Jewish Museum Postcard: What We Bring by Andi LaVine Arnovitz

Featured on this postcard is Wedding Dress, What We Bring by Andi LaVine Arnovitz.  The original worksis included in the Jewish Museum's collection and currently on view.

Artist's Statement:

Based on the Talmudic concept of  “Tzon Barzel”  this piece represents a category of assets concerning two parties. It is mainly used in the context of marriage agreements: a woman can bring assets with her into a marriage. These assets will remain hers, regardless of the fate of the marriage. Though they might temporarily become part of the general household, she will retain the ownership. In modern Hebrew, the term “iron flock assets” (ברזל צאן נכסי) has become an idiom expressing a notion of spiritual assets and an inalienable cultural legacy. Using the 2611 names of Jewish women, listed in the Jewish Women’s archive web site who have impacted mankind “What We Bring” is a kind of double entendre. A woman brings all sorts of assets to her marriage. Not just material things, but her brains, her creativity, her insights, talents and vision.

The wedding dress is bursting with names, these amazing women pour out of the wedding dress, spill onto the floor and out into the room. The mere act of marriage cannot contain us- the concept of  “bride” is too limiting- it cannot hold all that we  bring. This was just acquired by the Jewish Museum in New York for the permanent collection.

About the original:

Wedding Dress
What We Bring
Andi LaVine Arnovitz (b. 1959, Kansas City, Missouri; lives and works in Israel)
Israel, 2023
Artist's wedding dress, laser cut bookbinding cloth and thread
Approx. 118 x 98.5 in. Approx. 118 × 98 1/2 × 98 1/2 in. (299.7 × 250.2 × 250.2 cm)
The Jewish Museum, New York Purchase: Gifts of Angelica Berrie and Lynn Schusterman, 2025-16
Photo: Yair Medina

Paper
5" x 7"