June 21 – August 23, 2018
Crossing The Threshold Featuring work by the Jewish Artists’ Laboratory. The Jewish Artists’ Laboratory, now in its sixth year, explores specific themes through study and art making, bringing together a diverse group of artists who have an interest in the relationship between Jewish thought and creativity. This year, nearly 35 artists spent eight months studying and exploring the theme of Crossing the Threshold. This topic presented a multitude of opportunities to explore how thresholds are reflected in Jewish rituals and holidays, and the significance of Jewish rituals and holidays, and the significance of thresholds in its many forms. This exhibit showcases a large array of media and subject matter around this expansive theme. ARTISTS INCLUDE: Susan Armington, Robyn Awend (Lab Coordinator), Carolyn Light Bell, Jordyn Feiger Bomberg, Jaymee Chanen, Gloria Cooper, Toni Dachis, Sandra Felemovicius, Suzanne Fenton, Jonathan Gross, Rani Halpern, Bonnie Heller, Ann Ginsburgh-Hofkin, Sylvia Horwitz, Sheri Klein, Anita Konikoff, Alison Morse, Gayle Novick, Dina O’Sullivan, Diane Pecoraro, Paula Leiter Pergament, Kris Prince, Sarah Routman, Jan Rubenstein, David Sherman, Noam Sienna, Aaron Silver, Diane Silverman, Judy Snitzer, Susan Weinberg (Resident Writer), Rochelle Woldorsky, Sharon Zweigbaum In partnership with The Midwest Jewish Artists’ Lab and Beth El Synagogue. Generously supported by The Covenant Foundation. Reception: Thursday, June 21 6 – 8 PM Artist Presentations: 7 PM Free and open to the public. |
L BLESS OUR COMING AND OUR GOING By Rabbi Alexander Davis, Artists’ Lab Facilitator “Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” -Deuteronomy 6:9 The Torah commands us to write teachings on the doors of our homes and our city gates. That is, write them directly on the doorposts. Such was the practice among ancient Egyptians and Samaritans. And it remains a tradition in the Muslim community. For Jews of the Second Temple period (530 BCE-70 CE), however, this practice was modified. Instructions were written on parchment and placed in a case. These “mezuzot” were then affixed to doorposts. This is how the practice is observed today. According to Jewish law, it is the hand-written parchment that makes a mezuzah kosher. At the same time, over the centuries, the case itself has been imbued by artists with a beauty and significance all its own. Today, mezuzot come in all shapes, sizes and styles. They are made out of silver, glass, ceramic, wood, even Legos! Still, whatever the design, the case is ultimately but a container for a scroll, an outer covering that protects or perhaps, draws attention to a holy teaching. In this way, mezuzot are metaphors for art. The design element of an art piece is a vehicle for a deeper message. Such is the case in this exhibit, Crossing the Threshold. Over the course of the past year, artists from around the community gathered to study texts of Jewish tradition. They entered a dialogue with ancient sages and contemporary colleagues, sat with new ideas and eventually, fashioned an original creation infused with the message and spirit of Torah. It has been an honor learning with and from members of the Minneapolis Jewish Artists’ Lab. In our studies, we explored thresholds of time and space, physical thresholds and thresholds as a metaphor. We examined the Bible’s description of Joshua entering the Land of Israel, the Psalmist’s vision of the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem, the mitzvah of placing Chanukkah lamps by our doorsteps, and the Torah’s allusive reference to women serving at the entrance of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Contemporary issues such as immigrants crossing America’s borders and our own personal stories about crossing boundaries naturally made their way into our discussions, giving our conversations added layers of relevance. A threshold is a place of transition where we move from here to there, from inside to outside, from known to unknown. Strategically located in that liminal space, the mezuzah calls out, “May those who enter and those who leave be blessed.” And that is our hope for viewers of Crossing the Threshold. May the images and words challenge and inspire us to make the thresholds in our lives and in our lands places of blessing. |
Exhibition Photos
Crossing the Threshold Exhibition
Exhibition Artwork
Susan Armington
Threshold
Mixed Media This work offers a doorway from an earthen space of ancient texts into someplace deeper – a place that is both darker and more mysterious, and also radiates a strange luminescence. It’s an invitation like that of the Jewish Arts Lab, to consider what has come before us, texts and concepts that resonate, that have built our substrate, and go further in. |
Robyn Awend
Privileged/Marginalized
