Modus: Prace z historii sztuki (20.2020)

of the Shabbat, including the rituals performed by women, the prayers of men in
the synagogue, and Street life in the shtetl on a Friday evening.
The return to Judaism of the artist who consciously turned to secular life is
evident in the scenes showing traditional symbols of Jewish culture (numerous
Judaica, or the white goat) and religious rituals (the blessing of fire). The inclusion
of his self-portrait in the series, and the lithograph of the Passer-by that immedi-
ately follows it, may symbolize the artists position in the narrative. Therefore, it
seems justified to recognize the artist himself in the passer-by, longingly observ-
ing the rituals that begin the Shabbat. Celebrating the most important holiday in
the Jewish religion is a solemn and joyful weekly event. It is a foretaste of Paradise
in conjunction with the closeness to God. The holy day is meant to bring happi-
ness, harmony, respite, and rest - to everyone. It is a day without conflict, fight,
fear, or distrust; instead, it is fuli of joy in communing with the Eternal. In Wach-
tel’s work, the representations of this day are intended to show the special naturę
of the Shabbat in religion, and the ability to find harmony in one’s life. Similarly,
the presentation of the Passover Seder feast - a holiday commemorating the vic-
tory of the Jews and the end of Egyptian captivity - is intended to be a reminder
of a happy moment in the history of the community, and raise hope among
the constant sense of threat symbolized by the scorpions shown on the title page.
The freedom that the Jews commemorate by celebrating Pesach may come again
as they say goodbye to Golus and resume their journey to return to Canaan.
The second part of the series takes the viewers through events marked with
stigmatization, exclusion, and violence, and it aims to confront them with their
own responsibility for their neighbours. The goal is not merely to present scenes
related to various events in the history of Jewish communities, but to introduce el-
ements of Christian iconography into those scenes as well. The artist also achieved
his compositional objective in The Homeless scene, focusing the viewer’s gazę on
the face of the seated woman, and in the Awaiting pogrom piąte, where the specta-
tor looks directly into the eyes of the defenders of the Jewish community.
The narrative of stigmatizing and diminishing the importance of the Jewish
community begins with the scene of the Yellow patch. Referring to the obligatory
elements of clothing distinguishing the followers of Judaism, the artist points to
the responsibility of the majority, who ordered the marking of Jews in public
space outside the established religious ghettos in medieval and modern Europę.
Pointed caps, yellow patches, or embroidered stars of David for centuries madę it
possible to build stereotypes and foster anti-Semitism by communities following
the messianic mission of Jesus Christ. This is why the figurę of the latter appears
in the series here discussed as a Je w walking through the ruins of a Jewish ąuarter
destroyed by one of the numerous pogroms - it is meant to remind us about
the sources of religion and the origin of the Messiah.
Physical persecution of the Jewish community broke out primarily in Central
and Eastern Europę from the end of the nineteenth century, especially in the Rus-
sian Empire from 1881.122 The first wave of pogroms was linked to the rumour
122 The analysis of representations of the pogroms in visual arts can be found in the publication
Pogromy Żydów na ziemiach polskich w xix i xx wieku, vol. 1: Literatura i sztuka, S. Buryła (ed.),
Warszawa 2018. Particularly noteworthy in the context of the present work are the following arti-
cles: M. Czekanowska-Gutman, Wizualizacje losu ofiar żydowskich po pogromie. Pieta w twórczości

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ARTICLES

Maksymilian Puzio