Jewish 19th-century ‘Rembrandt’ still relevant 200 years after his birth

(JNS) More than a century before John Goodman’s character Walter Sobchak announced in the 1998 film “The Big Lebowski” that “I don’t roll on Shabbos,” Dutch painter Jozef Israëls, known as the 19th-century “Jewish Rembrandt,” did not paint on Shabbat.

“Do come to my atelier one of these days, and I will show you my latest creations. But on the Sabbath my studio is closed,” Israëls (1824-1911), who had a strong Jewish education including studying the Talmud, told one visitor. He was said...