Opening Conversation: Beauty and Ritual

When

Thursday, October 29, 6:30 pm–7:30 pm

Where

Frist Art Museum
919 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203

Price

Up to $20 · free for some

The venue says: Free for members; $20 for not-yet members

About

Registration opens on September 28 for members; September 29 for not-yet members. Drawn from the world-renowned collection of the Jewish Museum in New York City, Beauty and Ritual presents more than 130 Jewish ceremonial objects (Judaica) created from antiquity to the present, including books, silver, and textiles. From South Asia to North Africa and Western Europe, the works represent many parts of the world and display a diversity of Jewish cultures. Join a conversation with Abigail Rapoport, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum; Trinita Kennedy, Frist Art Museum curator-at-large; and Seth Feman, PhD, Frist Art Museum executive director and CEO, to explore Jewish ceremonial art from around the world and across centuries. From exquisite silver Torah ornaments to one-of-a-kind Hanukkah menorahs, hear about highlights of Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York. Begin the evening with a performance of traditional Jewish music in the Grand Lobby from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., featuring local musician Cantor Josh Goldberg. Cantor Josh Goldberg is an accomplished vocalist, prolific songwriter, music producer, filmmaker, and cantor.  The museum will remain open until 9:00 p.m. to allow guests time to visit the galleries after the conversation. Top image: Moshe Zabari. Torah crown, 1969. Raised and forged silver, pearls on strings; 16 × 14 1/2 × 8 7/8 in. The Jewish Museum, New York, Gift of the Albert A. List Family, JM 85-69. Image courtesy of the Jewish Museum, New York Schedule of Events:   5:15–6:15 p.m.: Music in the Grand Lobby 6:30–7:30 p.m.: Opening Conversation About Abigail Rapoport Abigail Rapoport is the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum, New York. Her inaugural exhibition, The Book of Esther in the Age of Rembrandt, co-organized with the North Carolina Museum of Art, is currently on view at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. She is a cocurator of Sacred Splendor: Jewish Ritual Art and Christian Treasures from St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, on view at the Jewish Museum from September 18, 2026, through February 7, 2027. Rapoport holds a PhD in medieval art history from the University of Pennsylvania, where she also received her MA in seventeenth-century Dutch art.