{"id":40907,"date":"2026-09-22T15:37:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T12:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/?post_type=product&#038;p=40907"},"modified":"2026-11-03T15:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T13:34:30","slug":"jared-bernstein-kikel","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/artwork\/jared-bernstein-kikel\/","title":{"rendered":"Jared Bernstein, Kikel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<strong>KIKEL: THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD \u201cKIKE\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My grandfather Mordechai \u201cMax\u201d Braverman came to Ellis Island in 1913. The Jews were illiterate, and when asked to put an \u201cX\u201d next to their names, they put a circle instead. They were concerned that the \u201cX\u201d looked too similar to a cross. The workers at Ellis Island started calling the Zionist Jews \u201cKikels,\u201d which is the Yiddish word for circle. Kikel was shortened to Kike. I\u2019m PROUD to be called a Kike; what an HONOR and a PRIVILEGE.<\/p>\n<section class=\"rg-curatorial-notes\">\n<h3>Curatorial notes<\/h3>\n<p><em>Kikel<\/em> is a deeply personal exploration of Jewish identity, memory, and resilience. Drawing upon a family story connected to his grandfather&#8217;s immigration through Ellis Island, Bernstein reclaims a word that was historically transformed into an ethnic slur and reinterprets it as a symbol of pride and belonging. The painting&#8217;s vibrant colors, expressive figures, handwritten text, and recurring circular forms echo the narrative&#8217;s central motif: the simple circle, or <em>kikel<\/em>, from which a complex history emerged. Rather than focusing on victimhood, Bernstein celebrates continuity, ancestry, and the enduring strength of Jewish identity. By combining autobiography with cultural memory, <em>Kikel<\/em> transforms a painful historical association into an affirmation of heritage, dignity, and self-definition.<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u05d0\u05e7\u05e8\u05d9\u05dc\u05d9\u05e7, \u05d2\u05d9\u05e8 \u05e9\u05de\u05df \u05d5\u05e6\u05d1\u05e2 \u05e1\u05e4\u05e8\u05d9\u05d9 \u05e2\u05dc \u05e7\u05e0\u05d1\u05e1<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":40290,"template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[779,760],"product_tag":[826,752,797,799],"class_list":["post-40907","product","type-product","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","product_cat-jared-bernstein-paintings","product_cat-paintings","product_tag-826","product_tag-jared-bernstein","product_tag-original-artwork","product_tag-paintings","post","post-with-thumbnail","post-with-thumbnail-large","first","instock","sold-individually","taxable","shipping-taxable","purchasable","product-type-simple"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/40907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=40907"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=40907"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rosenbachgallery.com\/he\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=40907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}