By Rabbi Dr. Douglas Goldhamer
I am a rabbi whose life is dedicated to serving God. Over the years, I have translated my service to God by studying and practicing Kabbalah. Kabbalah is the traditionally used term for the esoteric teachings of Jewish Mysticism, through which we try to understand the mind of God using special meditative prayers and visualizations. Kabbalah attempts to join intuition and Jewish tradition, the intuitive mind with the rational mind. Hence my paintings, which are Kabbalistic, not only stress the esoteric, but are also closely identified with our people’s Biblical and Eastern European history.

A number of years ago, I decided to translate into the visual arts the mystical meditations I do and teach. In the Kabbalah, light and color have a special, mystical importance, which I try to convey in my paintings. In our ancient Jewish tradition, the sacred Torah is written on parchment which has been specially prepared to receive the holy text. I have been inspired by this tradition and decided to paint on it because I felt it would be perfectly suited to convey the visual images of Jewish mysticism.

According to Jewish Mysticism, Creation was the result of the struggle between the forces of the point and other forces that moved it. In the beginning, there was the point .... the point became a straight line. The straight line became a circle, and the circle became the Face of God.
-- Rabbi Douglas Goldhamer