While creating the piece The Seven Species, I bumped into a woman in the supermarket who grew up around the corner from me in my hometown in NJ. "I've been meaning to call you" she said. I want to order a custom art piece for the Rabbi of my shul. A couple of weeks ago was my son's Bar Mitzvah. Everything was in order, we had 75 family members coming to us for Shabbos. All our meals would be catered and eaten in the shul. However, God had a different plan. Thursday night there was a terrible rainstorm and the basement of the shul where we were supposed to have all our meals was flooded. The Rabbi of the shul who has a huge living room graciously offered to host the meals at their home, and we want to give them a unique gift to show our appreciation for their helping us out. How quickly could you have a piece ready?"
I couldn't help but laugh, the piece I was currently working on, The Seven Species was being made for this woman's brother-in-law who lives in Israel as a surprise gift for his 40th birthday. I was told by the wife to keep the artwork a secret. In my own family I was always known as the one who couldn't keep secrets. I was about to shirk myself of that title. I told my friend she would have to wait a couple of weeks because I was currently working on a piece for someone else, but I would let her know when it's complete. "Ok, great" she said, "Oh and I want to keep the artwork a surprise from the Rabbi and his wife." She then told me their names and I realized I teach at the same school as the Rabbi's wife...more secrets to keep!
When The Seven Species were finished, I contacted my friend they told me they wanted a simple papercut with the words, "You can draw water with joy, from the springs of salvation." The quote originally from Sefer Yeshayahu is recited during havdalah at the conclusion of Shabbos. It was a perfect verse to use since it has to do with water (remember the flood that caused the whole scenario), Sabbath and God as the source of all Blessing. The only thing they couldn't decide on was the color scheme. My friend devised a plan that I could see the Rabbi's house when noone was home and choose the appropriate color for the piece. This was going beyond keeping a secret, we're talking about breaking and entering here. Anyway it was all accomplished, secrets were kept, I managed to get a peek inside their house without setting off any alarms and the result is the papercut above and below. Hope you enjoyed my rambling story!
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