION • HARBOURFRONT GALLERY • TORONTO ONTARIO

A geniza is a temporary repository for religious items that are too worn to meet ritual standards, but are still holy because they contain the name of God. They are stored in the geniza while awaiting burial in a gravesite in consecrated ground. The most celebrated geniza is the one in Cairo which, from the tenth century on, housed many items that did not belong there for religious reasons, but which community officials wished to keep. Fortunately those objects never made it to burial, and have provided invaluable insights into cultural history. Similarly, at Sham Gar the central geniza in Jerusalem, I found many objects with outside geniza criteria placed there because they contained a blessing with God’s name in the border; for example, a set of report cards of an undistinguished group of students, or printer’s proofs of a dentist’s business cards.

I am working with pieces borrowed from the San Francisco geniza, in addition to the one in Jerusalem. These pieces are “borrowed” in the spirit of the “ready-mades” exhibited by Dada artist Marcel Duchamp. Like Duchamp, I am placing, arranging and examining them in a context different from their accustomed use. After they are exhibited I will send them on their halachic way.

These pieces create an imaginary social history through juxtaposition of objects and stories. Such is the following story of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Goldman:

Although the provenance of most geniza objects is not known, this group is clearly identified. Harry Goldman died in 1936 at age 72 when he was unable to get out of his house during a fire that started when he was trying to surprise his wife with dinner. Mrs. Goldman arrived home just after the fire crew put out the flames in the entrance and were searching for Harry. As she followed them into the house, she grabbed his water-soaked tallit (prayer shawl) bag on the hall table and clutched it throughout the tragically unfolding ordeal.

On Harry’s first yahrzeit (anniversary of death) Mrs. Goldman presented the congregation with a Torah mantle. It was only after this well-used cover was retired to the geniza that the full extent of the gift was revealed: Mrs. Goldman, a member of the local Pomegranate Guild, had obsessively embellished the tallit’s water stains, embroidered a very personal message to Harry, created a hidden pocket out of the tallit bag, and sewn it into the lining of the mantIe. This way Harry could continue to be in regular attendance at the services he so loved.