Becky Behar, winner of the 2025 Isaac Anolic Jewish Book Arts Award, presented a viewing of her photos at the Kniznick Gallery at The Women’s Studies Research Center from Sept. 4 to Sept. 18. A new-age photographer, Behar was brought up under Sephardic Jewish heritage and descends from the diasporic population expelled during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th century. Her work titled “Tu Ke Bivas” has been derived from a Ladino — or Judeo-Spanish — language, blessing her parents often invoked: “May you live, grow and thrive like a little fish in freshwater.” Behar’s photos imbibe her culture and traditions through the enactment of her mother and daughter performing these rituals today. Although her family’s migration led her through Turkey, Columbia and ultimately the United States, her Ladino language, Jewish religion and Sephardic customs remained few of the only constants in her life. 

At the core of the exhibition, Behar’s mother and daughter are seen engaging in prayer and Shabbat rituals. The two triptychs, which are three-part artworks presented as a unified whole, “Kuvridas Kon Kavana” (covered with intention) show her family members’ hands covering their eyes in blessing. It is customary to cover one’s eyes for the Shema prayer and the lighting of the Shabbat candles. As part of their traditional role of shaping spirituality within the home, women light the candles and wave their hands three times before covering as they say their prayers. This is a gesture that connects the three generations of women and a piece of work that underscores women’s importance in Judaic tradition. Another series, “Lo Ke se Trenza, no se Desata” (What Is Braided, Does Not Unravel) highlights challah braiding and touch between generations as a symbol of resilience. Still-life photographs interwoven throughout underscore how ordinary objects embody cultural meaning. Most of her works, including “L’Dor V’Dor” (From Generation to Generation) and “Desendansya” (Bloodlines) trace her customs, faith, family connections and heritage, emphasizing ancestry as a living force carried in both body and memory. Still life plays a central role in “Damgua Dulse” (Sweet Imprint, 2022) where sweetness suggests love, nurturance and resilience, reflecting upon the lasting impressions of rituals across generations. 

Behar also explores themes of uncertainty and choice through “Fadaryo i Fortuna” (Fate and Fortune, 2023). This work examines the tension between destiny and personal agency within the Jewish tradition, raising questions about inheritance and possibility. Through her work “Nazar No!” (No Evil Eye, 2022), Behar uses bold imagery to reject envy and misfortune, reclaiming symbolism as strength. Behar focuses on oral traditions as a way of connecting and remembering the roots of her traditional values. The work “Konsehos de vida” (Life Lessons, 2022) reflects the endurance of Sephardic proverbs, tying storytelling to daily resilience. On the other hand, “Tradisyones Orales” (Oral Traditions, 2021) views storytelling as a vessel of culture and celebrates the memory preserved through voice. Acts of generosity and devotion surface in “Sekada” (Charity, 2023), which centers on the act of giving, reflecting it both on obligation and blessing. Similarly, “Bendichas Manos” (Blessed Hands, 2023) and “Tehilim” (Prayer, 2023) highlight the sanctity of women’s ritual gestures, elevating hands as a vessel of spirituality. The works also capture devotion to prayer as a continuity in times of uncertainty. “El fondo Keda” (The Depth Remains, 2022) suggests that beneath change, culture remains resilient, even in times of exile. “Espina” (Spine, 2022) presents resilience as a backbone of survival, conveying strength in fragility and endurance through faith. Together, these photographs form more than a collection of pieces, they offer an insight to continuity, belonging and survival. Behar’s lens transforms her private rituals into public acts of remembrance, reminding viewers that heritage persists not only in memory but also in gesture, words and objects that carry it forward. 

The gallery space extends the narrative beyond the frames. Placed at the entrance of the exhibition was a copy of the “Alhambra Decree” (Edict of Expulsion of 1492). The text read that the decree ordered the expulsion of Spain’s Jewish community, forcing families to abandon their homes, traditions and language. This moment of rupture scattered generations into diaspora, shaping Sephardic identity through exile, resilience and memory. The decree stands as both a historical wound and a reminder of the endurance of culture, faith and belonging. 

The gallery presented food traditions to tell parallel stories of memory and resilience. The recipe for Ma’amoules cookies was placed in a drawer, inviting the viewer to make these Middle Eastern delicacies filled with dates and nuts. In the Sephardic Jewish practice, they are eaten during Purim, with the hidden sweet filling symbolizing Queen Esther’s concealed identity. In this way, the cookies embodied how stories of survival are baked into everyday rituals. One drawer held amulets of blue eyes, hamsas and garlic linked to the Sephardic tradition of guarding against the “mal de ojo” (evil eye). To further engage with her viewers, Behar presented a drawer inviting people to write down traditions from their own family, weaving these practices into a living archive of customs, connections and stories that sustain identity across generations. 

Behar also focused on the Shabbat candles used in Jewish traditions. Lit each Friday evening, these candles bring light, peace and blessing into the home, marking the transition from the week’s labors to sacred rest. Beside this lay a drawer filled with the braided Havdalah candles that mark the end of Shabbat and the return to the everyday. Its intertwined wicks symbolize unity, the weaving together of sacred time and ordinary life. Alongside the candle, aromatic spices are inhaled, carrying sweetness and strength into the week ahead. Behar displayed her linguistic heritage through a drawer presenting linguist Julia Peck’s “Ladino en Kaza,” a project encouraging Ladino to be spoken at home as part of their daily lives. There were also various drawers filled with family photos, Sephardic proverbs and Kippahs (Jewish skullcaps). 

In the middle of the gallery lay a table spread divided cleanly into white and navy halves. One side was set with blue-and-white patterned plates, silver candlesticks and a gleaming Kiddush cup. On the other were mint leaves, a brass tray of pomegranates, ornate glasses and a vessel of infused oil inviting visitors to not only look but inviting them as participants. Placed alongside the objects are cards. One explains the symbolism of rosemary oil, used in Sephardic households to accompany blessings and rituals; the other reads “Azer Chay,” the Ladino dialogue for preparing tea, inviting visitors to hear and even practice the language out loud. The table also displayed a small wooden box filled with blue glass beads offering protection against the “evil eye,” a tradition known as “ayin hara.” Visitors are encouraged to take one of the beads home as a gesture that erases the distance between the gallery space and lived tradition.

Altogether, the exhibition envelops the viewer in intimate moments and everyday objects, transforming private familial acts into shared cultural experience. As visitors move through the gallery, they are invited not just to witness memory but to participate in it, becoming part of a communal reflection on survival, resilience and continuity.