{"id":3743,"date":"2001-12-25T20:20:47","date_gmt":"2001-12-26T03:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/?p=3743"},"modified":"2018-02-28T11:51:25","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T19:51:25","slug":"christmas-in-paris-the-jewish-quarter-of-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/2001\/12\/25\/christmas-in-paris-the-jewish-quarter-of-course\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas in Paris: The Jewish quarter, of course!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

“And so this is Christmas.” We got a late start on purpose – we figure the Jewish quarter may be open, so we're heading there. I finished South<\/span> and started Brunelleshi's Dome<\/a> by Ross King.<\/p>\n

We walked by the old synagogue – we didn't go in because the doors were closed and people were going in and out on business.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Synagogue<\/a>

Synagogue in Paris<\/p><\/div>\n

We ate lunch at Chez Jo Goldenberg. Aviva had gefilta fish and stuffed grape leaves; I had turkey escalopes “viennise” style. The food was really good and a nice change from provincial French cooking. And, it was open for lunch on Christmas…<\/p>\n

\n

\"Front<\/a>

Front of business card for Jo Goldenberg Delicatessen<\/p><\/div>\n

We then walked over to the Mus\u00c3\u00a9e D'Art et D'Histoire Du Juda\u00c3\u00afsme. The exhibits were fun and interesting, including a special exhibit on the wandering Jew in art. The quarter was pretty lively and open, even though it was Christmas.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Ticket<\/a>

Ticket for entry to the Mus\u00c3\u00a9e d'Art et d'Histoire du Juda\u00c3\u00afsme: a Contrat de Mariage (catuba) from Mod\u00c3\u00a8ne, Italy<\/p><\/div>\n

Their special exhibit was on “The Wandering Jew” – here is the main part of the pamphlet on the exhibit:<\/p>\n

\n

\n

\"Chronica<\/a>

Chronica Majora<\/p><\/div>\n

The legend of the Wandering Jew took shape in Benedictine monasteries in England in the 13 Ih century, where chroniclers and illuminators sought to enrich the corpus of anecdotes concerning the life of Christ. Drawing on oral tradition and a variety of writings, they described a figure who witnessed the Passion and, having offended Christ, was condemned to restlessness until the end of time. The first stories attesting to this legend, Roger de We ndover's Flores Historianum chronicles (1 228) and Matthew Paris's Chronica majora @l 235) were copied throughout Europe. Although the most ancient visual depictions of the Wandering Jew date back to the 1 2 Ih century, the most explicit images, those of the Wandering Jew's meeting with Christ, figure in Matthew Paris's manuscript and in the psalter illuminated by William de Brailes in 1 240. There are also representations of the Bearing of the Cross and the Crucifixion in which a figure holding a walking staff can be interpreted as a Wandering Jew, for instance in Martin Schongauer's engraving Christ Carrying the Cross (1 475-80).<\/p>\n

\n

\"Image<\/a>

Image Of The Wandering Jew<\/p><\/div>\n

From the 13th to the 17th century, the legend evolved. The Wandering Jew, now called Ahasver, “eternally” walked the roads of Europe. The development of chapbooks helped the story's dissemination. A popular chapbook entitled Kurtze Beschreibung und Erzehlung von einem Juden mit Namen Ahasverus, published in Germany in 1 602, was immediately translated all over Europe. The tale was published in France \u00c2\u00b7 under the title Courte Description et Histoire d'un Juif nomm6 Ahasv6rus (1605) and taken up again in the form of a lament with numerous variations, the most famous being the Complainte brabangonne (circa 1800), in which the Wandering Jew was renamed Isaac Laquedem. It was the fantastic aspect of the character and story which then dominated: passing through the great towns, Ahasver told his tale, in which he gave his account of Christ's Passion, to call for the defence of religion and repentance. He also gave his account of the history of the world, spoke every language and predicted the future. He bore witness to the inexorable passing of time, was frightening sometimes, but above all fascinated and aroused sympathy.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Le<\/a>

Le Juif Errant Epinal<\/p><\/div>\n

In the 18th century, technical advances transformed printing from craft to industry and print runs of engravings attained astronomical numbers. Popular prints, inspired by the scholarly print and frequently republished, were hawked in the towns but above all in the country. In France, the image of the Wandering Jew, usually framed by the text of the Complainte brabangonne, spread throughout the land. In the early 18lh century, the Pellerin works at Epinal dominated the popular print market.<\/p>\n

There was a marked evolution in the image, both in its composition and in the message it conveyed. In the second half of the 19th century, portraits of the Wandering Jew, both commonplace and radicalised, gave an increasingly negative and discriminatory vision of the wonderful walker. Some were even marked by virulent Antisemitism. Advertising made its own use of the figure, turning him into a symbol of the virtues of longevity and endurance.<\/p>\n

