Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York brings centuries of Jewish ceremonial art to Nashville’s Frist Art Museum.

October 30, 2026–February 7, 2027 | Frist Art Museum, Upper-Level Galleries

In the polished surfaces of silver Torah ornaments, the embroidered blooms of a Sabbath bread cover, and the sculptural glow of Hanukkah lamps, ritual becomes more than tradition: it becomes a record of movement, memory, survival, and artistic imagination. This fall, the Frist Art Museum will invite Nashville audiences into that expansive story with Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York, an exhibition of more than 130 Jewish ceremonial objects spanning six continents and nearly four thousand years.

Drawn from the world-renowned collection of the Jewish Museum in New York City, the exhibition traces how Jewish communities and artists across South Asia, North Africa, Western Europe, Australia, and the Americas have adapted the forms of Judaica through local materials, visual languages, and craft traditions. The objects on view—books, textiles, silver, lamps, and ritual furnishings—make visible a culture at once deeply rooted and continually remade by migration, exchange, persecution, resilience, and devotion.

For the Frist, the presentation marks a first. “Religion has served as the catalyst for many of the greatest works of art of all time,” says Frist Art Museum curator-at-large Trinita Kennedy. “Over the Frist’s twenty-five-year history, we have presented exhibitions exploring the art of world faiths including Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. This fall we will open our first exhibition about the art of Judaism, one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions.”

The exhibition unfolds in three movements, beginning in the communal space of the synagogue. In “The Art of the Synagogue: Adorning the Torah,” visitors encounter objects created to honor and protect the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and the sacred center of synagogue life. Torah cases, crowns, finials, shields, mantles, and pointers reveal how beauty itself can become a form of reverence. Among the works are a late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century Torah ark curtain from Türkiye, a chased and pierced Torah crown and shield from Greece dated 1859–60, an embroidered silk velvet mantle from Morocco made between 1900 and 1920, and Moshe Zabari’s 1969 Torah crown, whose abstract elegance reimagines ceremonial regalia for the modern era.

The exhibition then moves from synagogue to home. “A Day of Rest: The Splendor of the Sabbath at Home” considers the ritual objects that enrich the weekly day of rest, which begins at sundown each Friday with candle lighting and blessings over bread and wine. Hanging lamps, candlesticks, goblets, spice containers, and hallah covers illuminate the sensory dimensions of Sabbath observance. A nineteenth-century embroidered and beaded hallah cover from Persian Kurdistan, now in Iran, is decorated with bright floral forms and a Hebrew inscription invoking spiritual nourishment.

Timed to coincide with Hanukkah, the Frist’s presentation culminates in “Beyond the Synagogue and the Home: The Radiance of the Hanukkah Menorah.” The Hanukkah menorah—holding nine candles or oil sockets—has carried symbolic weight in Jewish culture for more than two millennia. The Jewish Museum’s holdings of Hanukkah menorot form one of the world’s largest collections, with more than one thousand examples spanning five centuries and much of the globe. In the exhibition, North African examples made by Sephardic Jews who fled Spain after 1492 reveal visual affinities with Islamic art and architecture, including pointed arches, arabesque scrollwork, and patterns of birds and vines. A 1993 menorah by Argentinian architect Miguel Oks, by contrast, draws inspiration from scientific instruments, linking reason and spirit, mind and faith.

Threaded through the exhibition is the precarious history of survival. “The remarkable survival of Judaica cannot be taken for granted. Over the centuries, Jewish communities faced repeated persecution and expulsion, resulting in significant losses of their ceremonial art,” explains Abigail Rapoport, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Curator of Judaica at the Jewish Museum. “These losses are countered by the work of contemporary artists who interpret Jewish traditions with fresh and innovative designs.” At the Frist, those stories will be further grounded in Nashville through an audio guide, videos, and public programs developed in collaboration with members of the city’s longstanding Jewish community. A colorful kids guide will make the exhibition accessible for families.

Events and Programs

Opening Conversation: Beauty and Ritual
Thursday, October 29th, 6:30 p.m.
Auditorium
Free for members; $20 for not-yet-members
Registration required

The opening conversation will bring together Abigail Rapoport of the Jewish Museum, Kennedy, and Seth Feman, PhD, the Frist Art Museum’s executive director and CEO, for a discussion of Jewish ceremonial art across centuries and continents. The evening will consider highlights from the exhibition, from silver Torah ornaments to singular Hanukkah menorahs.

