Or Panecha (God's Countenance)

2019

18” x 24”

 

Spinoza daringly set out to prove that God was the “sum of natural and physical laws of the universe.” This was such a foreign philosophy to the Jewish community of his day that they excommunicated him. Spinoza felt that God is a substance with an infinite number of attributes. The element of light also has infinite attributes as it can be both destructive and constructive. It can burn or heat. It can be a negative out of control fire or a gentle light at night. Daily, we pray for God’s countenance to shed it’s light to upon us.  As God is made of infinite substance, it is the inner light, the spiritual light which we seek. A light so bright, so awe-inspiring that our deepest souls are soothed by its magnificence. It is a light of infinite magnitude which we spark and simulate with the lighting of the Shabat candles. That light pierces the dark, illuminates our life, enters our hearts and plunges us into the great God-lit peace of the universe. 

 

This woodblock print was born in schul with a prayer. May this print continue to illuminate all who see it with peace and wholeness.