Torah and Scripture

SHECHEM  AND  JOSEPH   – Drawing

The word שכם  (Shechem) means shoulder.  The High Priest had on each shoulder a white onyx ‘remembrance stone’, set in gold with the names of the tribes of Israel engraved upon them [Ex 28:9-10,12].  Joseph’s ‘fine woollen tunic’ was a metaphor for the High Priests multicoloured coat. Joseph [Zaphnath-Pa’neah*] and his brothers were shepherds.
The Breastplate – chosehn mishpat – had four rows of three small square stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel.  The name of each tribe – 12 sons of Jacob/Israel -was engraved on the stone representing the tribe.
Shechem was an important ancient town; Jacob bought a field there; Jacob sent Joseph to Shechem to look for his brothers, but he instead found them in Dotan/Dothan  [see my work of this title no 2002].  Joseph’s journey thereto ended in him being thrown into a pit.  It became one of the cities of refuge after Israel entered the Promised Land;  At Shechem Joshua renewed the covenant with Israel and Joseph was eventually buried in Shechem – where his grave is still today, an area under Palestinian control, and which they renamed Nablus.
Joseph interceded – as does the High Priest for Israel – for his family in that they found a safe haven in Goshen –away from Egyptians, because Jacob’s sons were shepherds – which the Egyptians abhorred because they represented one of their gods. [note sheep on shoulders] ‘Israel’ prospered and lived a good life in Goshen – today known as Avaris.
While in jail [Genesis/Bereishit 40], Joseph interpreted the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants: the chief baker and butler of Pharo.  In Joseph’s interpretation of the dream, one of them is promised life in three days, while the other is promised death in three days.  These are examples that tell us that certain details of Joseph’s life (and this incident in particular) is a foreshadowing of the Messiah.  Whenever 3, 300 or 3000 appears in the Bible, one needs to look for a remez [hint] or sod [secret] concerning the coming Messiah hidden in the Hebrew text.
According to Isaiah 53, the Messiah will bear our iniquities. [see Targum Jonathan chp LII.13; Sanhedrin 98b; Ruth Rabbah 5:6; Rashi, his early notes on the Talmud;  Maimonides, Letter to Yemer, Midrash Ex.35.4; Nachmanides, Yalkut II:571, 620 The musaf service, Philips Machzor;  Yoseph Albo, Moed Katan 28a, etc].
Just as Yeshua was punished with two criminals, so Joseph was incarcerated with two criminals.  The baker was hanged on a tree. Even the work of the two criminals in prison with Joseph, reveal a similarity:  the one being a baker the other a cupbearer.  These are pictures of the bread and the wine, which Yeshsua used to illustrate  redemption.
“Yosef, too – after being thrown into the pit with the intention that he will die there – is “brought back to life” as it were, when Midianite traders pull him out of the pit and sell him as a slave.  After the story of Moshe and his “rebirth,” we find this motif reappearing in the Prophets, in the episode of the resuscitation of the Shulamite woman’s son by Elisha (II Melakhim 4) and in the salvation of Yoash from the hands of Atalia by Yehosheva, his sister (II Melakhim 11:1-3).  In each of these stories, the “rebirth” signifies the beginning of the child’s existence on a different level: his existence is imbued with a new destiny.”  [Rav Elchanan Samet of Yeshivat Har Etzion, Israel]

 צפנתפנח ==pictorial meaning of these Hebrew letters, R -L:  Heir bowing in submission under G-d’s hand; declaring the son, the covenant, declaring innermost soul/secret; the son and chuppah / marriage / coming Messiah

2003  Dreidl  – scraperboard drawing  (17 x 15 cm)

2004  Noah – Lashon    Ink drawing   (26 x 19 cm)

2005  Signs of the Times –  mixed media   (35 x 53 cm)      

KNOW  THE  SIGNS  OF  THE  TIMES

In Jeremiah 8:7 we read: Even the stork in the heavens knows its [migration] seasons, and the turtledove, the swift, and the crane keep the time of their arrival;  but My people do not know the law of Hashem”                                                                     

Sadly too many people today are not familiar with the prophecies that tell us how close we are to The End of Days and The Day of Adonai  when the Messiah will appear. We read in Genesis 6:3 My spirit shall not contend evermore concerning Man[באדם ] [thus mankind]…his days shall be a 120 years”

 It is said that the Messiah will come when it is a Yovel /Jubilee – why? Because in Leviticus 25:10 we read: “You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all its inhabitants;….you shall return each man  [or G-d] to his ancestral heritage [earth]  and you shall return each man [the redeemed] to his family [G-d] .    And 120 Jubilees = 6000 years.  The Talmud says in Tractate Sanhedrin that the world will exist 6000 years, as Isaiah 2:11 says “And Hashem alone shall be exalted in that day”    We are closer to this Day of Judgment than most people realize because Hillel II revised the Hebrew calendar in 359CE. Rabbi’s know that our calculation is out with more or less 200 years.