Print/Graphic Design If we stripped away our physical selves, how would someone know it is you? We are each composed of many identities that shape who we are as unique individuals: race, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, class, nationality, ability and more. Some of these identities may define us and some may confine us. Some of these identities may offer us privilege while others may marginalize us – as defined by cultural and societal “norms.” In the Jewish Artists’ Lab this year, we explored the topic of crossing thresholds as they relate to geography, time, Jewish laws, gender and so much more. This print explores, on a personal level, the dichotomy of being privileged in some aspects of my own identity and marginalized in others. Through the use of word fragments, shared letters are revealed and new shapes are discovered between the threshold of these two opposing words. The privilege of a lifetime is being (able to be) who you are. . .on ongoing journey as we evolve through life. |
Carolyn Light Bell
A Radiant Bridge
Photography and Poetry Thingvellir National Park, Iceland, Site of the Icelandic Parliament Dawn, December 17, 2017 At the intersection of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates, I was awed by the site’s sheer, unapproachable magnificence. I took a few steps up but dared not cross: too slippery. So much of our experience is simply bearing witness. We stand at thresholds throughout life. Some we cross. Some give us pause. Sensing and accepting the power of the unknowable strengthens us. We are looking at the face of God. In the poem, I do not stop and go back. There is an allure. There is a choice. In the photograph, it is important to note I did not enhance color. The image is exactly what is and what was. I was tempted to walk further to view the expanse beyond, but could not cross that threshold. Crossing the Threshold --by Carolyn Light Bell Balancing on an icy bridge I tread planks, slow my pace. New footing, new language, New sightings. No need to describe my destination. It dips down, elusive, radiant. Silken layers of time warm me. Joy and gratitude encircle me, filling my spirit with the sacred. |
Jaymee Chanen
Sadie’s Journey
Poetry by Jaymee Chanen Drawings by Gayle Novick The Goldene Medina, the country that glitters that was best for the Jews, was the dream of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe at the turn of the century. With their fighting spirit and trepidation, they crossed many thresholds to escape religious persecution. They carried their prayer books, candlesticks, mezuzahs, Torah, and their love of learning across oceans to a country that would become the home to their future generations. Sadie’s Journey exemplifies the Jewish immigrant experience. With her precious Sabbath candlesticks lighting her way to America, Sadie held them close to her heart. Her prayers gave her hope that the gates would be open to her family and she could live in a country without fear. From a farmer’s wife, living on the Prairie in North Dakota to her home in North Minneapolis, Sadie lived the American dream. With her husband Yankel (Jacob) they raised seven children and had twenty-one grandchildren. Sadie’s voyage to America was her favorite story to tell her family. She also recounted the dark days when the Russian Cossacks ravaged her village and threatened her family and friends. When Sadie’s daughter Faye passed away the candlesticks were then passed on to me. As I chant the Sabbath prayer, I light a candle for my grandmother Sadie and for all those who seek freedom. The candle lights sway, the candle lights flicker. |
Jordy Feiger Bomberg
Crossing the Threshold into my Pranamaya Kosha
Watercolor A core precept of Yoga is the belief that everything in the universe is composed of energy and consciousness (Prana). The Pranamaya Koshais the energetic or vital body, linking physical body and mind. I experienced my Pranamaya Kosha in 2012 while studying ParaYoga™. Many times during or after practice I am awakened to clarity and creativity. In the sweet stillness I am able to travel over the bridge from the gross physical to the more subtle, numinous (spiritual, unearthly) realm. After an Extensions asana (exercise) to create energy in the spine, a savasana(resting pose) focused with So Hum mantra (“I am that” referring to all of creation), and then, “sitting tall like a yogi”, with deep effortless awareness, I began Prana Dharana- a pranamaya(breath practice) filing the brain with presence or light. Prana was revealed to me as a silver thread from the base of my brain to the base of my spine. A sacred stream through which to see and experience the infinite. Further expanding that stream of consciousness, I began floating up - my body rising, my head getting larger and being able to see the entire room, even behind me. My experience was so vivid and real I was afraid of what would happen if I kept rising. I startled myself out of the dharana(concentration). This awareness of spirituality can be understood as what German Lutheran theologian, philosopher, and comparative religionist Rudolf Otto described as “mysterium tremendum,” a mystery that is at once terrifying and fascinating. I am grateful to David Sherman for bringing to life my mysterious experience of my Pranamaya Kosha and helping me see my artwork less literally. Studying Thresholds with Rabbi Davis has inspired me to walk through the doorways of collaboration and photography. |
