The painter Jacob Kramer was born in Ukraine and moved with his family to Leeds in 1900. He studied at the Leeds School of Art from 1907 to 1913 and at the Slade School of Art in London from 1913 to 1914. His paintings were included in the Jewish section of the landmark 1914 Whitechapel exhibition of modern art. His early works, including his later masterpiece Day of Atonement, were strikingly original examples of English expressionism. In the 1920s he returned to Leeds and his career took a downturn. He lived in alcohol-soaked poverty, producing second-rate portraits of local figures.
[ . . . ] Moreover, the ideal of Torah as an end in itself was never felt to be in opposition to the ideal of Torat hayyim—“the Torah as a gateway to life.” Whatever the logician might argue…
The great value of prayer is well known. It is formulated in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings, and explained further in the words of our rabbis of blessed memory. It is called the service of…