Lecture #4 – Jewish Tombs, Iconography, and Art History, with Dr. Matthew Kraus, Abby Schwartz, and Caroline Sim.

JCGC and Rockdale Temple hosted the final lecture in their series on September 12, 2019. This was a highly anticipated lecture on some of the history of Jewish burial and memorialization practices, the symbols and iconography associated with Jewish tombstones, and the art history of Jewish memorialization over the centuries. Experts Dr. Matthew Kraus, of University of Cincinnati, and Abby Schwartz, of the Skirball Museum on the campus of HUC-JIR, shared their knowledge of ancient practices and some common symbols and the history of specific Cincinnati monuments. They were joined by JCGC’s former Jewish Foundation Fellow and rabbinic student Caroline Sim. Caroline presented a survey of Jewish customs and practices, while also moderating this lecture, as well as coordinating the lecture series with Rockdale Temple.