About the Rosh Hashana Series
Since I can remember, my parents have carried on the custom of mailing cards to friends and family around Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year. The holiday, which usually falls in September, kicks off 10 days devoted to intense reflection, self-accounting, and repentance which culminates in Yom Kippur.
Most years my parents would send cards purchased from a Jewish organization. There were also a few years growing up when they’d select a picture that a sibling or I had drawn for the front of the card – something like apples and honey, traditional imagery to wish people a sweet new year. We’d then proceed to copy, fold, stuff, seal, and stamp.
As September approached in 2002, my parents and I got to talking about how terrifying and sorrowful the past year had been, and how unrealistic it seemed to look forward to a sweet year when our communities were barely beginning to heal, and still in such pain. My parents decided to go a different route with Rosh Hashana cards, and sent out a drawing I made which weaves in a quote from Yona (Jonah, read on Yom Kippur), in which he calls out to God while in the depths.
Deleted: I’ve provided the artwork for their cards for over a decade now. My periodic artistic hobby has become something of a ritual for me and my parents. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the past year’s concerns and express hopes for the new year, and to find comfort in the familiar rhythm of print, fold, stuff, seal, stamp.
The drawings in this series integrate Hebrew texts (some with English translations), ranging from biblical to modern. This is because my Jewish education gave me a huge appreciation for our tradition of engaging with texts, interpretations, and ideas as a moral pursuit – and because I just like words.
Please click on a piece to go to its page and see a larger image, more information about the work, and the texts that went into it.
I hope you enjoy what you find on this site, and please contact me if you’d like to learn more about my work.
Le’shana tovah – to a good year!