Seeking Joy

“Seeking Joy” was conceived a year before October 7th, the Israel-Hamas war, and Hezbollah’s attacks. Faced with the trauma of terrorism and war, we present these artists’ works to express the universal human capacity for resilience.

Fifty artists express a myriad of experiences – the delight in life cycle occasions and annual holidays, the beauty of the natural world, the thrill of music and sports, and the happiness binding family and friends. These works lighten our hearts as a source of strength, empathy, and faith in a peaceful future.

Amidst adversity, our Jewish tradition teaches us to choose life. It is written in the Talmud that if both a wedding procession and a funeral come to a crossroads, the wedding goes first. The ritual breaking of a glass, symbolizing the destruction of the Temple, accompanies the joyful blessings for the new couple under the wedding canopy. After their liberation, Holocaust survivors memorialized their tragic suffering, and yet had the courage to embrace life and create new families and communities.

And so, we present this celebration of life in all of its diverse moments, both personal and communal, to inspire hope for our broken world.

Location: Heller Museum, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion,
One West Fourth Street, New York

Admission: Free, photo ID required.

Summer Hours: Mondays-Thursdays, 9 am – 4:00 pm

Tours/Information: 212-824-2218; hellermuseum@huc.edu

Download: The artists’ guide to this exhibition on the free Bloomberg Connects app.

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