\"Le<\/a>

Le Juif Errant Paris<\/p><\/div>\n

Romanticism imposed a culturally, politically and socially significant itinerary on the figure of the Wandering Jew. The legend first entered the domain of romantic literature in Germany, in the poems of Goethe and Schubart, who inspired in particular the painters Kaulb'ach and Caspar David Friedrich. Although this did not emancipate him from the Christian vision of the legend,
\nAhasver's fate rendered him worthy of the Romantic pantheon, who regarded him as a solitary, tragic hero, plunged into terrible, pathetic solitude.<\/p>\n

In France, the influence of German Romanticism was felt by poets and writers such as Bbranger and Edgar Quinet and, following them, by artists such as Ary Scheffer and Marie d'Orl&ans. Yet it was above all Eugene Sue's novel Le Juif errant (1844-1845), which renewed and popularised this figure, turning him into a champion of the fight for social justice. The Wandering Jew became a metaphor of the people and his story a vehicle for contemporary ideological movements such as Antijesuitism and Utopian socialism. Later, partisans of republican secularism transformed Eugene Sue's Wandering Jew into a symbol of humanity's onward march and social progress.<\/p>\n

\n

\"La<\/a>

La Legende Du Juif Errant<\/p><\/div>\n

In the second half of the 19th century, artists began to take an interest in the legendary figure of the Wandering Jew, interpreting him in diverse ways. Some, such as Courbet, identified with him, conceiving the artist's role in society on the one hand as passer-by, observer and witness and on the other as a man committed to the causes of his time. Like B6ranger and Eug6ne Sue, they saw the Wandering Jew as an allegory for the fight for justice, freedom and solidarity.<\/p>\n

The Wandering Jew's notoriety was also manifest in the theatre (Caigniez, Merville and Mallian, Sue) and on the operatic stage (Fromental Hal6vy composed a popular opera with a libretto by Eugene Scribe).<\/p>\n

Gustave Dore, moved by Bdranger's song of the Wandering Jew – for which his brother Ernest Dor6 composed a music – and by the poem by Pierre Dupont, executed twelve engravings which made a profound and enduring mark on the aesthetics and perception of the figure. Among other artists interested in the Wandering Jew were Gustave Moreau and his pupils Adrien Gilles and Georges Rouault.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Le<\/a>

Le Juif Errant Riviere<\/p><\/div>\n

The subject of the Wandering Jew also interested less wellmeaning individuals of learning and artists steeped in an Antisemitism often rooted in militant Catholicism. The criminalization of the phenomenon of the wanderer was associated with the racism emerging in pseudo-scientific formulations, notably in the world of psychiatry. Henry Meige, following his teacher, Charcot, elaborated on the case of those he called “wandering neuropaths”, whom he saw as descendents of Cartophilus, the Wandering Jew. From then on, the Jews were considered asocial pariahs of pathological instability, incapable of putting down roots in their host society.<\/p>\n

Late 18th century Antisemitism violently threw into question the Jews' presence in society and their status as citizens. It used and combined several negative images of the Jew, including the Wandering Jew. But in antisemitic figurative rhetoric, particularly that of the antidreyfusards, references to the Wandering Jew are made only indirectly, through allusions (the stick or umbrella, or the business purse or wallet).<\/p>\n

\n

\"The<\/a>

The Jewish Rider<\/p><\/div>\n

The subject of the Wandering Jew also interested less wellmeaning individuals of learning and artists steeped in an Antisemitism often rooted in militant Catholicism. The criminalization of the phenomenon of the wanderer was associated with the racism emerging in pseudo-scientific formulations, notably in the world of psychiatry. Henry Meige, following his teacher, Charcot, elaborated on the case of those he called “wandering neuropaths”, whom he saw as descendents of Cartophilus, the Wandering Jew. From then on, the Jews were considered asocial pariahs of pathological instability, incapable of putting down roots in their host society.<\/p>\n

Late 18th century Antisemitism violently threw into question the Jews' presence in society and their status as citizens. It used and combined several negative images of the Jew, including the Wandering Jew. But in antisemitic figurative rhetoric, particularly that of the antidreyfusards, references to the Wandering Jew are made only indirectly, through allusions (the stick or umbrella, or the business purse or wallet).<\/p>\n

Complementing the exhibition, a series of written, graphic and musical documents are on exhibit in the Media Library.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dinner is at Chez Vous, a Chiness restaurant (there's one in New York City), which is located among tawdry sex shops surrounded by large department stores near the Arc de Triumph. The food was excellent.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Front<\/a>

Front of business card for Chez Vong<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\nTranslate<\/span><\/a>\"\"\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“And so this is Christmas.” We got a late start on purpose – we figure the Jewish quarter may be open, so we're heading there. I finished South and started Brunelleshi's Dome by Ross King. We walked by the old synagogue – we didn't go in because the doors were closed and people were going […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[732],"class_list":["post-3743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal","tag-paris-2001"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2w3Qj-Yn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3743"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179240,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions\/179240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alephnaught.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}