Hayyei Sarah Bereishit 23.1-25.18

Sorry about yesterday's missing post... life was a bit on the hectic side! Yes, life can interfere with blogging!

Biblical and Jewish theme in combination with the magnificent landscapes of the Land of Israel are the sources of inspiration that Ellen Horowitz of the Golan Heights draws upon when she creates her original paintings, prints and posters. "Rivkah represents the Jewish Mother in her full capacity to understand how her actions and labors have a direct bearing on whether or not her children realize their full potential for good or for evil -an awesome responsibility! It’s interesting to note that Rivka’s death is not recorded in Tanach. Perhaps it’s because Rivka never dies. She’s alive and well and living within every Mother of Israel."

Sarah dies at age 127 and is buried in the Machpeilah Cave in Hebron, which Abraham purchases from Ephron the Hittite for 400 shekels of silver. Abraham's servant, Eliezer, is sent laden with gifts to Charan to find a wife for Isaac At the village well, Eliezer asks G-d for a sign: when the maidens come to the well, he will ask for some water to drink; the woman who will offer to give his camels to drink as well, shall be the one destined for his master's son. Rebecca, the daughter of Abraham's nephew Bethuel, appears at the well and passes the "test". Eliezer is invited to their home, where he repeats the story of the day's events. Rebecca returns with Eliezer to the land of Canaan, where they encounter Isaac praying in the field. Isaac marries Rebecca, loves her, and is comforted over the loss of his mother. Abraham takes a new wife, Keturah (Hagar) and fathers six additional sons, but Isaac is designated as his only heir. Abraham dies at age 175 and is buried beside Sarah by his two eldest sons. Isaac and Ishmael.

Honor your mother and father

This weeks Torah portion introduces the ten commandments. Of course we all know that one of the top 10 is "Honor your mother and father." I considered posting some of my personal work because my dear Jewish mother has been nudging me to do so, but I have decided instead to highlight the first Jewish parents- Abraham and Sarah. There are some lovely paintings out there, starting with that star of Jewish artists- Chagall.





















And from two contemporary European artists... different views of our foreparents.

Go gently

Without reading about her, or seeing her picture, one knows that Temma Gentles is a Jewish Woman. One only need to look at the names of her work:
SHE is a tree of life
Parents and children
Biblical Women
Village Shul
Those names represent about a third of the mantles posted on her site.
On her site, she shares this midrash from Rabbi Elyse Goldstein, someon who I met in passing during a period of my life when I considered entering the rabbinate. Her mother Terry was a director of NFTY, the reform youth movement when I was very involved.
From Rabbi Goldstein: If Judaism is like a tree, when the strong winds of feminist change blow on it, it will become up-rooted and die. If, however, Judaism is like the reeds and grasses, it will be able to sway and adapt to changes.

Gentles describes her Biblical Women (photos below): Lines of fine red ribbon running horizontally amid a few impressionistic grasses represent the winds of feminism. Into these are incorporated, in roughly chronological order, the names of 24 Biblical women, with Sarah ("the priest-ess", according to Savina Teubal's book) at the centre front where the breastplate sits.

The ornate piece which begins this post was award winning for Temma Gentles and Dorothy Ross. I am sure that many of us are continuing to applaud their work.