The Jewish Press
Schatz’s Gambit
By Richard McBee
Boris Schatz (1866 – 1932) had a revolutionary vision. He believed that
the creation of a new modern Jewish visual culture would become a major
force to both articulate a Jewish national identity and sustain the
Zionist enterprise. In 1904 he approached Zionist leader Theodor Herzl
with the proposal to establish a national arts and crafts school in
Palestine and got his blessing. Tragically Herzl died later that year,
but the Zionist leadership in Vienna assumed responsibility for the
project and its funding. In 1906 Schatz arrived in Palestine with two
teachers and two students and set about to create not only a national
school that would inspire the new Jewish identity, but also help sustain
the fledgling pioneers by promoting tourism and creating an export
commodity – Jewish craft. His heroic vision is expertly explicated for
us by curator David Wachtel at the current exhibition at the Bernard
Museum of Judaica at Temple Emanu-El.
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