CONTACT
Please contact Jamie Shear, scribe, artist, directly with any questions
or inquiries that you might have.
OUR BLOG
Text goes here
CONTACT
Please contact Jamie Shear, scribe, artist, directly with any questions
or inquiries that you might have.
OUR BLOG
Text goes here
CONTACT
Please contact Jamie Shear, scribe, artist, directly with any questions
or inquiries that you might have.
Hebrew Letters and Kabbalah Art
“Forever, Hashem, Your word stands in the heavens.”
- Tehillim 119:89, as explained by the Baal Shem Tov (Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah 1)
The Hebrew letters are more than an alphabet. In Kabbalah and Chassidut they are the building blocks of creation, and every one of my paintings begins with them.
In this talk I bring the sources and the art together: texts from Sefer Yetzirah, the Zohar, the Tanya and the Chassidic masters, and the original paintings they inspired, on display in the room.
For adults in the community: synagogue evenings, adult education, Hadassah and Federation events and Scholar-in-Residence weekends. A talk, a text study and an art show, with time for questions.
Bring it to your community: jshear@ktavtam.com
The contraction that makes room for the world.
Kisei HaKavod.
The seven firmaments.
Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.
Tohu and Tikkun.
Running forward. Ratzo v'shov, Yechezkel 1:14.
Returning. The other half of ratzo v'shov.
Concealment, and what is hidden within it.
Original painting by Jamie Shear.
Topics for Discussion
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The letters of creation. Sefer Yetzirah: twenty-two letters, engraved and combined, through which the world was formed. Berachot 55a: Betzalel knew how to combine the letters by which heaven and earth were created.
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The letters before the Creator. In the opening of the Zohar each letter comes forward and asks that the world be created through it, and the bet is chosen.
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Letters that give life. Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah: the letters of the Ten Utterances stand within every created thing and keep it in existence.
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Kotzo shel yud. The yud, the smallest letter, as the point of Chochmah, and its kotz as Keter: the same small stroke the halacha requires in every Torah.
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Behind each painting. The sources behind each work, gathered in my Sefaria source sheets, and how they became color and form.
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See the art: Kabbalah Art Originals and Kabbalah Art Prints.
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For the halacha of the letters, see Scribal Arts in the Classic Texts.
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Jamie Shear
The smallest letter, the point of Chochmah.
Its small kotz, the level of Keter.
Detail, Throne of Glory: a verse written within the painting.
Up close, layer on layer.
Gold at the center.
Original painting by Jamie Shear.
Original painting by Jamie Shear.
Original painting by Jamie Shear.
Brushwork up close.
Bring It to Your Community
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Each talk is planned with you, to fit your group, your space and your time.
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It can stand on its own, include an exhibition of original paintings, or be part of a Scholar-in-Residence weekend with Scribal Arts in the Classic Texts or a hands-on scribal arts workshop.
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To plan it for your community, write to me at jshear@ktavtam.com.