Vision Neil Folberg Gallery

Vision Neil Folberg Gallery Vision also shows vintage 19th C. photos and photo-journalism. Founded by Joseph Folberg in San Francisco in 1981, Vision moved to Jerusalem in 1998.

VISION Neil Folberg Fine Art Photography Gallery features the photographs of contemporary photographers from Israel & around the world in Neil Folberg's studio gallery. Member of AIPAD (Association of Int'l Photography Art Dealers)

Spanish Jews in 1492 were faced with the choice of forced conversion to Catholicism or banishment. Some of the wealthier...
17/04/2025

Spanish Jews in 1492 were faced with the choice of forced conversion to Catholicism or banishment. Some of the wealthier Spanish families were invited to neighboring Portugal with the promise of temporary safety and freedom of religion in exchange for large fees. But soon, there too in Portugal, they were given a choice: death or conversion to Catholicism. Some chose death. To provide an incentive for conversion the children of the chief rabbi were boiled in oil while the community was forced to watch.

Among those who had fled Spain to Portugal for what they thought was temporary safety was the wealthy Nasi family. In 1497 the family was forcibly converted to Catholicism and were given the Christian family name of De Luna. They lived outwardly as Christians but maintained their Jewish lives in secret, as did many others. (The penalty for maintaining any Jewish practice was of course death, following a mock trial and torture by the Inquisition. If they confessed they were sentenced to death, often by burning. If they didn’t confess they were tortured and then killed). One of the descendants of this wealthy family was a remarkable woman by the name of Dona Gracia. She and her family used their influence to run a sort of underground railroad to assist secret Jews in escaping Christian Europe. Eventually they themselves were able to arrange a safe passage to Venice. The city state of Venice, though nominally Catholic, resisted efforts by the Vatican to control it and permitted Jews to practice their faith in safety though under restrictive conditions.

Nevertheless, the Inquisition eventually arrived in Venice and arrested Dona Gracia and her family. They had been planning to make their way from Venice to the Ottoman Empire to which they had been invited by the Sultan. When this happened, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Venice and threatened to attack Venetian vessels wherever they were found. Eventually the family was released and arrived safely in the Ottoman Empire. In gratitude, they funded the thriving Jewish community and the construction of synagogues including this synagogue probably sometime around 1559, which is called Signora (synagogue of the Señora) in honor of Dona Gracia Nasi. This synagogue, among several others, still serves the community. This is a fascinating and incredibly complex story that I have endeavored to simplify.

Neil Folberg
Signora Synagogue, Izmir, Turkey, 1993
60.5 x 47.5 cm
vintage evercolor carbon print

HistoricSynagogue

In the early 90s, Žana, a young Bukharan woman, lived with us in Jerusalem after receiving an exit visa. When traveling ...
03/04/2025

In the early 90s, Žana, a young Bukharan woman, lived with us in Jerusalem after receiving an exit visa. When traveling to Uzbekistan, I arranged through her to stay with local Jewish families to avoid KGB attention.

Her contact, Rafi Nektalov, met us in Tashkent and cleverly modified our restricted visas with my pen when he saw we couldn't travel beyond the city. We successfully passed multiple checkpoints and spent three weeks in Bukhara.

Recently, after decades without contact, Rafi unexpectedly appeared at my exhibition in the מוזיאון יהדות איטליה Museum of Italian Jewish Art. Now living in New York and publishing the Bukharian Times, our reunion was made more special when Žana also happened to be there.

During my visit, I photographed the family synagogues built within homes when freestanding Jewish structures were forbidden. Following the Soviet collapse, these spaces with Hebrew inscriptions—previously whitewashed during Communist rule—reflected a community at a crossroads, with most families planning to emigrate. In this photo you can see the Rubinov family in their festive wedding garments, as they requested, with their granddaughter. The bridal wedding portrait hangs on the wall to the right.

A poignant story behind the restoration of the Augsburg Synagogue: In 1991, I met photographer Nahum Tim Gidal, who intr...
27/03/2025

A poignant story behind the restoration of the Augsburg Synagogue: In 1991, I met photographer Nahum Tim Gidal, who introduced me to Julius Spokojny, a Bavarian senator and Holocaust survivor.

Spokojny, who survived the camps, shared his story of sleeping on benches in the synagogue that survived Kristallnacht, vowing to restore it. The synagogue, designed by architect Fritz Landauer in 1917, is an impressive art nouveau masterpiece with Byzantine and Orientalist influences.

The magnificent building, capable of hosting 1,000 Jews, embodies the sense of belonging felt by German Jews of that time. A fascinating detail is the griffin sculpture combining Jewish symbols with a German eagle.

