Art and Religion

Menahem Alexenberg brings an interesting discussion of art and religion.

Christian theologian Thorlief Boman in his seminal book, Hebrew Thought Compared with Greek, points out that in contrast to Hellenism that can separate a person from his actions, the Hebraic mind makes no such separation. In English, as in Greek, it is possible to make distinctions that are not available in Hebrew. For instance: “I am lecturing” is ani martzeh; “I lecture” is also ani martzeh; and “I am a lecturer” is again ani martzeh. Action, act, and actor are integrally one. A person is defined by what he does. A Jew should not separate an evil man from his aesthetic products.

Hanukkah was not a fight against the aesthetic values of Greece, but rather about their primacy and divorce from morality. Judaism honors art when it is preceded by righteousness. The Hebrew word for Greece, yavan, is spelled yod, vav, nun. Adding the letter tzadi before yavan transforms it into tzion, Zion. The letter tzadi represents the tzadik, a righteous person. Art must be united with righteousness in Judaism. The shadow side of the creative process is acknowledged in the Bible.