May 2024
“Never Again” Yad (Torah Pointer)
Marjorie Simon (b. 1945)
Mild steel, sterling silver, 18k gold, brass, copper, model train railroad track, carborundum grains, vitreous enamel, carnelian
2021
Collection of Barr Foundation Judaica
In honor of both Jewish American Heritage Month and Yom HaShoah, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Day, we are featuring one of the yads that can currently be seen at the Skirball Museum in our new exhibition, The Guiding Hand: The Barr Foundation Collection of Torah Pointers.
Marjorie Simon’s “Never Again” yad distills a horrific chapter of the Jewish past and the hope for a Jewish future, all in one remarkable piece. The yad, which is a Torah pointer meant to help someone keep their place as they read from a Torah scroll, has distinct designs on either side. On one is the phrase that was displayed over the gate to the concentration camp Auschwitz—arbeit macht frei, work sets you free. A miniature cattle car sits atop the yad, recalling the countless Jews who were forced into cattle cars and sent to concentration camps across Europe. On the other side, the same cattle car is burnished with age, appearing more like a historical relic. A golden and green pair of vines climbs up the yad, evoking new hopes and growth for the Jewish people.
This yad, and other similarly beautiful and creative ones, is currently on display in The Guiding Hand exhibition. Artist Marjorie Simon is a Jewish American jeweler, enamellist, writer, and teacher.
This post was written by Rachael Houser, a fourth-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR Cincinnati. She is thrilled to work as an intern on behalf of the Skirball Museum this school year.
“Never Again” Yad (Torah Pointer)
Marjorie Simon (b. 1945)
Mild steel, sterling silver, 18k gold, brass, copper, model train railroad track, carborundum grains, vitreous enamel, carnelian
2021
Collection of Barr Foundation Judaica