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Contemporary Jewish Museum

Photo: Glen Cheriton

Rabbi Mychal Copeland on the Tabernacle

Thursday, November 14, 2024 | 11:30am

ADMISSION: Free with Museum admission

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2024-11-14 11:30:00 UTC2024-11-14 23:00:00 UTC America/Los_AngelesThe CJM - 736 Mission St, San Francisco, CARabbi Mychal Copeland on the TabernacleUncover insights into Nicki Green: Firmament's central artwork: a large tent-like structure informed by the descriptions of the biblical mishkan or tabernacle, which Green uses to represent transitional space, diaspora, and more. In this gallery chat, Rabbi Mychal Copeland of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav will speak about the importance of the mishkan as a historical ritual structure and its significance in contemporary Jewish practice.

Uncover insights into Nicki Green: Firmament's central artwork: a large tent-like structure informed by the descriptions of the biblical mishkan or tabernacle, which Green uses to represent transitional space, diaspora, and more. In this gallery chat, Rabbi Mychal Copeland of Congregation Sha’ar Zahav will speak about the importance of the mishkan as a historical ritual structure and its significance in contemporary Jewish practice.

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About the Series

In this series of in-gallery talks, explore the rich, multifaceted meanings behind Nicki Green: Firmament—an exhibition infused with profound Jewish religious and cultural themes. Some pieces, such as kosher dill pickle fermentation vats, narrate stories of cultural heritage, while others, like large-scale sculptures of the four archangels, evoke the mystical elements of Jewish tradition. Enhance your understanding of Firmament through brief gallery talks led by Rabbis and Maggids, offering deeper insights into the captivating artworks on view.

About the speaker

Rabbi Mychal Copeland (she/her) speaks and writes about the inclusion of LGBTQI people and interfaith families in religious life. She serves as the rabbi at Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, a Jewish, LGBTQI community in San Francisco. Rooted in her passion for opening the doors of religious communities wider, her book, Struggling in Good Faith: LGBTQI Inclusion from 13 American Religious Perspectives, leads individuals towards a profound spiritual and religious life that embraces all of their disparate identities. Her children’s book I Am the Tree of Life: My Jewish Yoga Book earned the Sydney Taylor Honor.

About the Exhibition

Nicki Green: Firmament

Transdisciplinary artist Nicki Green’s first museum solo exhibition delves into questions of identity, transformation, and reinvention of Jewish traditions through new and existing artworks in ceramic, installation, fiber, and more. Inspired by the concept of the firmament—a dividing form referenced in the Torah that separated the earth from the heavens—Green reimagines the gallery space as an environment of welcome and liberation centering trans and nonbinary bodies. Artworks rendered primarily in clay feature motifs that act as metaphors for regeneration, transformation, and resilience—concepts that have informed Jewish thinking and practice for thousands of years. By reclaiming parts of her Jewish upbringing, reinventing functional forms of ceramic objects, and reimagining ways of embracing different genders and sexualities, Green challenges and expands the binary limits of our society.

From left: Nicki Green, Drifting Upon Swollen Water (Gavriel), A Slack Unthreading (Raphael), Perforated in the Night (Uriel), Fruitful Vine 2 (Michael), 2024. Courtesy the artist and CULT Aimee Friberg.

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Rabbi Mychal Copeland on the Tabernacle

Nicki Green: Firmament

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