Begin Again

On Rosh Hashanah 2021 (the beginning of the Shmita year), I read this commentary in the Mahzor Lev Shalem: “Make our Days Seem Fresh” should not be seen as a plea for restoration of a formerly perfect condition; we were never perfect. Instead, it is a plea for the ability to renew ourselves after moments of crisis and dislocation. Elie Wiesel remarks, “God gave Adam a secret—and that secret was not how to begin, but how to begin again.”

The Shmita year is known as the Sabbatical year and is intended to restore the lost equilibrium and restore us to a right relationship with the land. The laws of Shmita (which means ‘release’) occur every seven years for Jews in Israel and are of Biblical origin. It is the final year of a shared calendar cycle when land is supposed to be left fallow, and debts are forgiven to ensure a just and equitable society).

This triptych is a response to the Genesis story, combining the expulsion of Adam and Eve, my interest in the Shmitah year, and how it reminds us of our responsibility to take care of the land.

“Begin Again”

Acrylic and Oil on Canvas. Three panels-each 36" x 48"

The series of thee canvases are broken into:

Canvas 1: The idyllic Garden of Eden Canvas 2: Original sin (the pollution of nature) Canvas 3: After Banishment (begin again)

As a consequence of the fall, three relationships deteriorate: between God and humans, between man and woman, and between humans and the land.

The third panel represents Tikum Olam—where humankind decides to observe the Shmita year as God commands, and in doing so repairs all three relationships.