Rooted in Time, Rooted in Space:
BaYamim HaHem BaZ’man HaZeh
Wall Hanging for Sukkah
Inspired by my daughter Hannah’s idea, this somewhat literal-cum-symbolic piece evokes the celebration of Sukkoth, making us “eydim” – witnesses – to the personal feelings of insecurity and dependence on G-d while living in Sukkoth after leaving Egypt, on our way to our Promised Land. You can almost see a golden extended arm and open hand above the Sinai encampment, which suggests both the desert sands as well as our heavenly protection “Tachat Kanfey HaShechinah” – under the wings of the Heavenly Shechinah. The Shechinah is G-d’s manifestation when we are at peace and harmony with each other and in a state of integrity within ourselves, with G-d, our history and with our direction for the future. On Sukkoth, we move out from our houses into Sukkoth to experience the truth that it is not things that make us and give us meaning. Rather, it is we who make things and we who give inanimate things meaning, and that is the essence of choosing life over living. This realization gives us more true happiness than any of our possessions could give us. We learn that the only vindication of life is the enterprise of life itself: The development of mankind’s consciousness of learning how to take responsibility for itself. Literally, life is what you make of it!
Enjoy and Chag Sameach!
Jonathan Lyon
-And thank you Rav Matis Weinberg for many of these deep insights!
The hanging is 4’x5′ and comes hemmed on all four sides and grommetted at each corner, so it is ready to hang. The banner materials and ink are weather and sun proof so the image will not fade to provide many years of enjoyment. Do not crease or fold the canvass. Price: $100
Like this:
Like Loading...
My Profile:
The Gemara says that all of our constructs and paradigms exist as a result of suppressing information. From chaos, the sum potential of all that is possible - physicists call it white noise; statisticians call it raw data - we must push away that which is unwanted. We are left to work with our visions and patterns of reality. The big question is, how well do those visions match up to what reality actually is in all its inter-related complexity and detail.
On Yom Kippur, we come face to face with the reality that "The hidden things belong to HaShem our God, but the revealed things are for us and for our children forever, that we might fulfill all the words of this Torah." (Deuteronomy 29:28). God's ultimate and uncompromising reality must hold us accountable even for paradigms we are NOT aware of! Many refer to this as "The law of unintended consequences."
This is why what I hold dear is not answers, but an endless path of growing awareness that attempts to come closer and closer to reality as it really is - not the "reality" that is just a projection of some inner solipsistic construction within my brain. The questions- not the answers - lead me on that path. I have become deeply committed to a life long journey of learning, growth, change, love, discernment, service, play, commitment, questioning, and valuing disagreement. At my core is the notion that without self-doubt and without valuing difference and differing opinions, one cannot develop a fulfilling and meaningful life.
My art starts as a white sheet of whole paper, which represents chaos - all the possible pictures that one could create on it - onto which I impose order. Simultaneously destructive and defining, my paper-cutting adds meaning to the paper. Cutting pieces out is a creative process that graphically reveals before me my deeper paradigms so that I can scrutinize them - so that I can better understand the limits and characteristics of the space in which those paradigms work and gain insight as to where they are no longer valid. But it is not just a discovery of my internal landscapes. It is a process of becoming aware of myself within relationship and covenant. It is my simultaneous love and awe of and participation in the splendor of God's continued creation. It is my Avoda.
Layer by Layer 