Mizrah

"Mimizrah, from the rising of the sun to its setting, the Lord's name is praised" (Psalms 113:3)

One of my first commissions when I started my business seven years ago was a painting entitled "City of Gold."  It was a cutout of Jerusalem's skyline painted gold with silver accents with Psalms 122 written in the center.  I made Jerusalem in a closed circle because of the third verse of that Psalm which states, "Jerusalem is built up like a city that is united together."

Over the years I recreated many versions of this piece with different texts written inside based on the customer's request.  The design has framed several ketubot as well.  Jerusalem was always painted in gold which is classy and lovely but secretly I kept hoping someone would order the piece and ask for Jerusalem to be painted in vibrant colors instead of the monochromatic gold.  When I have an urge to paint something I cannot rest until it's done, so one afternoon last May I decided to create a multi-colored Jerusalem.  I used gouache paint diluted with water so that the colors would run into one another and offer some nice shadings.  Two days later the painting was finished.  It was colorful and happy but the inside circle was blank and I wasn't sure what to write in that space.  The answer came to me later that summer when I was in of all places Jerusalem!  I decided the blank space would be filled with the word "Mizrah".

Mizrah, which is Hebrew for East, is a word often painted or carved out of wood or metal and hung in synagogues and homes on an eastern facing wall.  The Talmud (Berachot 30a) teaches us that one who stands in prayer outside of Israel should direct his heart eastward, toward Israel.  The first Biblical reference of facing eastward while praying is during the dedication ceremony of the newly built First Temple as King Solomon offers his heartfelt prayers to God (I Kings 8:22).  Another Biblical reference is in the Book of Daniel where the verses describe Daniel as having "...windows open in his upper story, facing Jerusalem, and three times a day he fell to his knees and prayed and gave thanks before his God" (Daniel 6:11). 

Many scholars believe that the idea of turning toward Jerusalem during prayer probably began during the Babylonian Exile following the destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.  Jerusalem was east of Babylonia and as verbal prayer became a substitute for animal sacrifice and communal synagogues replaced the Temple, facing East became a significant reminder to the exiled Jews of where the focus of their hearts should be albeit their physical bodies stood elsewhere on foreign soil.  Throughout the generations the most decorated wall of the synagogue has been the Eastern wall and until this day is the place where the Rabbi and prestigious members of the synagogue sit.

Our homes, meant to be mini sanctuaries and also places of worship, should have a wall decorated with the phrase Mizrah as a reminder of Jerusalem and where God once rested his Divine Presence among us.

This is the wall in my house where I pray, my personal reminder that in the comforts of my current home my real home lies elsewhere. 

(Oh yeah, and that's my Jerusalem painting hanging next to it...it wasn't intentional but the colors go really well together. I call this my "Jerusalem Wall," and it is my favorite space in my home!) 

The Glory of Gold

Anyone who follows my blog (namely my husband and my mom) knows that I love illuminated manuscripts. Much of my artwork is reinterpretations of well known medieval illuminated manuscripts. One of my favorite aspects of an old illuminated text is the gold leaf applied often to the first initial in the text and added into the details of the illuminated border.  An illuminated manuscript is not considered illuminated unless one or many of the illuminations contains gold foil or gold specks painted on it. In medieval times when illuminating texts was extremely popular, often (if not exclusively), the texts were of a religious nature so gilding them was a way of exalting the content within.  And even though they say diamonds are a girl's best friend, let's face it gold ain't too shabby either. In an effort for my artwork to have that authentic illuminated look, I would use several layers of gold paint to highlight different areas of the border. The gold paint looked nice and in a certain light practically glowed but alas I knew it was not the real thing.  For a while now I've been wanting to learn the art of gold leafing so my pieces could more authentically be described as illuminated artwork.

This past summer though I had the privilege of learning the art of gold leafing from an accomplished artist in Jerusalem who spends her days gilding the artwork of many well known artists in Israel as well as her own artwork.  The artist, Ronit, was so sweet and patient it was a pleasure learning from her.  Upon returning to my studio in NY, I had a ketubah order to complete and was so excited to implement my new skill of gold leafing.  Ironically the groom sells custom design furniture that is often gold leafed and asked that I use it in their ketubah.  (although as a sidenote the gold leaf used on furniture and the gold leaf used on paper/parchment is of a different nature.)

Here is my first gold leafing attempt, the enlarged initial letter "Bet" is made from 23 karat Italian gold.  I love the way the gold is raised and not flat like the paint used to be, it adds character and class to the artwork.

