One way or another, each of the contributions to this special issue argues that there is nothing intrinsically Jewish about any family image. Instead what makes a work, a text, a photograph or collage Jewish are the frameworks, the literal frames or screens or templates that make them visible.13 It is the narratives and perspectives we bring to specific images that make them Jewish.
What follows are a series of meditations, explorations and engagements with visualizing Jewishness in America at the beginning of the twenty first century. Many of these contributions are experiments, ventures into new territory. They are very much works in process as opposed to finished pieces. It is my hope as guest editor that these artists and writers will continue their engagement with these issues, helping readers and viewers imagine a larger vision of what Jewishness can look like in the future.14
