Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem | שושנה גוגנהיים קדם

Where do we begin? Thank you so much for being a presenter at LimmudFest 2022. You made our experience exceptional. Many of our attendees have commented on the depth and breadth of our program this year, and you made that possible. Your classes, in particular, received rave reviews and were mentioned multiple times in our surveys as highlights of the festival. 

~ LimmudFest staff, Ramah Darom, Georgia

The artist-in-residence sessions with Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem were by far my favorite. Her work is extremely inspirational and diverse, and it was wonderful to have so many opportunities to learn about all of it

~ LimmudFest 2022 participant

In a warm, engaging, and hands on manner, you introduced our students to Jewish scribal art. Our students walked away excited and appreciating all the hard work, skill, and intention that goes into writing a Torah scroll.

~ Faculty, Weber School, Atlanta

What I appreciated the most in Shoshana's candid talks with our students was her delicate and nuanced stance when it comes to Jewish tradition and Halacha.She brings the Shlichut of being a Soferet with utmost reverence to our tradition. It is done in a respectful and Kavannah filled way.  At the same time, she gives it a timely, feminist twist that resonated with my students. I liked the complexity it provided for my Jewish Literature students.

~ Faculty, Weber School, Atlanta,GA

I JUST finished fully taking in and reading Or Hadash. I was moved throughout and to tears on the last two pages…I found myself expanded towards seeing this project, the endeavor, the planting of what is possible for living as artistic work, as art… It's art changing us, changing the world. I'm really moved by this and so grateful to be part of trying to bring this future into being through uplifting the story (and the future you're seeding). It only spurred more passion and motivation inside of me...

~ Carey Averbook, Filmmaker, Jewish Ritualist

Women of the Book has made me re-think and re-define my role in artistic discourse. Having grown up in a secular kibbutz in Israel where families and women pioneered as role models and in carving out new values, I carry my Jewish heritage on one shoulder and my Israeli up bringing in a secular kibbutz on the other.  Women of the Book opened  a new path of collaboration with women in the feminine style of free and open study, establishing women at the same level as that of men.

~ Meirav Davish Ben Moshe, WOB Participating Artist, Israel

Thank you for making this possible. It is the greatest, as far as I know, work that totally encompasses the female intelligence as that part of the Shechinah, the enormous part of the deity which is female. And I’m so grateful to be in this.

~ Gilah Yelin Hirsch, Professor of art, pioneer of the Feminist art movement

We need to acknowledge that Judaism has evolved, and continues to evolve, in front of our eyes. Throughout the ages there have always been women who have had a voice in interpreting culture. And art, like this exhibit, is visual text. It’s the kind of artwork that for hundreds of years has accompanied Jewish manuscripts.”

~ Elana Maryles Sztokman Sociologist, award winning author, Jewish feminist activist

“Moving, amazing, challenging.”

~ Sally Klein-Katz, Lecturer Hebrew Union College, Jerusalem

“Just spectacular!”

~ Laurie Heller, Founder and CEO Laurie Heller and Associate Philanthropy Consultation

This is absolutely wonderful.. The outcome here, at least from my view, is beautiful, inspiring, and a brilliant contribution to Judaism in all its forms.

~ Benyamin Lichtenstein, Author, Professor of Management, University of Massachusetts, Boston

Scribing has always intrigued me and even though it is considered forbidden for women like me and you, you were able to make history and for that I thank you personally for making me believe that it is possible…I would like to take the opportunity to thank you once again and to tell you that your art moves me and really does touches the depths of my soul.

~ Lielle, Israel

This is a collaboration that plumbs the richness of Jewish identities and Southernness, while offering a window into the contemporary experience of the sacred, in its most homey, intimate key…I love the way Kedem gives voice to diverse members of the community: from preschoolers to elders, Southern natives and transplants, Jews whose families have long been immersed in tradition alongside Jews by choice, Jews of multiple shades and orientations…One word that stays with me is the Hebrew ha-efshar, “possibility” - the possibility that this museum may bear fruit, evolve and continue in some fashion yet unknown, while pointing to the possibility of living one’s life in a sacred key, as a work of art.

~ Elliot K. Ginsburg, Rabbi and Senior Teacher in ALEPH-the Alliance for Jewish Renewal and Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Through her guest lectures on the material and social practices of Torah scribing, and the environmental and spiritual aspects of Torah parchment making, Shoshana Gugenheim Kedem illuminated the sacred in the mundane, and the ordinary in the extraordinary. Her work helped students recognize the space for individual will within shared tradition, and the ability to create social change through creative interventions in sacred spaces.

~ Gabrielle, Professor of Jewish Ethnography, UNC Chapel Hill

Thank you for making tonight so meaningful and truly elevating the conversation. It's so wonderful to be together. 

~ Ariele Mortkowitz, Founding Director, Sviva

Shoshana brought a wealth of wisdom and experience to our Shabbaton. Her weaving of environmental concerns, respect for materials and their sources, and deep grounding in Jewish tradition was inspiring and moving. Her ability to connect the wisdom of the Hebrew letters to the natural world brought depth to the scribal arts practice she guided us through. I'm especially grateful for Shoshana's research and thinking about the connections between the parchment of our sacred texts and the industrialized meat industry that provides the raw material, and bringing us into thoughtful conversation about rethinking how to approach our holy materials. Thank you for an impactful weekend of learning!

~ Aaron Rotenberg, ALEPH Eco-Judaism student

Shoshana's teaching awakened an entirely new relationship to the Hebrew letters for me. I will never encounter the Hebrew aleph bet in the same way again. Shoshana's guided meditations on the letters took me deep into mystical and meaningful reflection, while her scribing instruction helped me for the first time to truly experience these letters in my body. Shoshana weaves the art, politics, mysticism and craft of scribing in a beautiful braid that is of immense importance for our world. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to learn with her.

~Jacob Sapon, ALEPH Eco Judaism student

What a knock-out Shoshana is!  We were so very impressed we have been talking about her and her projects since Wednesday night.  Thank you or sharing such a treasure.

~ Debra Kaufman, artist talk attendee

Phenomenal woman/artist/activist what a wonderful evening! Your work is deep, beautiful, provocative and pushes the boundaries of text. I love “erasure.” As for me who has and still works to uncover the deep marginalized and invisibility of so many people, your work leaves me with hope and tears. You are one of those former students who I just get to keep learning from over and over.

~ Priscilla Sanville, Artist, Professor Emerita, Adjunct Professor, Lesley University, Cambridge

What a blessed evening Shoshana...your work is magnificent...Always knew this was true but more intuitively, now I know substantially...Thank you for sharing your Emet, and for bringing your Grace to this Space. G!d knows we need all that you are moving us toward ("us" in this case means both humanity as a whole and Judaism in particular.)

~ Steven L. Schatz, MA, LMHC Center for Music & Imagery / Psychosynthesis

I wanted to thank you so much on behalf of our congregation for the inspiring visit yesterday.  We all simply loved (re) meeting you, hearing your story and sharing somewhat in your journey.

~ Frances Oppenheimer, Tour Guide, Israel