Artworks
LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET CONSECTETUR
When the Sefirot are presented in the Tanya (the classic text from the first Lubavitcher Rebbe) they are called 3 Mothers and 7 Doubles. The 3 Mothers refer to the three higher Sefirot. The Seven Doubles refer to the seven lower Sefirot.
However, the original source of the terms Three Mothers and Seven Doubles is the Sefer Yetzirah, where the 22 Hebrew Letters are presented as three groups -… more
In Sefer Yetzirah the 10 Sefirot are always referred to as Sefirot of Nothingness בלימה (blimah). Unlike the 22 Letters which can be expressed in speech, the10 Sefirot are conceptual, perceived in the mind. And so are numbers. This image depicts the 10 Sefirot as a Tree of Life Diagram with 3 vertical columns. It representsthe human form as a reflection of the Divine… more
As in my painting 'The Tree of Life', the 3 columns of the Sefirot arrayed in this Tree of Life Diagram represents Nurture or our ability to choose. We can act with Kindness (associated with the right column), with Strength (the left column), and with Beauty (the middle column). Choosing is seen as Masculine in the Kabbalah, whereas Nature (as represented here by the Sefirot in their concentric… more
The Sages of the Talmud taught that there are 3 partners in the creation of every human being: A father who gives the ‘white’ parts of the body; a mother who gives the ‘red’ parts; and God - who is present in the union of the two parents - and who gives us our consciousness, our 5 senses and our Soul.
This whole picture can be seen as just one figure, a Grandfather סבא (associated with Keter… more
I painted this picture not long after I made 'The Orchard of the Torah'. I wrote the 4 letters of the Hebrew word for orchard פרדס (pardes) along the horizontal line dividing the picture in half.
4 pairs of trees representing the 4 levels of the Torah expressed by the 4 letters of Pardes - פשט - רמז - דרש - סוד - simple, hinted, derived and secret.draw the eye inward to the center of the… more
Rabbi Isaac Luria (known as the Ari) described the Ten Sefirot in great detail in a way known as Partzufim (Faces of God). This how Prophets and Kabbalists see God in their own likeness and form. And since humans come in many forms - Masculine and Feminine, Young and Old - the Partzufim are seen in all of these forms. In this picture, the blue square symbolizes the Masculine, the red triangle… more
This picture is closely related to my picture Family Tree of Life. The large face at the top represents a Grandfather who blesses his Children through their Fathers and Mothers that are on his arms. The Grandfather's hands rest upon the head of a dark-haired Son whose hands rest upon the head of a Daughter with reddish hair.
The Grandfather represents Adam who was created in God's likeness… more
The Verse עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה framing this fiery scene is from the Book of Proverbs (3:18) and refers to the Torah, "a Tree of Life for those who hold fast to it". This is especially true of the soul of the Torah - Kabbalah. Its mystical teachings and meditative practices feed our soul.
Had Adam and Eve eaten from the Tree of Life while still in the Garden of Eden, they would have lived… more
There are several different forms the Tree of Life Diagrams. In the ones based on the teachings of Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Ari), Daat (Knowledge) is not counted as one of the 10 Sefirot, because Daat is the ‘outside’ of Keter and the ‘inside’ of Tiferet. Another way of saying that is, Daat is the interface between the (3 Sefirot of the) mind and the (7 Sefirot of the) body. In those Lurianic… more
Life is a dynamic process of balancing between hot and cold; activity and rest; nature and nurture. Balancing between what we keep private and what we share with others; and between many other complementary pairs of opposites.
The lower half of this picture shows the circular Root System of this Tree of Life. The 10 concentric Roots and the Seed relate to the tenth Sefirah, Kingship. It… more