2006  Nagash  –  Scraperboard   (17 x 23 cm)

Nagash  נגש

–Scraperboard Drawing  

          The shoresh [verb root] of the verb used to express when Avraham ‘came near/approached’ Adonai to  earnestly plead for Sodom and Gemorah, as well as the instance when Yitschak [Izak] repeatedly asked the one (Ya’akov / Jacob) who is seeking his blessing, to come nearer, is Nagash / נגש.  This involves drawing very close to someone,  as if to embrace that person, or greet them warmly,  or perhaps whisper in that person’s ear

         The pictographic mural formed by the Hebrew letters of this root verb drawn in this work reveals the true meaning of what we read.  The first Hebrew letter is the nun / נ which means a son or heir;  The middle letter is a gimmel / ג which can represent a man walking.   The shin / ש pictures ascending flames of fire,  most often the sh’kinah, i.e. manifestation of the Holy One’s Presence – i.e. for example  the ‘smoking firepot’ of Avram’s vision, and the ‘burning bush’ of Moshe’s call.  Putting those three images together, we see a son or heir walking into flames of fire,  into the very presence of G-d.

        This word therefore hints at the fact that something very significant,  and connected to G-d,  is happening here.  Jacob was receiving from Isaac the blessing of the First Born.  Jacob was therefore chosen by G-d to be the vessel of His am segulah  [chosen people].  This G-d actually revealed to Rifka [Rebecca] his mother [see Gen25:23] when she was carrying  Jacob & Esau.  This blessing was therefore ordained to be,  and was not stolen.

THE BIG FISH

Gematria is the science of interpreting the Hebrew text according to the numerical value of the Hebrew letters of the words.  This is the remez & sod level of understanding the Torah.

A famous story in the Tenach (Bible) is the story of Jonah and the Big Fish. [Read Yonah 1:15-2:10] (Note the Hebrew does not say Whale) The gematria of the words:   גדול דג big fish adds up to 50.

• גדול דג big fish =  50 [ל30+ו6+ד4+ג3 +ג 3 +ד4]
• The gematria of the letter nun,  נ = 50,  and ‘nun’ in Aramaic means fish.  A pictorial interpretation of ‘nun’ is ‘a son’.

Both the nun as well as the number 50 is associated with the Messiah. It is said that the Messiah will come when it is a Yovel /Jubilee because in Leviticus 25:10 we read: “You shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom throughout the land for all its inhabitants;….you shall return each man  [or G-d] to his ancestral heritage [earth]  and you shall return each man [the redeemed] to his family [G-d] Therefore on the remez & sod  level of understanding of this scripture, information concerning the Messiah seems to be associated with the number 50.

2008  Aiyl and Seh   –  ink drawing  (16 x 23 cm)

My father….. where is the  השה for a burnt offering?

Avraham said: Elohim will provide himself a  השה….

 Abraham lifted up his eyes  and looked and saw – behold a ram –   איל

afterwards,   caught in the thicket by his horns.  So Avraham went and    לקח    

 the   האיל      [Genesis / Bereishit 22:7-13]                                                                                              

• A seh / שה is any ‘clean’ animal taken out of a flock.
• Aiyl /  איל means ram, or doorpost or leader.
• / לקח [to take]  means to personally and physically appropriate unto oneself  [the lamb] ,  as a bridegroom takes his bride.

The fact that the Torah changes the usage of  ‘seh’ to ‘aiyl’ in these verses points to a deeper meaning and therefore the remez  & sod  level of understanding this incident – the akeida,  the sacrifice of Isaac. 

