The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational: Tzedakah Box
April 9–May 17, 2015
Exhibition Text
INTRODUCTION
For The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational: Tzedakah Box, thirty-eight West Coast artists have
created unique interpretations of the traditional Jewish alms container that explore many
facets of the Jewish charitable commitment. Since its inception over thirty years ago, the
Invitational has provided an opportunity for The Contemporary Jewish Museum to invite
diverse local, national, and international artists to connect with Jewish culture, history, and
ideas through interpreting a Jewish ritual object.
Obligation is a word with gravitas. Tzedakah (Hebrew for “righteousness”) refers to the
Jewish obligation to give to the poor. Unlike other forms of giving, it is not a choice, but a
requirement of every member of a community. The tzedakah box is a receptacle for this
support, a reminder of this obligation and the subject of The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational:
Tzedakah Box. These tzedakah boxes exist between concept and functional object, ritual and
material culture, art and craft. However, their form is ultimately indebted to the varied
interpretations of the artists. All but two of the boxes are functional or refer to functionality,
with a vessel into which one can physically deposit money, whether through a slot, a hinged
opening, or a lid. Gale Antokal and Matthew Gottschalk incorporate hands that infer the
agency taken in the act of giving and receiving. Several works refer to other real world
objects very literally: in the shape of a house (Tony Berlant, Nancy Selvin, Rick Araluce); a
tin hospital (Harriet Estel Berman); or repurposing or replicating actual objects (Richard
Shaw, Yvonne Escalante, and Mildred Howard). These references and re-creations maintain
a tightness grounded in representation while other boxes embrace a gestural quality such as
Rebekah Goldstein’s Casual Separates (Box), and Maha Saab’s Geneva.
As The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational excavates the meanings encompassed by the tzedakah
box while supporting artists, the conversations it engenders both sustain and broaden the
communities of which The Museum is a part. As these dialogues reach outwards the new
perspectives they bring allow these legacies to evolve from obligation, to a debt of gratitude.
HISTORY OF THE TZEDAKAH BOX
In the First Temple in Jerusalem, built by King Solomon in the tenth century BCE, the
Lishkat Chashaim (Hebrew for “Chamber of Silence”) was a room where anonymous
donations could be left for the poor. After the destruction of the Second Temple by the
Romans in 70 CE, the Jews were dispersed around the world, and local synagogues replaced
the Lishkat Chashaim with a tzedakah box, either affixed to the wall or passed around during
services.
In the nineteenth century, tzedakah boxes were introduced into the home and Jewish
religious schools by organizations that provided their own boxes. Traditionally, a few
pennies were placed in the tzedakah box just before the start of the Sabbath each week, and
on other holidays. Often children were encouraged to drop a few pennies into the box as a
way of learning about the obligation of tzedakah.
In the early twentieth century, tzedakah boxes began to be mass-produced out of tin, and
thus took on a very different appearance. The well-known Blue Box was distributed by the
Jewish National Fund to raise money for the establishment of the state of Israel. It was also
customary to repurpose empty containers from household goods as tzedakah boxes. While it
is not required for tzedakah boxes to be formal or ornate, those that are decorated take part
in hidur mitzvah––the beautification of a mitzvah (Hebrew for “commandment”).
Golden Ladder
In his twelfth century Mishneh Torah, a compilation of the oral interpretative tradition,
Rabbi Moses Maimonides established a Golden Ladder of Charity with the need to maintain
the dignity of the receiver determining the hierarchy. Of the eight levels of giving, the
highest was offering a loan to or entering into a partnership with the needy as a means of
promoting self-sufficiency. The second highest rung on the Golden Ladder is giving
anonymously, where neither the giver nor receiver knows each other's identity. The Torah
and subsequent literature contain many stories of individuals who took great pains to ensure
that the receiver of charity was spared the embarrassment of coming face to face with the
donor. The eight levels of giving are as follows:
1
2
3
4
5
Giving begrudgingly
Giving less than you should, but giving it cheerfully.
Giving after being asked
Giving before being asked
Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your
identity
6 Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient doesn't know your
identity
7 Giving when neither party knows the other's identity
8 Enabling the recipient to become self-relianti
AUCTION INFO
The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational: Tzedakah Box is, as in past iterations, a fundraiser for The
Contemporary Jewish Museum. All tzedakah boxes on view here are available for purchase
through an online auction culminating at The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational Celebration on
May 12, 2015. Proceeds from sales of the works of art directly benefit The CJM and
participating artists.
Learn more about how to bid on these works of art, register to bid, and see details about
each item at thecjm.org/tzedakah.
Bidding concludes on May 12 at The 2015 Dorothy Saxe Invitational Celebration. This event
is open to the public; please visit the Shenson Welcome Center or call 415.655.7828 for
details.
