"Shekhinah"

Shekhinah ('10)

This is my first piece of sold art. 

Mrs. Ellen Goldstein, Vice President of the national Hillel in Washington, DC, purchased my piece 2 years (this summer) after first seeing it freshman year. I had done it as a submission to a school competition to show interest/ pride in Judaic culture. I entered in honor of my High School english teacher, Mr. Savett, and based my illustration on an idea he explained to me. The white hebrew letters at the top of my picture are cut out, spelling "Shekhinah", and the image was done in mixed media (water color, ink, colored pencil, marker) & this is my explanation: 

"Shekhinah"

I would like to dedicate my art, "Shekhinah," to my High School English
teacher Mr. Savett. As well as being an amazing teacher, he's an unorthodox
Jew practicing his faith in a more personal manner. He believes in the
Jewish religion to help guide his daily life with high moral standards and
progressive thinking. When I told Mr. Savett about this competition, he told
me about a profound detail of the Jewish tradition. The Light of God, or God's 

Divine Presence is sometimes connected with the imagery of the Shekhinah, 

which is a female presence. Although it is not directly stated in the Torah, 

the Shekhinah is referred to imaginatively as 'the Daughter of God'.  She is 

represented in my piece as the womanly hands cupping a haze of colors, or 

her divinity and gifts. When the Matan Torah, or giving of the Torah at Mt. 

Sinai, occurred, it gave these divine gifts to the people of the world. It is 

believed that each person received this gift differently according to what 

values they had. This offering is symbolized by the Shekinah's rainbow of 

colors trickling out of her hands and down to the crowd. However, each

person only receives one of the colors, as it drips over their head, to denote 

the unique manner in which they are receiving.