Considering the “70 meanings of verses/faces of the Torah” the following words in this story also have remez & sod information hidden in the text:

• your son, your only one…
• On the third day – whenever 3 / 30 / 300 appears in the text, there is hidden information about the 
• will return
• took the wood …placed it on Isaac
• behold a איל – leader
• Caught in the thicket by its horns

2009  Do Teshuva every Day  –  Scraperboard Drawing   (15 x  16 cm)

2011    Safek – The gematria of Amalek and Doubt   – Conte drawing   ( 47 x 37 cm)

The Para Aduma / Red Heifer

In  Leviticus 14:1-7 (re. the Metzora) and Numbers 19:1-13 (re. the Red Heifer):

both procedures involve the color red (scarlet material).

both procedures involve usage of cedar wood, scarlet, hyssop and crimson thread.

both procedures are done to purify someone so they can draw near to G-d.

both procedures involve sprinkling water on a person to purify them – to make him/hertahor

                With all of these thematic connections, we know that these two procedures are related.  We also saw that purification of the Metzora was linked to the Messiah [The gematria of the bird צפר – Tzipor, = 370 & is equal to the gematria of “this is messiah”זה  משּיח  .] Therefore finding a remez concerning the Messiah should not be surprising.  The procedure, involving the ashes of a red heifer, was performed on someone who had specifically come into contact with death – and thus is tamei  The purification procedure for ‘contact with death’ should in some way reverse that process by imparting life. [ This is thematically related to the metzora who needs to be brought back from death to life through rebirth. The one defiled by a corpse needs to be to be sprinkled on day 3 & 7.  [Three, 30, 300 is most often used in connection with a prophecy concerning the Messiah.]

The red heifer offering was  sacrificed OUTSIDE the camp and  the red cow had to be without blemish;  it should have no defect,  and  it should never have been yoked.  This  reminds one of the same rulings regarding the Pesach Lamb.  The colour red, an allusion to LIFE that flows in the blood, tells us the Red Heifer is for THE SOURCE OF LIFE!  The heifer had to be completely red.  Three objects were burned with the heifer—cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet thread.

 The significance of the crimson wool/scarlet thread used in the purification of the metzora is similar to the significance of the red of the red heifer  Remember, the Torah contrasts the colour white and red in order that we see a contrast between Life and Death.   

This is not the first time that crimson wool/thread was used as a sign of Life.  In the birth of Tamar’s twin sons, Peleg and Zerah, a crimson thread was tied around the hand of Zerah as a sign to show that he “came out first” and would continue the lifeline of Judah. The harlot Rahab used a scarlet cord in her window as a sign to the Israelites that she and her family were to be saved  (LIFE) and not destroyed (DEATH) along with the rest of Jericho. 

The Hyssop.  Hyssop was used to apply the blood of the PASSOVER LAMB to the doorposts of the Israelites – making a chet, ח, indicating chai חי/ Life.  The Passover feast is all about redemption.   And the use of Wood is a metaphor for the mortality of mankind.

According to the Mishnah only the high priest qualified to perform this ritual.  According to Rabbi Meir in all of Jewish history only seven heifers were burned,  but according to the Talmud there were nine and the tenth and last will be prepared by the Messiah when he comes to purify all of the righteous bride.  This ritual is regarded as a classic example of a chuk statute for which no rational explanation can be given.  [Mishpatim  are guidelines that we can understand; Edot  are those that we would not have thought of and are for a just ruling]. The apparent paradox that the ashes of the red heifer purifies the defiled & defiles the pure can be understood, when considering the above, to be a prophecy of the sacrifice [becoming tamei] of Yeshua ben Joseph [who was tahor].   

 Additional Information to unlock the mystery

The red heifer is watched for three years. It was purchased by the Temple treasury. [ Note the 30 pieces of silver referred to in Zecharia 11:12]  The Heifer was taken through the Census gate [Mipqad] to be inspected [pqad] by  the High Priest. Golgolet refers to numbering, i.e counting the sculls.  Yet, any priest may sacrifice the Red Heifer outside the Temple,  on the mount of Olives.  The parochet [curtain] had to be open,  so that the High Priest can look into the Most Holy.  The word used here is panim, i.e. looking directly at His face.  The sacrifice took place North of the altar with the head facing West towards the Temple.  Note the ashes are beaten and then placed in a clean place, in a newly hewn container. After three days, the ashes mixed with water, is sprinkled seven times towards the Temple.  One can see here an association with 7 days of creation and completion, and 7 millenniums – thus for each generation.

2015  Golden Apples in a Silver Bowl      (aquarelle & pencil on paper.  36 x 29 cm)

GOLDEN APPLES  IN  A  SILVER  BOWL   

 [Like] golden apples carved on silver plates ,[so is] a word spoken in its [proper] place.      [ Proverbs / Mishlei 25:11]

                        This painting is about hidden [sod & remez] information in the first chapter of creation,  and therefore about the golden apples hidden in the Torah.      

