Who I Am and What I Do
I was born in Denver, Colorado on the first day of February 1957 and raised in a Modern Orthodox family. I started to get serious about art as a teenager, inspired by the artwork of album covers of 60’s and early 70’s music. After graduating from high school in 1975, I attended the Rhode Island School of Design for one year, but left art school to study Torah and Jewish mysticism with the late Rabbi B. C. S. Twerski.
Immigrating to Israel in 1977, I spent two years studying Torah in Jerusalem, where I met my wife, Miriam. We got married in 1979 and moved to Tzfat where I immersed myself in the study of the classic texts of Judaism, and continued to make art at night. As early as 1980, I began to produce artwork that was based on Torah concepts in an attempt to integrate Torah and art.
After a bout with cancer in 1987 I started practicing meditation, and discovered that there was such a thing as Jewish Meditation. The books of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan showed me how meditation is an important part of Kabbalah.
I developed my own original system of translating Kabbalistic concepts into graphic shapes and colors based mostly on Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Creation), but also inspired from other texts. I have exhibited in North America and Israel, and my works can be found in many homes and art collections around the world.
I developed my own original system of translating Kabbalistic concepts into graphic shapes and colors based mostly on Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Creation), but also inspired from other texts. I have exhibited in North America and Israel, and my works can be found in many homes and art collections around the world.
I often lecture on Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation to many group of teenagers and adults, whether tourists, students or spiritual seekers from around the world. These groups usually find my presentations enjoyable and educational as I use my art to simplify and clarify profound Kabbalistic ideas - as they say, 'a picture is worth a thousand words'.
Although I have studied many classical Torah Texts (both conventional and esoteric) I am primarily self-taught, and I prefer the way of the mystic - to be as independent and non-denominational as possible. Two of my main influences in the realm of Kabbalah, are the great 18th Century Kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto, and the early 20th Century mystic, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook.
I continue to live, work and teach in Tzfat with my wife Miriam. We have five children and fifteen grandchildren. My gallery is attached to my home and we love it when people come to visit. I also enjoy playing music with friends. I play Irish, Old-time, Bluegrass, and Jewish music on the mandolin and the fiddle. You are most welcome to visit.
Paper Print sizes presented by Miriam
Large paper print
Medium paper print
Small paper print
One is the Breath of the Living God.
This is Holy Breath - Ruach Hakodesh
Breathe in. Be aware that you are alive because you breathe. This one breath of Life is holy. It is holy because it is from God who is One. Every living being breathes in this same One Breath of the Living God. Ruach Hakodesh - Holy Breath - is about knowing that you are breathing in God every time you inhale.
Insight to my Art
The first Hebrew letter Aleph appears in many of my pictures. Sometimes it is hard to see - as in my 'One Together' and my 'Waves and Particles'. The Tree of Life also appears at an angle in these pictures - superimposed on the letter Aleph.
Insight to my Art
All of the white in my pictures 'Ein Sof and the Ten Sefirot' and 'The Seed of Creation' represents the Infinite Ein Sof. Just as a blank canvas is formless and contains infinite potential, the Ein Sof contains infinite possibilities.
Insight to my Art
Some of my pictures are mandalas, geometric designs that are mostly circular and can be used as a focus for meditation. These picture change and move the longer one gazes at them.