Submitted by the Skirball Museum
The Skirball Museum on the historic Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is pleased to present The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers. The exhibition opens on Thursday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Mayerson Hall with a reception and illustrated lecture by collector Clay H. Barr. The lecture will be offered live and via Livestream.
A Torah pointer is often called a yad, the Hebrew word for hand, because a pointing finger was characteristically a prominent feature of early examples. Pointers are tools exclusively used to keep one’s place in the Torah scroll, the central text of the Jewish faith, which is densely hand-written in Hebrew. The yad also assists in protecting the integrity of the quilled letters and the delicate vellum of the Torah scroll. For hundreds of years, Jews used simple tapered wooden sticks to point the way through the text of the Torah, or Five Books of Moses.
Virginia resident Clay H. Barr began acquiring Torah pointers nearly 30 years ago in memory of her late husband, Jay D. A. Barr. Her collection of more than 150 Torah pointers includes antique and contemporary examples that represent the full range of elaborate historic forms. Barr’s yads, more than 100 of which will be on view in this exhibition, range in length from a few inches to nearly two feet. While some are made from traditional materials such as wood, silver, gold, or ivory and date to the 18th century, Barr has reached beyond Jewish artisans to commission Torah pointers from artists who fashioned them from Lucite, glass, beading, concrete, and even a skateboard among other unconventional materials. Among the array of artists, jewelers, and designers featured in the collection is Hester Bateman, the most renowned female English silversmith, who may well have produced only one Torah pointer. The Bateman yad is hallmarked 1781.
“I wanted to inspire artists and craftsmen to create new Judaica,” comments Barr. Yads by Tobi Kahn, Wendell Castle, and Albert Paley are among the commissioned pieces that appear in the Skirball show. Because yads have no design restrictions, commissioning the ritual artworks combines the collector’s faith with her interest in art. Several of the artists whose Torah pointers appear in the exhibition are represented at the Skirball Museum by other ritual objects. These artists include Hanah Behar Paneth, Moshe Zabari, Yaakov Greenvurcel, and Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert.
As a complement to The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers, the Skirball will offer an online exhibition of its own yads, which includes examples by Stuart Golder, M. Goldsmidt, Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert, and Fred Fenster. The online exhibition will be available beginning April 12, 2024.
Additional public programs include Make Your Own Yad! with Cincinnati artist Judith Serling-Sturm on Sunday, May 5; Lunch and Learn with curatorial consultant Abby Schwartz and collections manager Sheri Besso on Thursday, June 6; and Functional and Fabulous: The History and Artistry of the Yad with Abby Schwartz on Tuesday, July 16. To register for the opening or other public programs, please visit the Skirball Museum’s website, or call the Skirball Museum at HUC-JIR.
Transcending religious iconography, this dazzling exhibition is certain to appeal to all who appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of fine art. The exhibition runs through July 28, 2024.