When I asked Spokojny why he wanted to document the synagogue, he responded bitterly: "Nothing has changed here. They would do it again. I want photographs to show what was here."

A chilling story of survival, hope, and historical documentation.

Sha'arei Ratson Synagogue, Bombay, India , 1994.The origin of the Bene Israel Jews is lost in the depths of time. Some s...
20/02/2025

Sha'arei Ratson Synagogue, Bombay, India , 1994.
The origin of the Bene Israel Jews is lost in the depths of time. Some say they are descended from the lost tribes of Israel and others that they are descended from Jewish traders. Whatever their origin, they have been in this area for a very long time and have always retained elements of Jewish tradition such as shabbat observance.
The modest Bene Israel synagogues in the region of Bombay date back to the mid- nineteenth century, when the communities moved from rural villages to metropolitan areas. Their synagogues have both color and charm. When I first saw them, they seemed less than impressive, but upon returning to Israel, I knew I had a treasure, for the synagogues share a straightforward unpretentiousness with the people who pray in them.
Photographing in the streets of Bombay can be challenging, people flow through them like raindrops in a river. I posted some helpers in the street to help direct the traffic in order to keep a clear view of the entrance to the walled compound that houses the synagogue, Inside, all was peace and quiet: the synagogue is an island in a turbulent sea.

For more, you are invited to come see the exhibition "The Light of the World" at מוזיאון יהדות איטליה Museum of Italian Jewish Art in Jerusalem.

Altneushul, PragueAccording to legend, the Altneushul was built with foundation stones and dust which had its origins in...
13/02/2025

Altneushul, Prague
According to legend, the Altneushul was built with foundation stones and dust which had its origins in the Temple of Solomon on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant synagogue in Europe, built in the 13th C. Altneu means old-new, but altneu is more likely a corruption of the Hebrew phrase, al-t’nai which means “on-condition”. This synagogue was built on the condition that it would be moved to the holy city of Jerusalem when the Temple in Jerusalem is restored.



One of the most famous scholar-rabbi-sages-mystics in all of Jewish history was Rabbi Judah Loew, who served as rabbi of this congregation in the late 16th C. He is known better as the famed Maharal of Prague. His writings and essays are seminal in Jewish thought. He is most famous to the general public for something that he himself never mentioned: the Maharal is credited with creating the legendary golem, an animate humanoid creature with supernatural powers who protected and defended the Jewish community of that period. The Maharal’s place is marked by the prayer stand at the side of the Aron Kodesh.



This historic synagogue is open to tourists during the day, so I worked all night. After the small congregation gathered for the evening prayers I remained and worked until the morning prayers at dawn.



People wonder why the synagogue, like so many others, was not destroyed by the N***s? There is another legend, that I once heard from a woman whose family escaped the N**i death squads and came as a young girl to Israel. She related that Hi**er believed in mysticism and had heard the legend of the Maharal and the Golem. He sent a N**i officer to investigate the Altneushul and especially the attic where it is said that the Golem is interred. No one enters this attic. The N**i officer went up the ladder to the attic and never descended. The Germans, she said, left the place alone.
I spent four nights working in this medieval, deeply mysterious space.

Place of the Maharal, Altneushul, Prague, 1993
49.5 x 49.5 cm
Aron Kodesh, Altneushul, Prague, 1993
51 x 39.5 cm

Parur Synagogue in Kerala, India (near Cochin)The current building dates to 1616 that was built on the site of an earlie...
06/02/2025

Parur Synagogue in Kerala, India (near Cochin)

The current building dates to 1616 that was built on the site of an earlier synagogue that dates to the 12th century. The entrance from the outside passes through a long straight corridor lined with columns which creates an atmosphere of serenity and isolation in the inner courtyard as one approaches. To the right of the entrance is a plaque in Hebrew. Here is a unique place where the Jewish population departed not because of danger or oppression, but for idealistic reasons: after the State of Israel was established in 1948, most of the Jews from this region departed for Israel, to return to their ancient homeland from which they had been exiled. The interior of this synagogue has been fully restored and is now in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

NEIL FOLBERGView from the Aron Kodesh, Florence, Italy, 1994evercolor carbon print61 x 49.5 cmLink in bio. ...
23/01/2025

NEIL FOLBERG
View from the Aron Kodesh, Florence, Italy, 1994
evercolor carbon print
61 x 49.5 cm

Link in bio.

NEIL FOLBERG"Is there any number to His legions?" Szeged, Hungary, 1993evercolor vintage print47.5 x 61 cmLink in bio. ...
16/01/2025

NEIL FOLBERG
"Is there any number to His legions?" Szeged, Hungary, 1993
evercolor vintage print
47.5 x 61 cm

Link in bio.

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