Gloria Cooper
Seeing Beyond
Acrylics This is a work of my imaginings. I enjoy letting the paint drip and flow and watching what happens. I always control the outcome, but I like to have an element of freedom also. Although the piece is basically abstract, there are recognizable features. I hope the viewers comes away with their own interpretations, but I do have a sense that the painting is projecting into a different world. I imagine that we pass into a different realm when we leave this life. Since I am a lover of nature, I hope it’s a place of beauty and peace. |
Toni Dachis
Picking up the Pieces
Plexiglass + glue + new growth Description: Crossing the threshold requires change. It involves entering the unknown in some cases. A big loss can be the force that starts the journey into the abyss. Life can shatter our dreams and leave us with the choice of staying there or picking up the pieces and starting something new. This new territory can be beautiful and exciting if you choose. I did, I am, and I see every day as a gift, a challenge, a choice for new growth into a better self; and mine, to arrange with the power within me. I am crossing a personal threshold from within my own soul and into the universe. |
Sandra Felemovicius
My Mexican Threshold
Photograph I am a third generation Mexican Jew. My grandparents immigrated to Mexico from Poland and Russia in the early 1920’s when the United States enacted laws restricting immigration. Mexico was a country that opened their doors to everyone. All immigrants faced economically difficult lives, but coming from a part of the world where their lives were hard, they had no difficulty in adapting to conditions in Mexican villages. My grandparents were the first ones in my family to truly cross the firstthreshold and opened a whole new world for the generations tocome.Mexico acted like Abraham’s tent and everyone was welcome to make a futurefor themselves. My father is an architect and decided to continue to work hard and create buildings that had a welcoming feeling for everyone no matter their religious beliefs, gender identification or color - Again, highlighting the idea of always having a threshold to invite people in. In this picture I captured one of his first buildings in Cancun Mexico. Mexico today has a Jewish community of between 40,000 to 50,000 with about 37,000 living in Mexico City. There will never be enough ways to thank Mexico for opening it doors to their thriving Jewish community. |
Suzanne Fenton
Jonathan Gross
Rani Halpern
Bonnie Heller
Celebration at the Threshold
Acrylic “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24 And, we add, the woman leaves her father and mother and holds fast to her husband. The directive from Genesis is clear: We are meant to be paired. Today we understand that can take many shapes. Or no shape at all. The threshold from single to coupled could be developed into an entire series: from single to couples to single again; non-traditional pairings eventually made ordinary with time and learning; non- pairings by choice, by happenstance, by uncontrolled circumstance. Over time, with greater wisdom and political activism, society has begun to recognize many varieties of pairings. These are all to be celebrated. I chose to highlight the threshold that has brought me the most joy. |
Ann Ginsburgh Hofkin
Liminality
Dye Sublimation Photographic Print on Aluminum In this piece, I have portrayed those daily, even mundane, aspects of life by photographing a common tube tire in a warehouse building in Northeast Minneapolis last fall. It caught my eye because of its enormous size, shape, and sheen. As a symbol of rolling alongin a repetitive fashion, it reminds me of the routine aspects of life that we encounter every day. And yet this tire, with its opening in the center, provides an escape to another dimension. To represent this other dimension, I captured the image of a true “Blue Moon” (photographing it very early in the freezing AM of March 31st, 2018) with its magical aspects symbolizing meditative reflection. In our own lives, we respond to the phases of the moon and are drawn to its spiritual qualities. Indeed, as Jews, we base our calendar on its cycles. Nothing in our lives is static, though it may seem that we exist in banal situations where any path forward offering significant change appears unlikely. Then all at once, a different route presents itself, one that speaks of something so spiritual that there is no rational explanation. Our customary rhythm becomes radically altered. Such thresholds are everywhere if we are able to recognize them - they are liminal spaces where we often feel most alive. |
