THE CRADLE OF CHRISTIANITY EXHIBITION in Cleveland gets a good review from Tom L. Freudenheim in the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles:

Show Decodes Early Years of 2 Religions

by Tom L. Freudenheim

Whether it's good luck or good planning, the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage in the Cleveland area has hit the exhibition jackpot with its current show, "Cradle of Christianity," which runs through Oct. 22. Because while the film version of "The Da Vinci Code" is generating buzz over a purported tale of Jesus, here's an exhibition with tantalizing real objects that provide an actual glimpse from the years of early Christianity.

The exhibit's revelations are more subtle than, say, an uncovering of a liaison between Jesus and Mary Magdalene, but there is evidence of fascinating links between the older and newer religions: Judaism and Christianity.

That is especially evident in items used in liturgical contexts - two Byzantine oil lamps - one with a menorah and the other with a cross. The fact that both lamps are otherwise virtually identical is a useful reminder that, even in our own time, it's often the decorative motifs rather than the object's basic form that identifies the group using it - as, for example, in the case of drinking vessels or candlesticks.

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