Sabbath Rest (Sabbath-Ruhe auf der Gasse)

Seemingly peaceful, this scene harbors dynamic undercurrents. It honors a political revolution and contains seeds of feminist action.

After Sabbath lunch, all take their customary nap, including the family cat. Grandmother, hair covered, reads a traditional prayer book for women. Through the doorway symbolically leading to the future, her modern, bareheaded granddaughter enjoys the latest novel. The portal is conspicuously inscribed with the date 1789. This salutes the French Revolution, whose philosophy of equality led to the dismantling of the ghetto and the emancipation of the Jews. Oppenheim's access to professional training in European art academies was a direct result of the civil rights that Jews gained under French occupation.

Source: The Jewish Museum, New York, 2000.