At the first reading, at the peshat level, one finds beauty and wisdom in the teaching of Scripture – as when seeing a beautiful silver bowl.  One needs, however, to look deeper;  only then does one notice and find the golden apples in the word of G-d;  that is, at the remez and sod   level of  studying the Torah.

            Only the name Elohim is used in the first chapter of Genesis.  This name denotes G-d’s wisdom and power as almighty Creator. Only in the second chapter of Genesis, for the first time in verse four, is  יהוה  used.  This most holy name of G-d denotes amongst  His many attributes, His mercy and love.  The significance of this is indicated by a ‘the golden apple’:   the fact that whereas at all  references at the end of a creation day, we read ‘one day, a second day, a third day’, etc.  as well as ‘And G-d saw that it was good’.  At the end of the sixth day we read: טוב מאד  [very good] and  השׁשׁי  יום   the six day,  followed by,  ויכלּו   השּׁמים  – the first two words of the second chapter of Genesis.

            The use of the definite article in front of ‘six’ alerts one to the fact that something special is being conveyed here;  a deeper meaning, a sod level information.  At closer scrutiny, one discovers that the first letter of all four of these words – the last two of chapter 1 and the first two of chapter 2 –  spell the name    יהוה[Yod-Hey-vav-hey,  i.e. Jehova] – the first time therefore that the tetragrammaton is used in Scripture.

            Pictorially the stone (earth), feather (air),  burnt paper (fire) and droplet (water)  on a pomegranate leaf denote the traditional four elements of the universe and affirm the ‘creation name’, Elohim, of G-d.  These metaphors have been traditionally used as creation elements throughout art history.  They also denote the four holy cities of Israel:  fire = Jerusalem;   water = Tiberius;  air = Tzfat and earth = Chevron / Hebron.  

2015  Golden Apples in a Silver Bowl      (aquarelle & pencil on paper.  36 x 29 cm)

BECHOR – בכור

This work teaches that it is the children that carry on the tradition of the father. Even the gematria of the Hebrew letters of the word בכר which progressively increase (2, 20, 200) show this! And this is one of the keys to understand Exodus 13:1, 2 the sanctification of every firstborn to G-d, that G-d commanded Israel, and which suddenly interrupts the flow of the story of the exodus – freedom from slavery -and journey to the Promised Land.

The fact that we are answerable to G-d was pointed out to Adam and Chava when they were forbidden to eat from one specific tree. The rest of the world has been given to us for our enjoyment and use. [Man has to discipline and curb his instincts:  desire, hunger & lust,  and this is what the Torah teaches us]] 

In Exodus 4:22 we read for the first time:  My firstborn son is Israel.  There were other nations before and besides Israel,  but Israel, as  Jacob, Joshua & David, were specifically chosen and given the assignment to do G-d’s will and be “a light unto the nations” – to lead, spread and teach G-d’s way.                Biblical verses referred to are: Gen1:1, 4 & Gen2:16/7, Gen3:6,     Is41:9, Is42:6, Ex13:1, 2, Ex4:22, Deu6:6, 7

According to the Jewish tradition it therefore especially incumbent upon the first born son to carry the tradition and teachings of the Torah forward  as the gematria of the Hebrew letters here at the top clearly illustrate:-

 אב [reading right to left:  1, 2] (father) and  בכר  [2, 20, 200] (first born son)  This is one of the explanations why Judaism is still alive today!