Sylvia Horwitz
Conundrum
Archival pigment print The Tomb of Benei Hezir, which is also called Zechariah’s Tomb, bears an epithet that states: “This is the tomb and the stele/memorial (nefesh) of Eleazar …” Nefesh. Funerary monument. Marker on tomb. Pyramid-capped obelisk. Standing stone. Stele. “because I built you a tomb (nefesh) and a memorial, be at peace in Jerusalem.” Nefesh. Soul. Ruach. Neshamah. Breath. Soul. Respiration. Inner animating element of life. “… and Hashem formed the man of dust from the earth and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (nishmat hayim); man became a living being (nefesh haya).” The question remains: What is the connection between the architectural edifice called nefesh and the concept of soul? |
Sheri Klein
Threshold, a visual journal 2017-18 8 x 8 inches 60 pages Mixed media Excerpt from a Threshold, I - 2018 Mixed media on archival paper Excerpt from a Threshold, II - 2018 Mixed media on archival paper Throughout my artistic practice, I have had strong interests in color and abstraction in ways that combine personal narrative(s) and symbolism. My recent mixed media works explore the theme of thresholds using collage, imagery, and writing. Throughout the 2017-18 Midwest Jewish Artist Lab, I kept a visual journal to respond to our monthly topics and discussions about thresholds. The journal process facilitated a rendering of thresholds as complex and multi-dimensional--- spiritual, metaphorical, emotional, sensory, poetic, individual, cultural and geographical spaces that shape and transform identity, and purpose. I was able to see thresholds not just as a place, or an event, that necessitated a crossing, but as a sacred time for waiting---where one may fluctuate in the liminal spaces between lost & found, opening & closing, disconnecting & connecting, beginnings & endings, dark & light, hope & despair, chaos & order, sound & silence, new and old. In my journal and mixed media art works on paper, I embrace the processes of layering (of text and image) and repetition (of colors shapes, and words) to reinforce the qualities of complexity and mystery that inhabit the spaces of thresholds. The aesthetic quality of imperfection is reflected in the visual iconography of wavering lines, torn paper, and hand-drawn text—as a reminder that there is no perfect or right way to cross a threshold. Ultimately, thresholds are inherently personal, yet, so very universal. |
Anita Konikoff
Crossing Life’s Thresholds: Birth, Parenthood, Entering the Covenant, Grandparenthood, and Ancestry
Mixed Media My father, whose good name you will carry, lived 94 years. On his gravestone my mother had inscribed, "kindly scholar." He was a man with a heart of gold, a brilliant mind and a photographic memory. He was tall for his generation and carried many people on his broad shoulders- as a teenager already supporting his widowed mother and many of his siblings- and later his own family. You have many things, Tzvi Zev, that he did not including a doctor to attend your birth, a bed to sleep in and warm water for bathing in a bathroom inside your own home. No matter your circumstances, it is what you do with what you are given that matters. My father faced life's challenges with sheer determination and resolve. As he rose from his humble beginnings to the well-educated family man that he became, he pulled people up with him along the way- never taking anyone down to get ahead. He made choices based on what was right, not what was easy. For example, he signed his own orders to be shipped overseas during WWII to save a man who already had a wife and child from having to go. When his first grandchild was born, he thanked me for making him an ancestor. I know he knows that you are continuing his line and that he is kvelling. |
Alison Morse
Dream Rematerialized in Bangladesh
Poetry and Digital Print I am a descendant of Jewish immigrants who worked in NYC garment factories around the time of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The Triangle fire, which killed 146 garment workers, was N.Y.C.'s deadliest industrial workplace disaster in the 20th century. In 2013, Rana Plaza collapsed in Savar, Bangladesh, killing over 1,130 garment workers. Both "accidents" occurred due to gross neglect of garment workers' safety and human rights. When I first heard about Rana Plaza, I took the news personally, and began writing poems that made connections between these two preventable tragedies. My poems became part of The Price of Our Clothes, a multi-media project about the garment industry, created in collaboration with visual artist Rachel Breen. My poem, "Dream Rematerialized in Bangladesh," marks thresholds crossed in time and space between two cultures and personal and international histories when I met Khadija, a garment worker in Dhaka, Bangladesh, during a research trip for The Price of Our Clothes. The poem also depicts crossing the threshold between reality and dream. By presenting the poem as a broadside, I am also attempting to cross the threshold between visual art and writing. Thank you to the Rimon Jewish Arts Council for supporting the research trip for The Price of Our Clothes. |
