Momento Chai

Artist’s Statement

Momento Chai

This show's title, Momento Chai, is a combination of ideas from Jewish tradition and 16th century portraiture.

The 16th century master portraitists spent a lot of time thinking about their relationships to God, and they were a bit fascinated by death -- probably for good reason! Many put a "Momento Mori," or reminder of death, in each of their portraits. It might have been a human skull, a rope or a knife. It was supposed to remind people of their mortality and ultimate obligation to God.

That notion is combined with the Jewish tradition of Chai -- LIFE. Every idea in Jewish tradition is centered on preserving, appreciating and treasuring life.

The result is Momento Chai--each image in the exhibit has a reminder of the joy of living.

The show contains work that was commissioned for this year's national Art Calendar published by the Women of Reform Judaism. Memento Chai will travel to several St. Louis area venues this fall and is available after November for installation.

About each image:

Lifted by Hope & Unity

Hands of Jews of all hues lift the Torah scroll high on Simchat Torah, the day we finish the end and begin the beginning.

Hands are recurring themes throughout my work. I see the human hand as a source of creation. When a community joins together to lift a Torah scroll high, their hopes for repaired world are hoisted high. A child asked: if you had to choose to be deaf or blind, which would you choose? All I can think is: what would happen if I lost my hands?

A Year of Health

The shofar and apples are iconic and universal representations of the New Year. Though common and familiar, neither is mundane. The shofar calls us to attention, to listen with renewed purpose. The apple, much maligned in some versions of the creation story, is redeemed at Rosh HaShanah. Together they plead for the most perfect of gifts: A year of good health.

Aura

In a darkened room, nine candles reflect in a young girl’s eyes. Those young eyes, lighted only by the beeswax candles, betray an old soul. Many people think this image portrays a birthdaycelebration. No child reflects on birthdays with such intensity.

This is a child who knows the role that Judith played in the Hanukkah tale.

Hagbah

A woman honored with Hagbah, or raising the Torah, was virtually unknown to generations

before ours. A Holocaust Torah is lifted to the sunlight to reveal Shira, the song of praise and deliverance.

So precious are the words of Torah that everyone must see them. Rashi wrote that a person who lifts a Torah so that the congregation cannot see the words has committed an infraction as serious as someone who hurts a neighbor or causes strife in a family. Why? Perhaps because the true essence of Torah has not been revealed unless all can see – and be included.

Aron Kodesh

Deconstructed, it’s not much more than a pretty closet. What truly is contained within?

Spinning

Some things are just for fun.

Blessing

Our first -- and most important -- blessings come from our parents. Blessings are Creation at its purist, represented by water & earth in blue & green.

 Mi Ya’’avar…  –  “Who will cross for us to the land beyond and fetch it for us..."

Jen Taylor Friedman is the first woman to write a whole Sefer Torah for a congregation-- or for any one! It’s quite possible she is not the first woman to do it, but she is the first who can be acknowledged. She presented the first woman-written Serfer Torah to United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis, a URJ member, in October 2007.

She writes on separate pages that are sewn together and she doesn't necessarily write the scroll in order. The last lines she wrote in her first Sefer Torah were not planned but resonated through me as I created this image: “Mi ya'avar.... Who will cross for us to the land beyond and fetch it for us?”

The line is fraught with meanings: Is the land beyond the one that is forbidden to women? Is it the land of Torah, of knowledge, or ritual? Of observance?

To whom does the "us" refer?women? Learned women?Jews?Jews? Can observant and liberal women learn from each other? That Jen is from England and now works in New York makes the line all the more compelling. She physically and spiritually reached across to the land beyond to fetch for us a woman-writ Torah.

I photographed her in a modest position, standing before an open ark, offering her ink and quill to the whole of the Jewish world. The modest pose represents an acceptance of the weight and responsibility of the task, the awe-inspiring nature of her duty and her gratitude to be given the ability to write Torah. The backlighting is suggestive of divine inspiration… and approval.

Desert Sister: Palestinian or Jew

A young girl. Beautiful. Olive skin. Long, curly dark hair. Searching, hopeful, mournful eyes. A light scarf falls from her head.

Who is she? Is she innocent or knowing? On which side of that horrible wall does she belong?

 Palestinian or Jew, she is our sister. She belongs to us.

In Honor of Beruriah & Ima Shalom

There are two women, Beruriah and Ima Shalom, whose intellect and knowledge of Jewish law were so superior that they are quoted in Talmud. Just two women. How exceptional they must have been to overcome the prejudice and prohibitions against women scholars.

Beruriah is said to have killed herself when she felt that she failed a test set by a rabbi to prove her unworthiness as a teacher. Ima Shalom was a daughter and wife of learned rabbis. Her husband, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, said that “Better the Torah be burned than to be studied by women.” Nearly 2000 years old, their wisdom inspires us to continue our own studies and gives us courage to add women’s voices to ancient ideas.

Shadow of a Shin

Light and shadows reveal the Shin – often representing the name of God.

Candle Lighting Time

A double exposure captures the evening sky in time to light the Shabbat candles.