2017  Malachi 4:2   – mixed media   (46 x 32)

2018  Rifcha / Rebecca – conte drawing  (43 x 33 cm)

Rifka / Rebecca

Rifka  &  Samaritan woman at the Well  – diptych/set of two, drawing

Rifka (Rebecca) is portrayed as the young woman at the well that G-d identified to Abraham’s servant as future wife for Isaac [Gen24:12ff].  Rifka, one of the four Matriarchs of Israel,  is identified as a ‘priestly servant bride’  –  the water from the well is a metaphor for “the Word of G-d”  This also teaches us that she taught G-d’s Will and Word to her children.  It was especially Jacob that gained from her teaching – see Gen25:27    She willingly and graciously gave the servant Eliezer and his camels water.  The latter was no mean task.  Ten camels will consume 140 gallons of water.  – Ten’s symbolic meanings include: bringing together, confidence in G-d, completion,  and is connected to the bride;  –  Only of Isaac and Rebecca does the Torah state: ‘and he loved her’ – Note also, Isaac prayed for his barren wife.  And G-d answered his prayer, and then she carried twins:  Jacob and Esau.  She also prayed to G-d,  asking him why the two were agitated within her.  Hashem said to her: ”Two nations are in your womb;  two regimes from your insides shall be separated;  the might shall pass from one regime to the other,  and the elder shall serve the younger”.   Therefore, when Isaac wanted to give the first born Esau,  the blessing,  Rebecca knew that she had to arrange for Jacob to receive the Father’s blessing,  and thus says to Jacob ‘listen to my voice’ – she therefore acted on G-d’s prophecy.  Jacob, called Israel by G-d, became the father of the 12 tribes.

The Samaritan woman at the Well,  – representing the ‘other nation’ and “offspring of Esau/Edom”,  is on the other hand  portrayed as an crusty older woman of Northern Israel.  Two hundred years after the ten tribes seceded from the South,  they were taken away into exile in 733 & 725BCE because of their idol worshipping and not following G-d’s Torah.  During the 9^th century BCE,  Jeroboam placed a golden calf in Dan as well as Bethel [2Kin10:29] so that the northern tribes did not go up to Jerusalem to worship.   Therefore it was said:  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [John 4:22;  John 4:5-29; see also Romans 11:1-5 & 11:15-28]

2019  Samatitan Woman at the Well  –  Drawing  (43 x 33)

Rifka  &  Samaritan woman at the Well  – diptych/set of two, drawing

Rifka (Rebecca) is portrayed as the young woman at the well that G-d identified to Abraham’s servant as future wife for Isaac [Gen24:12ff].  Rifka, one of the four Matriarchs of Israel,  is identified as a ‘priestly servant bride’  –  the water from the well is a metaphor for “the Word of G-d”  This also teaches us that she taught G-d’s Will and Word to her children.  It was especially Jacob that gained from her teaching – see Gen25:27    She willingly and graciously gave the servant Eliezer and his camels water.  The latter was no mean task.  Ten camels will consume 140 gallons of water.  – Ten’s symbolic meanings include: bringing together, confidence in G-d, completion,  and is connected to the bride;  –  Only of Isaac and Rebecca does the Torah state: ‘and he loved her’ – Note also, Isaac prayed for his barren wife.  And G-d answered his prayer, and then she carried twins:  Jacob and Esau.  She also prayed to G-d,  asking him why the two were agitated within her.  Hashem said to her: ”Two nations are in your womb;  two regimes from your insides shall be separated;  the might shall pass from one regime to the other,  and the elder shall serve the younger”.   Therefore, when Isaac wanted to give the first born Esau,  the blessing,  Rebecca knew that she had to arrange for Jacob to receive the Father’s blessing,  and thus says to Jacob ‘listen to my voice’ – she therefore acted on G-d’s prophecy.  Jacob, called Israel by G-d, became the father of the 12 tribes.

The Samaritan woman at the Well,  – representing the ‘other nation’ and “offspring of Esau/Edom”,  is on the other hand  portrayed as an crusty older woman of Northern Israel.  Two hundred years after the ten tribes seceded from the South,  they were taken away into exile in 733 & 725BCE because of their idol worshipping and not following G-d’s Torah.  During the 9^th century BCE,  Jeroboam placed a golden calf in Dan as well as Bethel [2Kin10:29] so that the northern tribes did not go up to Jerusalem to worship.   Therefore it was said:  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. [John 4:22;  John 4:5-29; see also Romans 11:1-5 & 11:15-28]

2020 Sacrifice

2021  Attributes of G-d   – mixed media  (60 x 50 cm)

THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  HASHEM

Against a background of the burning bush [Exodus 3:2] and an olive tree,  representing Israel –  that,  even though afflicted or driven into exile,  yet still lives and sends out shoots as the olive tree does after having been severely pruned – It is superimposed on a menorah, also representing Israel, as well as G-d and his Torah [word] that casts an everlasting light.  Over this is the Sefirot – or Tree of Life’s – ten divine attributes placed:     Malchut: kingdom,leadership;   Yesod: foundation,  principles;   Nezach: eternity, endurance;    Hod: reverberation, splendor, majesty;  Tiferet: beauty, unity, harmony;   Chesed: mercy, loving kindness;    Gevurah: judgment, might;   Da’at: knowledge,     Kochma: wisdom, source of Torah;   Binah: understanding, compassion; and the Keter: crown, sovereignty.