Object Checklist
Gale Antokal
U’natanu (and they gave), 2015
Graphite, latex, “F” style quart solvent can
101
Translation of Hebrew text: “And they gave”
Anzfer Farms
Untitled, 2014
Old-growth redwood, paint, neon plexiglass
102
Rick Araluce
The Giving Place, 2014
Wood, enamel, mixed media
103
John Bankston
GIVE: Building Block for Independence, 2015
Metal, wood, magic sculpt, acrylic, glitter
104
Tony Berlant
The Light That Never Fails, 2013
Found and fabricated printed tin, plywood, steel brads
105
Terry Berlier
Variation on Soma Cube: Empty Center, 2015
Walnut, maple, cherry, ash, red oak, ipe, basswood
106
Harriete Estel Berman
Donate Life, 2014
Recycled tin cans, sterling silver, plexiglass, paint
107
Mark Bulwinkle
Mark’s Wailing Wall Tzedakah, 2014
Clay, wood, coins, two dollar bill, ink
108
Randy Colosky
Tzedakah Box, 2015
Engineered ceramic honeycomb
109
Julia Couzens
Bundle Box, 2015
Wire, cardboard, potholder, canvas, acrylic, shelf liner, twine, fabric
110
Yvonne Escalante
Your Turn, 2015
Brass, resin, acrylic sheet, felt, and found objects
111
Bella Feldman
Bella Feldman Tzedakah Box, 2014
Fabricated steel
112
Amy Franceschini
Flatbread Society Seed Archive: Vavilov Collection: Rye, 2015
Glass, canvas, pencil, linen string, rye seeds, ink on paper
113
Erik Geschke
Slough, 2015
Basswood
114
Rebekah Goldstein
Casual Separates (Box), 2015
Ceramic, oil, acrylic paint
115
Matthew Gottschalk
Lifted, 2015
Carved basswood, acrylic paint
116
Johanna Grawunder
Tzedakah City, 2015
Colored acrylic, Velcro
117
Beth Grossman
Providence, 2015
Glass, walnut, brass, gold paint
118
Trisha Hassler
She Sat Down Beside Me And Began Her Story, 2014
Mixed media
119
Dana Hemenway
Untitled (object mount 6–circle with legs), 2015
Urethane, plaster base
120
Mildred Howard
Safe in your hands, 2015
Plaster (to be cast in bronze upon request of buyer), vintage safe deposit box
121
Stephen Kaltenbach
Eternal, 2014
Steel
122
Steve Klein
If not now, when?, 2015
Kilnformed, cold worked, and blown glass
123
Translation of Hebrew text: “If not now, when?”
Lisa Kokin
Dark Money, 2015
Thread, wire, shredded US currency
124
Deborah Lozier
Tzedakah Chatelaine, 2015
Wood, metal, enamel, thread, found objects, encaustic on mulberry paper, plant material
125
Cybele Lyle
(de)(re)construct(ion)(ing), 2015
Acrylic, paint, screen print
126
Liz Mamorsky
TzedakahBot, 2014
Reclaimed wooden objects, computer parts, copper coils, metal spoon, hamsa, googly eyes,
casters
127
Andy Paiko
Maimonides’ 206th Mitzvah, 2015
Blown, sculpted, etched, and lacquered glass
128
Translation of Hebrew text: “Whatever I want for myself, I want the same for the other.”
Leah Rosenberg
Everyday, a color., 2015
Colored paper, plexiglass, mirror, custom pencil
129
Maha Saab
Geneva, 2015
Paint, wood
130
Zachary Royer Scholz
Untitled (46.251015), 2015
Joint compound, expanded polystyrene
131
Kay Sekimachi
Tzedakahbako, 2015
Kiriwood paper lined with Japanese paper, red thread, red wood beads
132
Nancy Selvin
Tzedek, 2015
Etched glass, shredded US currency, steel stand (stand pictured: included with sale)
The artist thanks Elin Christopherson, Isaak Kaplan, Fred Mork, Arrow Glass, and Jon Hill for their
assistance with this work.
133
Translation of Hebrew text: “Justice, Justice shall you pursue”
Richard Shaw
Pushke 2015, 2015
Glazed and painted porcelain, over-glaze decals
134
Michael Stevens
Hive, 2015
Wood, enamel
135
Paul Taylor
Tzedakah Box, 2015
Cherry, walnut, stainless steel
136
Caroline Thomas
Method Materials, 2015
Stoneware, glaze, pigment print on linen, pigment print on silk
137
Gail Wight
de la montaña a la playa, 2015
Mulberry paper, coastal sand
138
i
Tracy R. Rich, “Tzedakah: Charity,” Judaism 101. jewfaq.org/tzedakah.htm, February 2015