Gayle Novick
My Life’s Thresholds
Mixed Media I loved to draw as far back as I can remember. My fourth-grade teacher was an artist. Many afternoons she would have us draw flowers and birds from the Golden Nature Guides. My mother told me that I would never be an artist and should not go to college since I would just get married. Luckily my father encouraged me to attend college. I fell in love with horses watching Roy and Dale Evans and the Lone Ranger. I wanted to take riding lessons against my mother’s wishes. When I was 15 my father bought me a lovely horse that I had for six years. After attending the U of M, I moved to Miami, Florida, my first time away from home. When I returned after a year my mother had given away all my riding clothes and threw out all my artwork that I had neatly stored in the attic. Many years later I came to realize that she had untreated mental illness which had deeply affected my childhood. I eventually forgave her and after my father died she resided with me for 10 years. Many years ago, I read an illustrated biography of the actress Sara Bernhardt. I admired her independence and many talents. I created a three-stage mixed media artwork of her. For this project I came up with the idea of using this stage format to illustrate the thresholds of my life. I then combined this piece with another artwork I did in 1986 of my personal interpretation of Halley’s Comet. |
Dina O'Sullivan
Mezuzah
Fabric, stitching, beading, painting 24” x36” This is a fiber piece with stitched and painted embellishments as well as beading. It is nonobjective and is a large size mezuzah. I decided to do this mezuzah since it is on my door frame and I touch it every time I enter or leave, over the Threshold, so I thought it is important to me as a significant Jewish symbol reminding me that I should learn something new every day in G-d's world. |
Diane Pecoraro
Inches from the Threshold
Poetry After a major heart surgery last year, my nearly lifelong practice of writing poetry was stalled. It seemed as if I had lost the observational and emotional connections that spark such creativity. Friends would suggest, “Why don't you write about this or that?” I didn't see “the this or that” they were talking about. THEY were having a moment of poetry; I wasn't! In a rhyme I sent to an encourager at the time I wrote: Art is not always easy to brew, It requires the mind ‘s eye and attention, Mine seems to have gone off the rails, I don’t much like this suspension. This spring, I went back to my old habit of keeping a journal. Slowly, a few drafts of poems appeared. The poems here were written during this period of recovery. |
Paula Leiter Pergament
Thresholds
mixed media drawing (49”h x 34”w)
We pray, “lift up your heads O’gates
lift them up, O’everlasting doors,
so that the King of Glory
May come in...”
Rabbi Shefa Gold comments:
“We are the gates, we are the doorways.
G-D enters the world through us when we
‘lift up our heads’...
when we raise our consciousness.
May our intention be to listen for the call to awareness that lifts us up and out of our small concerns into a wide perspective, a compassionate responsiveness. By answering the call, we become everlasting doorways between the finite and the infinite realms.”
My drawing also provoked my memory
of THE TWILIGHT ZONE ...
(each week began with)
“There is a FIFTH DIMENSION beyond that which is known to man. It is as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond this threshold is another dimension, a dimension of light, sound, and mind. It is the middle ground between man’s fears and the summit is his knowledge. This is the dimension of IMAGINATION...it is an area which we call the TWILIGHT ZONE.”
mixed media drawing (49”h x 34”w)
We pray, “lift up your heads O’gates
lift them up, O’everlasting doors,
so that the King of Glory
May come in...”
Rabbi Shefa Gold comments:
“We are the gates, we are the doorways.
G-D enters the world through us when we
‘lift up our heads’...
when we raise our consciousness.
May our intention be to listen for the call to awareness that lifts us up and out of our small concerns into a wide perspective, a compassionate responsiveness. By answering the call, we become everlasting doorways between the finite and the infinite realms.”
My drawing also provoked my memory
of THE TWILIGHT ZONE ...
(each week began with)
“There is a FIFTH DIMENSION beyond that which is known to man. It is as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond this threshold is another dimension, a dimension of light, sound, and mind. It is the middle ground between man’s fears and the summit is his knowledge. This is the dimension of IMAGINATION...it is an area which we call the TWILIGHT ZONE.”
