Judaica, The Sacred Life of Words and Symbols

In the realm of visual art, Jews have historically utilized symbols, letters, and text to depict the sacred.  Jewish monotheism asks that we do not worship any person, object, natural element, image, or name—as if these things held sacred power unto themselves.  Instead, Judaism makes indirect references to the Divine. Jewish texts and art refer to particular people, natures, objects, images, or names that, in turn, point to the existence of G-d.

In some paintings featured here, I have parceled up rectangular planes to form pictorial stories that celebrate common Jewish symbols including the six pointed star, ritual objects for celebrating Shabbat, every day prayers such as the Shem’ah, and key words and letters that convey peace and life.  I also feature two different interpretation of the Burning Bush, the form that G-d assumed when instructing Moses to save the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.  When Moses asked what name he should call this G-d when speaking to the Israelites, the bush uttered the nameless name of G-d through the riddle or poem, “I am what I am.”  My triptych on ‘goodness’ features my interpretation of three ways of doing good in the world that all make reference to nature, community, and beauty.  I end the series with a ‘Jew-Bu’ panting (a Jew-Bu is a colloquialism that connotes a Jew with Buddhist affinity or identity).  I offer here an image of a Buddha holding a pomegranate with the Hebrew letter Shin painted in the upper right corner. The Shin is a symbol for Shaddai, one of the many nameless names for G-d in Judaism.

Glossary of Hebrew/Yiddish Terms