Here is the actual gold, you have to be so careful with this stuff if your finger touches the gold it will literally disintegrate, yet when applied to the glue base it lasts forever.  Pretty amazing.

Forever My Jerusalem

When I think of Jerusalem, I think of walking her quiet streets on Shabbat afternoon as I made my way from my home in Talpiot to visit my brother's family in Ramat Eshkol. I think of the stimulating Torah classes I took at Matan with brilliant teachers such as Dr. Aviva Zornberg and Dr. Mordecahi Sabbato; my own students at Machon Gold and Sha'alvim whose zest for learning and love for Eretz Yisrael reinforced my own. I think of the dance classes I took at Rachel Factor's dance studio, hip hop classes at the YMCA, Rosh Chodesh walks to the Kotel, and the beautiful melody of Lecha Dodi sung every Friday night at theYakar shul in the Katmon neighborhood. I think of Naomi, my 65 year old hippie art teacher at the Israel Museum, who would affectionately call me “Shira, Yafati, Tamati” a paraphrase from the book of Shir Hashirim. She was a secular Israeli but she was always quoting Rabbinic aphorisms and verses from Tanakh. I think of the hundreds of Shabbat meals and cups of cafe hafuchs I shared with friends, like minded olim, who left their formers lives and family to begin a new life in Israel. I think of marching through the streets on Yom Yerushlayim everybody dressed in blue and white waving Israeli flags spontaneously stopping to sing and dance, the joy in the air palpable. I think of my stepfather's kiddush on the first night of Sukkot several weeks after his first cousin and close friend Dr. David Applebaum was murdered, and the emotion that was felt as he reached the words “Blessed are You, Hashem our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us and brought us to this season.” I think of the Friday afternoons spent delivering food packages to the poor and elderly; the soup kitchen on Rechov Agripas in which I volunteered, where gratitude and respect were always on the menu and the cook, like a mother, knew all the customers by name and told them what they needed to eat. I think of the warm Mediterranean sun beating down on me as I would walk to work, down Rechov Yehudah, up Koveshi Katamon and then a left on Chizkiyahu HaMelech, all the street names rich with Biblical and historical meaning; and I think of the delicious mountainous breeze that would set in, in the late afternoon and bring relief from the heat of the day. I think of my own wedding at Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, as I stood under the chuppah, a chorus of voices singing “Soon, let it be heard in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride...” as I looked out at family and friends, their faces framed by the hills of Jerusalem.

The colorful personalities of Jerusalem; the combination of spiritual, intellectual and creative energies that give Jerusalem her unique vibe, filled my own soul in a way that made me feel complete and whole- shalem. Yeru-shalem- a city that brought me much inner peace.

These are my thoughts of Jerusalem as my paintbrush dances across the canvas, creating a colorful depiction of what was once my home. This is my Jerusalem. Forever my Jerusalem. My heart and soul longs for the day I can return to you.

Wherever You Go There You Are

The title of this post is actually borrowed from a book I read a while ago by Jon Kabbat-Zin.  The book is about practicing mindfulness in our everyday life.  Mindfulness as defined by Zinn is a practice where "we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.”  

The artwork above was commisioned by a woman as a gift for her husband upon his 40th birthday.  The wife knew what she wanted; a papercut mounted on a background painted in earth tones, an enlarged Hebrew letter "mem" and cut-outs of musical instruments since her husband is very musically talented.  And lastly, she wanted a verse from Sefer B'reishit "Ba'asher hu sham- in his present state." The last request puzzled me.  The verse is found in the story where Avraham Avinu sends Hagar and Yishmael away from his home.  The two wander in the desert of Be-er Sheva and when there is no longer water to drink and Yishmael is literally dying from thirst God hears Hagar's and Yishmael's cries of distress and an angel from heaven calls out to Hagar and says, "Fear not, for God has heeded the cry of the youth in his present state."   Even though the angels in heaven tried so to speak to dissuade God from saving Yishmael based on the evil his descendants would perpetrate against Bnei Yisrael, God doesn't listen to the angels pleas and saves Yishmael based on who he is at that moment in time.  Why, I thought would she want this verse included in the artwork?