Kris Prince
Stepping Up
acrylic on canvas When will our country cross the threshold concerning our national plague of gun violence? As of Friday, May 18, 2018, there have been more students and teachers killed by gunfire in America’s schools (31) than active duty military deaths (29) this year. During March For Our Lives, the Parkland teens wore orange $1.05 price-tags in our nation’s capital to symbolize the NRA campaign dollars Marco Rubio accepts divided by the number of students in Florida. Within days of their school’s tragedy the brave Parkland survivors took command and were leading the charge for gun law change. They demand that lawmakers listen to them and are mobilizing youth across our country, saying this is not the price of our freedom. Social change is often led by the youth; ours are telling us to step aside. Billie Forester, a senior at Southwest High School, spoke so eloquently on March 23, 2018, at Temple Israel: So, my dream is that we can live in a country where people of color aren’t viewed as targets, when children feel safe at school, where guns are treated with the same legal caution as other dangerous objects, and where American culture has divorced itself from this unhealthy obsession that it has developed between violence and freedom, and the youth of this country are willing to work as hard as necessary to make this not a dream but a vision. Stepping Through acrylic on canvas Sarah laughed because the Lord had set a new path for her. Although her blood flow had long past, Adonai told her she would bear a child and at the age of 90, nurse her son herself. According to Midrash, many converts were drawn to Judaism by a thirst born of Sarah’ bountiful nursing of Isaac. As a post hysterectomy woman, I too have a new path, a second chance, a threshold I was forced to cross over. I have new challenges. I have no womb, no fallopian tubes, no ovaries. Time passes and slowly, I have begun to feel more like myself again. It is now time to take advantage of this wakeup call, and time to put my best foot forward. I have time. I have space. And I have wisdom to share. |
Sarah Routman
Crossing the Threshold – Celebrating the Brokenness
Mixed Media A threshold represents that in between place I have not yet crossed. It is not where I have been and not yet where I will be. The poet John Keats said, “I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of the imagination.” His words represent a creative threshold where I find myself lingering. As I look back, I see many pieces of my hopes and dreams unraveled in faded memories, yet I still cling to a mix of joy and sadness in recognizing how the two emotions spring from the very same well. Crossing a threshold is a bit like stepping out of a place of familiarity and comfort, into discomfort and vulnerability, for we never know exactly what lies on the other side until we fully embrace it. Sometimes the change is faced with fear and dread. Other times it is greatly anticipated with excitement and optimism. I have chosen to weave fragments of the illuminated broken promises from my Ketubah and the sterile words from my Get into a mosaic of possibility. Unlocked by a golden key that is my imagination, I invite the cracks of the fragmented pieces of my experiences to find their own shape and focus not only on the brokenness, but to celebrate the light that shines through the cracks, illuminating the way to a brighter future. |
Jan Rubenstein
David Sherman
in collaboration with Jordy Bomberg
Twilight – Crossing the Threshold Archival Pigment Print on Silk 30’ x 40” Twilight, the threshold between day and night is peaceful, exciting and known. At the same time, twilight is unknown, scary and foreboding. The authors of the siddur (prayer book) recognized the conflicting emotions of this liminal hour. The known day is ending. The impending night is approaching. Even though we have lived each day, we are aware of our mortality and don’t know for sure if we will cross the twilight threshold into the light of tomorrow or into darkness. The tefilah (prayer), from the maariv (evening) prayer service assures us that we benefit from God’s wisdom. God’s celestial order is proof. Like a multicolored rainbow which visually reminds us that the world will not be destroyed by flood, the radiance of the setting sun at twilight is a daily/nightly symbol of God’s covenant, assuring us that we will greet the morning dawn. The image is inspired by Jordy’s meditation experience. She described an out-of-body vision of herself rising above others in her meditation class, her head expanding. Jordy called it scary and startling. Jordy asked herself “what if I go higher?”. She crossed a threshold from known to unknown. From consciousness to super natural. From peaceful calm to startled awareness. Twilight is symbolic of Jordy’s meditation and also serves as its backdrop. Water is symbolic of life. Both are mysterious. Jordy’s vision is mystical, she is pictured floating over water, having crossed a threshold from material existence into a numinous state, almost becoming as one with the sublime scene/sunset. |
Noam Sienna