G-d’s attributes are mentioned in:

 Exodus 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,

Exodus 34:7  Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children….

Numbers 14:17, 18  And now, I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great, according as thou hast spoken, saying,

     The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

1Chronicles 29:11  Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine;  thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.

2022  Commander of Hashem / G-d’s Legion.   Oil on canvas.  (50 x 50 cm)

COMMANDER  OF HASHEM’S  LEGION

“It happened when Joshua was in Jericho that he raised his eyes and saw,  and behold! – a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand.  Joshua went toward him and said to him,  ‘Are you with us or with our enemies?’ He said, ‘No, for I am the commander of Hashem’s legion;  now I have come’  Joshua fell before him to the ground and prostrated himself, and said to him,  ‘What does my master say to his servant?’  “   [Joshua 5:13, 14]

…thus said the Lord Hashem /Elohim …-you did not follow My decrees,  you did not fulfill My laws;…and I will bring the sword against you.  I, Hashem, have spoken.      [Ezekiel 5:7, 7]

Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one,  your majesty and your splendor.  And with your splendor, overcome and ride [over your enemies], for the sake of truth and righteous humility;  may your right hand guide you to awesome deeds.  Your arrows are sharp – nations fall beneath you, in the heart of the foes of the king.  Your throne is from God, it is forever and ever, [for] the scepter of fairness is the scepter of your kingdom.  [Psalm 45:4-7 ]

It shall be on that day that Hashem will deal with the hosts of heaven in heaven,  and with the kings of the earth on the earth…..for Hashem, Master of Legions,  will have reigned in Mount Zion in Jerusalem..[Isiah24:21,23]

I raised my eyes and saw, behold! One man clothed in linen, his loins girded with fine gold.  His body was like tarshish, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, and his arms and legs like the color of burnished copper;   the sound of his words [loud] as the sound of a multitude.     [Daniel 10:5-6]

And I turned to see the voice which spoke with me.  And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Adam, dressed in a robe down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.  And His head and hair were white as white wool, as snow, and His eyes as a flame of fire, and His feet like burnished brass as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was as the sun shining in its strength.  [Hazon / Revelation 1:12-16]

2023  Metzora & Tzipor    Drawing     (47 x 40 cm)

Metzora & Tzipor – Vayikra 14:1ff  & Sanhedren 98b.    

2024  Yom Teruha /  Rosh Hashanah   Drawing   (33 x 32 cm)

Yom  Teruha  /  Rosh HaShanah

Prayers that are said during the Fall feasts [Moedim]   appear here in the art work.  The Fall Feasts are Yom Teruha  [Rosh HaShanah] that always takes place on the 1^st of Tishrei; and thereafter  Yom Kippur  on 10^th Tishrei  and Sukkot on 15^th Tishrei].     All the Moedim,   [appointed times to ‘meet’ with G-d]  are connected to agricultural harvest times,  in the Spring as well as in the Fall.

The Fall feasts are both the most solemn and uplifting.  This is when all Jews do Teshuva,  that is, repent and return to the ‘paths of old’, ask G-d forgiveness and return to His  Way,  the Torah.

At this time the Shofar  [ram’s horn] is blown.  At the last service on Yom Kippur the shofar is blown in three different ways:  tekiah = symbolic of moaning,  and is one long blow;  Shevarim is like wailing,  three medium length blows;  Teruah  represents sobbing by making 8 quick blasts,  followed by one long one.  Then there is the Tekiah Gedolim  blown at the end of the service, which is called G-d’s call.  [ The eight is connected to Messiah and the Keitz, End of Days, and a Trumpet blast will announce the coming of the Messiah].

Rambam  [Moses bat Maimonades (1135-1204) said the Shofar  gives the most articulate cry of the heart and soul.  He also said it says:  Wake up you sleepers and slumberers and do Teshuva to G-d!

It is customary to eat apples and honey during these feasts and wish everyone a ‘sweet New Year’.  [Rosh Hashanna heralds the start of the Administrative year]. A Shmitah as well as the Jovel / Jubilee year  are announced at this feast.

