For some, home is where the matzah is, according to Washington Square News reporters Rikki Reyna and Kate Thuma:
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As unlikely as it may seem, matzo was the mold of choice for the first ever Manischewitz Matzo Sculpture Competition, sponsored by the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life.
“Of all the proposals we received,” Manischewitz assistant brand manager and competition judge Arye Weigensberg said, “we chose to exhibit the sculptures that made the strongest, most interesting connections to home. The idea of home is different to different people and we wanted to see how they could manifest that idea using matzo.”
The matzo sculptures were unveiled Sunday night at the opening reception for “Home and Away,” the Bronfman Center’s new exhibition showcasing different artistic renderings of the idea of “home.”
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For the matzo sculpture competition, Tisch junior Leia Weil and sophomore Erica Frankel were inspired by their recent Birthright trip to Israel when they chose to duplicate the Western Wall, one of Israel’s oldest and holiest sites. Weil and Frankel explained their selection in their written artists’ statement: “The Western Wall truly is the ultimate home. It is the home for God, the home for our prayers, the home of our forefathers and the home of the Jewish people, along with the rest of humanity.”
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Jackie Miller, the Bronfman Center’s arts coordinator, brought to light the significance of using matzo as a sculpting material.
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“This is definitely the time of year that ‘home’ will be top of mind for most students, as the spring holiday season is approaching,” Miller said. “Matzo is relevant to the home and to Passover.”
The overwhelming scent of wine and an enormous quantity of matzo (some of which was chocolate-dipped), brought the large crowd of more than 100 people into the gallery’s narrow space.
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[First place winner and Tisch freshman, James] Donovan had selected the Washington Square Arch as the best depiction of his understanding of home. Weigensberg said that he was particularly moved by Donovan’s subject choice.
“NYU is where he gets his inspiration,” Weigensberg said. “This is home for him.”
Donovan was awarded a cash prize of $1,000, which he plans to use toward his future artistic endeavors.
Matzah sculptures will be on display in the gallery areas of the Bronfman Center on 7 East 10th Street through May 13th (or until they crumble or ants get to them…). New York Sun reporter Lenore Skenazy also caught the competition:
What can one fashion out of oversize crackers? The finalists in Monday’s contest came forth with matzo candlesticks, a matzo Wailing Wall, even a matzo video game, complete with mini matzo Mario. “Super Mario Brothers is a game of conquest but more notably of oppression,” the artist’s statement read. “You thought it was a game about pizza-eating plumbers? How could you be so naïve?”
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The official theme was “Home,” contestant Eric Goldberg said, and his three little matzo dioramas were meant to represent his parents’ home, his grandparents’ home, and now (the one with the matzo futon), his own home, as an NYU student.
“They gave me a foundation,” he said of his family, and you just know that somewhere out there, there are two generations of Goldbergs very proud that their boy is spending his $39,000 education gluing matzos together.


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