NOVEMBER 2008
This month's featured artwork:
Betrothal in God's Image
by Belu-Simion Fainaru
"Betrothal in God's Image" offers visual expression to the name of
God, an infinite unseen concept that according to Jewish tradition is
not to be described in concrete terms. This is the concept of the
unique individual, the One that cannot be divided.
The name Y. H. V. H. is composed of the four letters that form the
name of God.
The letters are arranged vertically so that the figure of the body of
man is created. The organs of this figure - head, body, hands and feet
- are composed of eight parts, eight illuminated neon parts.
The number 8 in Judaism reminds us of the brit mila (circumcision)
which the male infant undergoes eight days after birth, by divine
command. (Genesis 17:9-17). The circumcision signifies the creation of
unity and an eternal covenant between God and the people of Israel.
In gematriya, the number eight is the letter "chet" which is in the
shape of the chuppah (wedding canopy) that unites the couple in the
marriage ceremony (it is also the first letter of the word chuppah).
The work refers to a story in the Zohar (Intro:8:1) and deals with
Shavuot night - the festival of God's giving of the Torah which is
also the betrothal of God with Knesset Israel:
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his students were busy the whole night
learning Torah; it is explained that bnei heichal hacala - the
kabbalists and the scholars must be with the bride (the Torah) the
whole night before the chuppah, to make her happy and to rejoice with
her.
About the Artist
Belu-Simion Fainaru (born 1959) is an Israeli sculptor who was born in
Bucharest, Romania and immigrated to Israel in 1973. He studied at
theUniversity of Haifa from 1980 to 1983 and earned an MA from the
University of Chicago in 1984. He continued his art education at the
Domus Academy, Postgraduate School of Design in Milan, Italy and at
the The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium in
Brussles. Fainaru lives and works in Haifa, Israel and in Antwerp,
Belgium.
Much of Fainaru's work deals with Jewish history, Jewish rituals, and
Jewish literature.