2025  Creation Mennora   mixed media   (49 x 44 cm)

Creation Menorah

Nahmanides‘ (רמב”ן) account of the first seconds of the universe reads like this: “ at the briefest instant following creation all the matter of the universe was concentrated in a very small place,  no larger than a grain of mustard.  The matter at this time was so thin, so intangible, that it did not have real substance.  It did have, however, a potential to gain substance and form and to become tangible matter, from the initial concentration of this intangible substance in its minute location, the substance expanded, expanding the universe as it did so.  As the expansion progressed, a change in the substance occurred.  This initially thin noncorporeal substance took on the tangible aspects of matter as we know it.  From this initial act of creation, from this ethereally thin pseudo-substance, everything that has existed, or will ever exist, was, is, and will be formed. (c.1270) Remarkable! Only the Shechina, Holy Spirit of G-d could have revealed this to Nachmanides.

In his excellent book Genesis and the Big Bang, Gerald Schroeder makes it clear that the scientific discoveries of the 20^th century have helped man [especially scientist and Hebrew speaking] understand that the world is both 15 billion and 6000 years old.  In fact it is his scientific, Hebraic and Torah knowledge that explains Genesis1:2 & 3; the light that was then created was hydrogen and helium that combined and made the first bright light mentioned in Genesis 1:3 – I have included in the writing on the work many of these modern scientific discoveries that explain Elohim’s creation.

When it was pointed out to me that one can transpose the very first verse,  Gen./Bereshit1:1, of the Torah, on to the Menorah, the image that you view here, immediately came to mind.

            These first seven words contain – as all of Hebrew Scripture – many layers of meanings.  The seven words making up this first verse represent the seven days of creation.

              The first letter is a ‘Bet’ and the open side of the letter points forward, i.e. hebraically, to the left. The Sages say that this says to us that what follows in the written text, is accessible to us, whereas what occurred before, is unattainable by us.

            The word “B’reishit” is traditionally & incorrectly translated as ‘in the beginning’ yet in Hebrew it actually means: “‘in beginning’  … this that is related here…” – which clearly infers a pre-existence.

            The harmony and balance of G-d’s creation, our world, is visually conveyed by the number of letters and the symmetry of this first verse – and especially so when presented on the Menorah.

            The word  את  that appears at the centre of this symmetrical pattern of words, has never been translated.  It is untranslatable.  It of course represent the first [Aleph] and last [tav] letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  Believers know it as the Alpha & Omega.

It is also in the position of the ‘servant candle’ of the Chanukah Menorah!

אהב vs. אויב – Ahav  vs.  Ojev
[ Love  vs.  Enemy ]

Each Hebrew letter not only has a numerical equivalent that carries meaning, but also conveys a pictorial meaning.  For example the aleph, א can represent G-d and the bet ב   represent a house or family.

Therefore, if  ו  representing a man and  a י  hand/fist,  replace the ה in between the א and the ב  of the root word for  ‘love’ (אהב),  an important message is conveyed:-

Beware of the enemy – אויב. This enemy ( ו – man) stealthily enters and shakes his fist ( י )at G-d; and reaches out to claim the ( א )Holy One’s family and House – ב [Israel].

The window ( ה ) through which the Holy One (א) and His family and household (ב) – Israel, as well as a husband and a wife act (should act), is through Love:  אַהַב

2028  ירושלמ / Jerusalem   oil on canvas  (30.5 x 30.7)

ירושלם – Jerusalem & the  ש [Shin]

The G-d f Israel, that is  יהוה choose Jerusalem and “placed His name there” for Israel to worship Him there; build a temple there and do sacrifices there.

Read: Devarim/ Deuteronomy 16:2, 6, 11 + Deut 12:4,11,14,18,18,21 + Deut 14:23  + Deu 15:20  and many more places in the Tora & Tenach.    Then we read in the prophecies of the prophet Jeremiah [Jer 14, 17] “..I shall be your Master, I shall take you one from a city and two from a family, and I shall bring you to Zion…..At that time people will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of HASHEM,’ and all the nations will be gathered to her in the Name of HASHEM /יהוה – to Jerusalem; they will no longer follow the visions of their evil heart.

Around the borders of the painting is written in Hebrew:  And you shall eat before יהוה your G-d, in the place that He will choose to rest His Name there [Deu14:23] + the eyes of Hashem your G-d, are always upon it [Deut 11:12]

Therefore,  no person, no government, no nation, no party, no organization has the chutzpa or right to say Jerusalem and the Temple Mount does not belong to the Jews NOR divide up Jerusamlem.

Note: the three arms of the ‘shin’ ש represent the three valleys in Jerusalem:  the Himnon, Higgai and Kidron valleys.  Tradition says the dot on the right leg of the ‘shin’ represents the Temple.