Thresholds of Creation Ochre and lapis pigments, gold leaf, and iron gall ink, on Pergamenata paper This piece explores the connections between the traditional materials of Jewish book art and the Creation described in Genesis. The Hebrew calligraphy presents three verses (Gen. 1:7, 1:9, and 2:7) that record moments of creation: the making of a raqia ("firmament") to separate the primordial waters above and below, the gathering of the waters below into ocean and earth, and the creation of human beings from the earth. Each of these moments is also linked to a physical substance used in medieval book illumination. The word raqia comes from a root meaning "to spread out, beat thinly," and is used elsewhere in the Torah to describe the gold leaf used to decorate the desert sanctuary of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). The primordial waters above the raqia are described in the visions of Moses, Ezekiel, and Isaiah as an ocean of sappir, which refers to the deep blue of lapis lazuli, the most precious of all medieval pigments. And the redness (adom) of "the dust of the earth" (adama) which forms the first human (adam) comes from the presence of iron in the soil, forming ochre or hematite (literally, "blood-stone"). The red earth used in this piece was gathered in Hormuz, an island off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf — imagined by some scholars to have been the original site of the Garden of Eden. These links between illumination and creation suggest a midrashic understanding of the sacred book as a microcosmos in itself. |
Aaron Greenberg Silver
Nachshon ben Aminadav’s Mi Kamocha
Paper The Israelites were running from slavery, with the Egyptian army furiously on their heels, when they came upon the Red Sea barring their way. They were on the threshold of freedom, stopped by a massive body of water. There is a midrash which says that Nachshon ben Aminadav put his faith in g!d, and started walking into the water, saying: מִי כָמֹֽכָה בָּאֵלִם יְיָ, מִי כָּמֹֽכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּֽדֶשׁ “Who is like you Lord among the mighty? Who is like you glorious in holiness?” When saying the first line, he says “chamocha”and by the time he gets to the second line, his faith has taken him so far into the sea that the water enters his mouth, and he chokes a little, and says “kamocha”and then g!d causes the waters to open. This papercut is about this moment. The words that Aminadav spoke represent the Israelites on the threshold, leaving slavery and about to enter freedom, the first line of text below, the second line above and partly enveloped in water. They are pursued by the army and stopped by the sea, grasping at faith. They are a people enslaved but not yet a people devoted to g!d, escaping the pyramids of Egypt and hoping to reach the promised land, Jerusalem, out there beyond the roiling waves. With hot desert rocks behind and the cold wet water in front, they are in between on a threshold of cool sand. The waters of the sea just beginning to part. |
Diane Silverman
Look at What I Found!
Acrylic painting, color pencil drawings and photos Unpacking to make my apartment my new home, I slowly tackle the project of making this space livable. I am sometimes delighting in what is uncovered and sometimes pained by what I find. But it’s my eyes looking at past history. I allowed no one to help me sort and toss. My heart opens now, only to seek my own life continuing. Oh… look at what I found! photos of me as a child. I was a cute little kid. Look what I found! I forgot that I drew this.1990. Color pencil on heavy textured gray paper. I framed this to match my other artworks of tea parties. It fits on the wall in my kitchen, with the others, under my new tea party chandelier. Look what I found! I thought this had been given away to someone years ago. I always loved this darling little green, black and white checkered cream pitcher. Now it is displayed on my open cubby shelf, along with my collection of other vessels having handles. Tea pots, sugar/creamer sets, mugs, fancy tea cups and decorative pitchers. After the closing of the sale of my home, reality came knocking at my new door. This is it, kid. You are alone. On your own now. The house is gone. There is no presence of him except for your memories and old photos. It is painful. Lonely. The quiet is sometimes restful, sometimes loud. I ask, how can I go on without him? Just open the door and go. |
Judy Snitzer
Thresholds
Acrylic Sometimes new beginnings and thresholds are imperceptible and unseen, but my father eagerly crossed one threshold after another throughout his life. Sometimes leaving the past behind without a backwards glance and sometimes treasuring the past, present and future as priceless jewels. Born in poverty in a shtetl, without his father, he had the opportunity to grow and be educated in the United States. He was able to live out his dreams in St Paul, Minnesota, creating a family and his own business. The fantasy of visiting and then living in Israel was also within his reach. He came the first time in 1953. In the painting he is visiting the nascent community of Bat Ayin, June of 2000. It was hot and dusty, and he was excited to be there. |