The wife answered that her husband often likes to tell this story and quote this verse as a basis for living a mindful life.  As a practicing psychotherapist he tries to inspire his clients to live mindfully as well as practice it in his own personal life.  At first hesitant, now I was all for including the verse.  After all, probably most people on their birthdays, especially the milestone ones, spend the day (or perhaps even weeks leading up to it) obsessing over their lives thus far and fearing what is yet to come.  "Should've done this, should NOT have done that!"  All those regrets and thoughts of missed opportunities mixed with fears of aging and the future can cloud and ruin a day that is meant for celebration. 

 How nice is it to receive on your birthday a piece of artwork that serves as a visual reminder to quiet all that noise in your head and the chaos that so often surrounds us and instead calmly and serenely enjoy the best gift of all: being fully aware and present to the very moment in which you are currently in.

Let Them Eat Paint!

Ok, not really, unless it's the kind by Wilton with which you can decorate cookies.  But do let kids paint!  Or color...or bake...or create dinosaurs out of modeling clay or do anything that's fun and creative and yes, a little bit messy.  Letting kids paint on an 8x10 piece of construction paper is nice. Adding in a little glue and glitter is even better.  But, letting them paint the windows of your home is AWESOME!

And sometimes they might paint their bodies too... that's also cool. 

Being an artist it's not surprising that one of my favorite things to do with my children is artwork, and it's not just because I'm good at it or I have the patience for it, it's because I love that our artistic activities foster their creativity and imaginations.   And by letting things get a little bit messy they can relax and just be kids!  There's always so many rules by which they have to abide it's nice to just let go every once and a while and say "Guess what we're doing this afternoon? Painting on the walls!!!"

My son goes to the most amazing pre-school.  I'm obsessed with the place. Recently they started learning about Jackson Pollack (he's not even four and he can recognize a Pollack painting...sorry I'm a Jewish mother, I can't help myself).  If they raise enough funds after Pesach the teacher is buying each student a 2 x 3 ft canvas on which each child can create their own Pollack painting by drip painting it like Pollack did.  I love the idea of my son throwing paint on a canvas with abandon, allowing beauty to form from the freedom of letting a child do what he does best...making an awesome mess!

A Gift to Remember

Ok, who remembers who bought you your food processor?  Or which three friends chipped in for your Kitchen Aid? Your China? (Every setting is a different person to thank!)

But a piece of artwork specifically designed for your wedding with your monogram on it?! The givers of such a gift are not forgotten!

So how lucky is the couple who received the above piece for their wedding?  I know! (Granted once you have kids you will be eternally grateful for whoever it was that bought you that coffee maker...but you won't remember who it was...not even after your second cup...).

Speaking of which, I am now going to make myself some coffee...

Words of Peace and Truth

The picture above is of a piece I completed several months ago.  A woman ordered it as a birthday present for her husband whose mantra in life is "Shalom al Yisrael- Peace Unto Israel."  A nice refrain to live by and certainly this world would be a better place place if more people lived holding the banner of peace as their cause.

With Purim right around the corner I couldn't help but title this blog post with a phrase from the Book of Esther which also has to do with peace.  In the ninth chapter of the Book of Esther, we are told that Esther and Mordechai sent books to all 127 provinces of the King of Acheshveirosh, detailing the laws of Purim and the story of Esther.  The books were called "Words of Peace and Truth."  If there was ever a holiday whose commandments were meant to increase brotherly peace and a sense of community amongst the Jewish People, it was Purim.  We send baskets of food to our neighbors, give charity to those in need, eat a festive meal together with family and friends and drink a little liquor perhaps to mitigate any feelings of resentment or ill will we might be harboring toward our fellow Jew.

You see, the whole reason we were in Persia in the first place is because we had been kicked out of our land nearly 70 years prior to the story of Esther because we weren't able to get along with each other.  And one thing God really has no patience for is lack of peace between His children.  Esther who is a descendant of the tribe of Binyamin was willing to put her life on the line to save the Yehudim, descendants of the tribe of Yehuda.  This was a huge deal since for hundreds of years, going back to the time of the Judges, there was a lot of bad blood between the two tribes.  In fact the tribe of Binyamin was nearly wiped out in a civil war.  Oueen Esther's ultimate act of selflessness rectified a centuries old conflict that had been festering within the Jewish People.  To keep this feeling of brotherly love going and remembered for years to come the holiday of Purim was established with all it's peace promoting laws and customs established as "words of peace and truth."

And lastly, yesterday was 2/28, my oldest brother's birthday, whose name happens to be Binyamin Shalom...so peace unto you brother-man, and many, many happy years to come! And peace and happiness unto all as we celebrate this very meaningful holiday of Purim in one week's time.