The pictorial meaning of the letter ‘shin; represents flames and or G-d: For יהוה your G-d is a consuming Fire  [Deut 4:24]

2029  Elul   oil on canvas  (76 x 38)

אלול  Elul  

My beloved has descended to His Temple garden,

to His Incense Altar, yet still He grazes my brethren

remaining in gardens of exile

to gather the roseate fragrance of their words of Torah

I alone am my beloved and my beloved is mine

אני לדודי ודודי לי

He who grazes his sheep among the lilies…

                                     שיר השירים  / Song of Songs6:2,3

• ‘Elul’ is a typical Hebraic anagram that indicates a deeper truth and much additional information. It refers to the month of Elul that precedes the month Tishrei in which the Third of Hashem’s Appointed times & fall Festivals occur:  Rosh Hashonnah (ram’s horn in the painting), Yum Kippur & Succot.  It is prophesized that at the time of these festivals (Trumpet in the painting) Messiah will come to fetch his betrothed. There will be a wedding (Chuppah in the painting)
• This Scripture, Song of Songs, speaks about Hashem’s love for His People: ‘He who grazes his sheep… and ‘the lilies’ is a metaphor for the month of Elul & Trumpet (lily – time of preparation).
• Lily = A beautiful flower with 6 petals. It is the most often mentioned flower in Scripture and mentioned 8 times in Songs of Songs. The capitals of Solomon’s temple pillars were inspired by them and they of course call to mind a trumpet.

2030  Am Segula

2031   Asah    oil on canvas   (30 x  42 cm)

עשה   to Do

The meaning of ‘asah’ is to take the Torah/ Scripture/ your faith,   from the realm of theory and words into the realm of concrete, functional reality, i.e. as a potter takes a lump of clay and makes a jug.

To asah  means more than to ‘do’.  It means to interact with material the way a potter interacts with clay.  It means to make visible and tangible that which was only spoken or thought or believed.  To asah  G-d’s instructions/ commands, means to be and do them into something visible, tangible, for all to see.  To do the commandment makes it so much greater , fuller,  than just the peshat (literal or superficial) meaning of the words.

2032  Lest you Forget  mixed media   (53 x 43 cm)

זכר–  Lest You Forget

Take care lest you forget Hashem your G-d by not observing His commandments, His ordinances and His decrees;  lest you eat and be satisfied and you build good houses and settle. And your cattle, sheep, goats, increase;  you increase silver and gold – and your heart will become haughty and you will forget Hashem.

                                                 Deut. 8: 11-14

Like a partridge summoning together chicks it did not bear,  so is one who amasses wealth unjustly;     In the middle of his days it will leave him and at his end he will be considered a scoundrel.   Jer.17:11

Praiseworthy is a person who has found wisdom[Torah]

–a person who can derive understanding from it, for its commerce is..better than the commerce of silver..It is more precious than pearls.

                                                                 Prov.3:13-15      

2033  Our Stewartship   mixed media   (25.5 x 34 cm)

שמר    to Guard &  work subject to another’s will

אבד  means to  act as G-d’s designated representative,  caring for his creation that is, to  שמר That is, diligently watching over and protecting with passion G-d’s world:  earth, plants, and animals placed in our care.  This establishes a close, continuous relationship the Creator and King of the world,  יהוה

The pictorial meaning of the Hebrew letters therefore means and portray the following message:

ע  Looking after

ב  Our home / world

 ד This opens a door to

   שG-d

     מDoing this constantly, regularly

   רReveals and brings you close to the King  (G-d)

• Note the images portraying the pictorial meaning of the letters.

The gematria of these 6 Hebrew letters add up to 616.

Therefore 613 mitzvot / commandments according to the tradition that the Torah contains, and which Jews are to keep.   Added to this are the three most important commandments that everyone, including non Jews need to keep: 

1^st Love G-d with all  your heart, mind and soul;

 2^nd Love your fellow man as yourself

3^rd   Keep the commandments that apply to you  [there are different ones for e.g. women, men, priests, the High Priest, etc.]

The Hebrew verse Ps 108:4 “I shall thank You among the peoples, O Hashem, and I shall play music to You among the kingdoms”-  add up to 616!

2034  Living Waters

2035  The Jewish Riddle   mixed media   (21 x 26.5 cm)

The Jewish Riddle  Proverbs 30:4

Who ascended to heaven and descended?

Who else gathered the wind in his palm?  

Who else tied the waters in a cloak?

Who established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?

                  ___________________________________

Do you know?  The answer is behind a veil