Before the talk, traditional Jewish music will fill the Grand Lobby from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., performed by local musician Cantor Josh Goldberg. The museum will remain open until 9:00 p.m., giving visitors time to experience the galleries after the conversation.

Educator Workshop: Beauty and Ritual
Thursday, November 5th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Studios and Upper-Level Galleries
$30 for members; $35 for not-yet-members (all materials, museum admission, parking validation, continental breakfast, and lunch are included)
Registration required

During this workshop, educators will:

• Engage in a guided tour of Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York.
• Learn about the significance of over 130 Jewish ceremonial objects (Judaica) coming from the Jewish Museum in New York and explore how Jewish communities around the world have adapted traditional forms of Judaica over centuries by utilizing a rich array of materials, styles, and techniques.
• Participate in conversations and cross-curricular dialogue.
• Review the resources created for the exhibition.
• Participate in an informative lecture followed by an art-making activity inspired by the exhibition.

Educator Workshop: Beauty and Ritual
Saturday, November 7th, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Studios and Upper-Level Galleries
$30 for members; $35 for not-yet-members (all materials, museum admission, parking validation, continental breakfast, and lunch are included)
Registration required

During this workshop, educators will:

• Engage in a guided tour of Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York.
• Learn about the significance of over 130 Jewish ceremonial objects (Judaica) coming from the Jewish Museum in New York and explore how Jewish communities around the world have adapted traditional forms of Judaica over centuries by utilizing a rich array of materials, styles, and techniques.
• Participate in conversations and cross-curricular dialogue.
• Review the resources created for the exhibition.
• Participate in an informative lecture followed by an art-making activity inspired by the exhibition.

Frist Arts Fest
Sunday, November 8th, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Studios and Upper-Level Galleries
Free for members and guests ages 18 and younger; $20 for not-yet-members (Military, senior, and student discounts are not available during Frist Arts Fest)

Join Frist Arts Museum for a day of indoor activities including performances, art making, music, and more celebrating our newest exhibitions, Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman, Robin Vuchnich: In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers—The Memory of a Season, and Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York, and the current Art in the Atrium installation, Plexus No. 47.

Purchase Tickets here.

Workshop Series: Witnessing Art Through Expressive Writing – Part Three
Saturday, November 14th, 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Galleries and Studio B
Gallery admission and parking are included
Space is limited
Registration required

Price per class: $10 Frist Art Museum and Porch Writers’ Collective members; $30 for not-yet members
To sign up for the full course, please register for each individual session.

Presented in partnership with the Porch Writers’ Collective and Tayana L. Hardin, PhD, MDiv | ARTS Liturgist, this three-part workshop series invites participants to slow down, reflect, and renew through art and writing. As current studies attest, contemplative practices like expressive writing, art viewing, and meditation can support human health, healing, and well-being. Join us as we explore how these modalities can promote healthy self-awareness, personal enjoyment, and care for both self and community.

In this series, we’ll take time to closely examine artworks featured in the exhibitions An Indigenous Present, Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman, and Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York and then respond through guided writing prompts.

September 12—Part I will focus on An Indigenous Present.

October 24—Part II will focus on Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman.

November 14—Part III will focus on Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York.

Register for individual classes or the full series!

Member Morning
Sunday, November 15th, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Members only

Member Mornings give Frist Art Museum members a relaxed way to start the day with early access to the museum before it opens to the general public. Enjoy docent-led tours, explore the galleries and Martin ArtQuest in a quieter setting, and experience the exhibitions from a fresh perspective. Also, members are invited to gather in the lobby for light bites and conversation while reflecting on the museum’s newest exhibitions.

Exhibitions on view for this Member Morning include: Shimmer: Dreaming the Posthuman, Robin Vuchnich: In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers, and Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York.

Member Morning
Sunday, February 7th, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Members only

On Member Mornings, start your day with early access to the museum before we open to the public. Gather in the Grand Lobby for light bites and conversation. As members, you get to beat the crowd when checking out the following exhibitions – Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York, The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture, and Opulence,
French Impressionism and the Nabis: Works from the Collection of Marlene and Spencer Hays, and Through These Hands: Crafting Material Visions. Explore the galleries through docent-led tours and check their exhibition inspired activities in Martin ArtQuest.

Beauty and Ritual: Judaica from the Jewish Museum, New York has been organized by the Jewish Museum, New York.

Supported in part by the Sandra Schatten Foundation.

The Frist Art Museum is supported in part by The Frist Foundation, Metro Arts, and the Tennessee Arts Commission, which receives funding in part from the National Endowment for the Arts.