Art Work on Jewish Heritage Sites

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

In 1993, I took my mother, the artist Shirley Moskowitz, with me on a trip to east-central Europe. I was working on my book Upon the Doorposts of Thy House: Jewish Life in East-Central Europe, Yesterday and Today (Wiley, 1994) and also doing the first updated edition of Jewish Heritage Travel (Wiley 1994).

We went mainly to Slovakia and Poland -- where we met up with my brother, Sam, who was leading a Jewish heritage tour for architecture preservationists.

Mom made many sketches and took many photographs of the Jewish heritage sites that we saw -- mainly ruined synagogues and abandoned cemeteries. She then produced a series of monotype prints from this material. The prints were exhibited several times in Poland -- at the Jewish Culture and Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, and also in Tarnow.

 Old-New Synagogue, Prague I. Monotype by Shirley Moskowitz. (c) Estate of Shirley Moskowitz

I have now posted images of more than a dozen of these monotypes on the web site that we have set up as an expanding online exhibition to honor Mom and make her work known to a wider public.

Click HERE to access them.

Warsaw Jewish Cemetery video

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

Ben Harris, the "Wandering Jew" of JTA, has posted a wonderful little video about the three-year project to document the main Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. The comments of the young people he interviews are moving and apt.

Yu Ai Seafood Noodle at Segambut, Kuala Lumpur

Once we check-in to the hotel, the first thing came to our mind was looking for our lunch!

I was clueless at that moment, just noticed there was a recommended restaurant from the Malfreemaps...it stated "Yu Ai Seafood Noodle (*)" which is has the '*' sign on it, which is less than 1.5km from the hotel...

Yu Ai Restaurant (N3°11.051' E101°40.561')

The Yu Ai Restaurant is located at Jalan Segambut Utara, same roll with RHB Bank Segambut.
The first impression I had...seems like not many customer around and quite. But after I drove pass behind the shop, realise that most of the customers love to sit under the tree at the parking area at the back of the shop! That's make us decided to try it!

I was shocked when I look at the prices initially...That was MYR15.00 each and MYR18.00 for big size! Wah! But...we still placed our order since we already here...

I took the Curry Laksa, my wife ordered the Tomyam type and my mother in-law had the normal soup...

Tomyam type

Curry Laksa type

The Seafood Noodle was Marvelous!! It was FULL of seafood and Tasty! Really 'justify' for the cost they charge! I wish there will be a branches at Johor Bahru, haha!
We were not regret for what we paid for. Satisfied!

The Damages was about MYR50.00 included drinks for 3 person.
Rated : 4.8/5
Worth try if you happen at Segambut area!

The location map of the shop :

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MY TRIPS - Home

Bestotel (Best Hotel) at Kuala Lumpur.

Bestotel (Best Hotel) (N3°10.668' E101°41.173') is located at Jalan Ipoh (town center) of Kuala Lumpur. We stayed at this hotel in one of our recent trip (Sep 2009) to Kuala Lumpur. It's convenience because it's nearby the PWTC and The Mall Shopping Complex.

The outlook is a bit run down if you compare with others hotel around Kuala Lumpur town area. But that's ok for me. We check in around 2pm and it seems like no proper parking area for vehicles. I just parked in front of the main entrance, and became really convenience for us too!

The Reception of the Hotel

We got a room for One Queen bed & One single bed for MYR103.00 per day. I felt it's cheap & reasonable especially it's located in the town area. The standard room only cost MYR83.00 for a day! The rates I mention above it's inclusive of a simple breakfast too!

The restaurant area where we took our breakfast.

The room was clean and tidy, equipped with one 14' colour TV, air-con, hot & cold shower and electric kettle. I'm satisfied with the service and also the hotel environment, it's value for money if you are looking to few nights simple stay.... They don't have the luxuries like 3 star hotel provided.

The Old shops opposite the hotel

I will recommend this hotel to my friends (with family) who just need a stay around KL town area!

Bestotel - City Centre
368, Jalan Ipoh,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel : +603-40431888 Fax: +603-40481888

http://www.bestotel.com

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* Apologies for the poor photos quality from my Nokia phone

MY TRIPS - Home

Germany -- Photos by Julian Voloj

Zeek/The Forward present pictures of German Jewish built heritage, by Julian Voloj. Click HERE

Lithuania -- More on Kalvarija Cemetery Project

More information has been posted about Ralph Salinger's project to record the information on the tombstones in the Jewish cemetery in Kalvarija, Lithuania. You can find it by clicking HERE.

Romania -- My Travel Piece in NYTimes online explore painted monasteries and Jewish cemeteries

The International Herald Tribune and NYTimes online runs my travel piece on the Bucovina region of northern Romania -- in which I write about both the painted monasteries and the Jewish cemeteries. The headline writer and photo caption writer unaccounably attributed everything to Gura Humorului, but that is just one of the places I mention in the story -- chosen as the dateline as it is the hub for two monasteries (Voronet and Humor) as well as the historic Jewish cemetery -- I posted a video of the cemetery in September.

November 7, 2009
Where Art and Faith Embrace in Gura Humorului, Romania
 
By RUTH ELLEN GRUBER

GURA HUMORULUI, ROMANIA — The Bucovina region in the far north of the country, wrote the Romanian scholar Silviu Sanie, is “one of those blessed realms where sacred and secular monuments have enriched the enchanting natural landscape. [...]”

Here are Romania’s famous painted monasteries, built in the 15th and 16th centuries when the region, a stronghold of Orthodox Christianity, was threatened by Ottoman invaders.
The vividly colored frescoes on their exterior walls, masterpieces of Byzantine painting, tell the tales of saints and heroes, and portray in epic imagery the cataclysmic struggle between good and evil at the end of days. [...]



Here, too, however, are religious sites far less known and rarely visited that also form important components of the region’s deeply rooted spiritual patrimony. These are the centuries-old Jewish cemeteries, whose weathered tombstones bear extraordinary carvings that meld folk motifs and religious iconography into evocative examples of faith expressed through art.

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