Susan Weinberg
Entering the Dalet
Mixed Media -Acrylic with eggshells This piece became a reflection on my experience in crossing thresholds. It is scary, exhilarating and surprising. I repurposed a canvas on which I had begun a painting of eggshells. Each attempt to cross a threshold builds on past efforts, repurposing our very self to stretch into something new. Eggshells represent newness, an entry into the world, a fragility that conjures up the uncertainty that accompanies newness. Real eggshells trail behind me as I step out of my shell and into the unknown, through the Dalet. * Each door casts a shadow, the fear and uncertainty that accompanies change, yet also a glow, the satisfaction I find each time I pass through change and am transformed. In my world of thresholds, doors jut out at odd angles and exist on multiple levels, my path anything but linear. More like a Rube Goldberg contraption, a roadmap I could never anticipate. I don’t always cross a threshold in a traditional way, sometimes I go over or around, finding my own path around the rules that govern entry. All of this exists in a fluid space as I must learn to let go and relax to find transformation. When I find that internal flow, I create a space for beshert, fate. Surprising opportunities and connections arise, things I cannot plan or force, only invite in. All I can do is take that first step, relax into it, welcome the unknown and hang on for the ride. *the fourth Hebrew letter, meaning door Buoyant --by Susan Weinberg Eggshells trail in my wake, Fearful and tentative, I step into the shadow of uncertainty. The broad crossbeam Of the Dalet Juts overhead. Air whooshes around me Falling, Flailing, I land with a thud Sliding as I cling to the edges with fingertips Grasping for the familiar To slow, My descent. Rube Goldberg my guide, On this unpredictable journey. Doors surround me Unexpected thresholds await Beckoning me into Beshert I am exhilarated at my survival Adrift in a sea of chance, I am buoyant with amazement. |
Rochelle Woldorsky
Dallet
Digital print with hand drawing 4th Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet The DALLET is considered to be a gateway to the physical and metaphysical worlds that shape our existence. “Dallet דלת is the word for door, gate and indicates resistance and the state of selflessness and humility needed to pass through it. It indicates how to pass through the gates to know one’s own mystery of being and return to the power of the Aleph.” – (quote unknown) In our studies we discussed many ways that one approaches a threshold. In our first discussion of the theme the question was asked “what comes to mind when you hear the word “threshold.” In my notes I wrote a list of words; crossing, entering/exiting, opening/closing, passage, standing still, decision, choice. There were many interesting discussions drawn from Jewish tradition or teaching. Standing in front of the door to the temple about to face the creator, (our expectations, fears, joys), to the mezuzah as an awareness that G-d is present and a reminder of Jewish identity and faith. Through art the human spirit transcends ethnic boundaries. I choose a poem by Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet whose influence transcends borders and ethnic divisions, whose poetry speaks on a practical and mystical plane. While the specific reason for the letter being named Dallet is not known, many believe it is because it looked like a post and lintel door. Rumi ends his poem with a round door, which says to me that a door or entrance can take many shapes. |
Sharon Zweigbaum
Becoming My Mother
Mixed Media and Text In thinking about thresholds, I keep recycling memories of my mother and how close I’ve been feeling to her lately, despite her passing in 2006 at age 97. There were differences between us and I enjoyed opportunities that she never had, but in many physical and emotional ways, I’m becoming my mother. She was a widow for her last 20 years and I’ve been alone for 17. I empathize with how she tapped inner strength and I find it inspiring. I recall her slow walk as limbs stiffened, leaning on shopping carts to navigate in stores and her plaintive but undemanding daily phone calls with hints of loneliness. When we finally convinced Mom to move, with mixed emotions she gave up her home of 40+ years and eventually became comfortable at Ridgepointe. Yet she maintained a stubborn resolve by cooking for herself, balancing her checkbook and dispensing freshly baked banana breads. In the mirror, it is jarring how my face is coalescing into her older woman appearance and how my bowed back and other bodily traits are almost identical to hers. I have selected materials including mirrors, our dual images and a doorway to Ridgepointe in Minnetonka as symbols of my emerging threshold. I purposely left the entry as anonymous; it could be any senior apartment complex. My children suggest that I should make this transition soon, though I hope to persevere until my 80s, as Mom did. But the ultimate task of simplifying and divesting looms in my psyche on a daily basis. |