Painted doves fly out of vibrant flames of red and purple in a new mural commemorating Oct. 7 on the second floor landing of Shalhevet.
Internationally-famous Israeli artist Solomon Souza came to Shalhevet on Sept. 24 to touch up a mural on the third floor he painted in 2017. This was his third visit to Shalhevet; in 2022 he painted five installations of famous figures in Israeli and Jewish history throughout the school. On his most recent visit, Head of School Rabbi David Block asked him to create a new piece of art, in light of the ongoing war in Israel.
“After things are destroyed, we rebuild,” said Mr. Souza about the theme of the new mural.
Mr. Souza is best known for spray-painting murals of Israeli leaders on storefront shutters in Machane Yehudah, Jerusalem’s marketplace north of the city, after it closes for the night.
The five installations he painted at Shalhevet in 2022 are of Jewish figures and Israeli pioneers, and decorate the basement, cafeteria, third floor and a rooftop classroom.
In the new mural, vivid colors bring to life a community with an Israeli flag hanging above it. Houses and grain in the community are on fire, but as the flames rise from the destruction, they transform into bright swirls of smoke intertwined with Hebrew letters. Birds fly out of the smoke towards a sunrise.
Above the artwork on the right is a verse from Shir Hama’alot, Song of Ascents.
Hazorim b’dimah b’rina yiktzoru, it reads, translated to “those who sow in tears will reap in joy.”
Judaic Studies teacher Rabbi Avraham Lieberman interprets the new mural as the birth of Israel. He said a closer look at the flames reveals grain and fruit growing, and hidden Hebrew letters above the flames turn into the word Yisrael, Israel.
“The verse is so appropriate because the State of Israel came to be through huge sacrifices for the Jewish people,” Rabbi Lieberman said.
The art is applicable to almost any event in Jewish history, Rabbi Lieberman added.
“This can be applied to any Jewish situation where Jews are in trouble,” he said. “You can even go back to the Chanukah story, and again the Jewish people are in straits. There’s an issue and one family comes together, the Hashmonaim, and sees a way of helping out. And if you see our history, it’s always peppered, and that’s why this verse takes such meaning.”
Junior David Ghanouni said he interprets the mural as Mashiach because out of the destruction comes the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
“The birds fly towards this light that is probably the Beit Hamikdash,” David said.
Judaic Studies teacher Dr. Sheila Keiter sees the new artwork as a message of hope.
“The flames are slowly turning from flames to wheat and trees and growth,” Dr. Keiter said. “from the ashes and flames and from the destruction will come peace and building and growth.”
Art teacher Ms. Ruthie Skaist said that, in general, artistic expressions are created in an attempt to decipher and share a particular emotional experience with others. But individuals can look at the same piece of art and interpret its meaning differently.
Art also affects collective memory of events, she said.
“Every time we open our eyes the visual input around us is giving us messages, both explicit and implicit,” Ms. Skaist wrote in an email to the Boiling Point. “Each one of us will interpret in our own ways, but visuals – artwork and design – has a massive impact on how we think about and remember what has happened.”
The 2017 mural by Mr. Souza features various shades of blue and purple woven in an intricate pattern with fish circling around a cerulean sun.
Jerusalem’s Old City sits below, backdropped by trees and hills.
On his second visit to Shalhevet in 2022, Mr. Souza painted 11 figures over the five installations.
In the basement, one mural features life-like portraits of David Ben-Gurion, Menachem Begin, Hannah Senesh, and Golda Meir, all heroes of the early history of modern Israel. The second mural, painted inside the basement mishmar room, features Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, on a blue background, holding up a fist.
On the first floor, father of Zionism Theodor Herzl is painted on a cafeteria wall next to his famous quote in bright yellow – Im tirzu ayn zo agada, meaning “if you will it it is no dream.”
On top of the central spiral staircase, 20th century scholars and religious leaders Rav Joseph Soloveitchik, Rav Abraham Isaac Kook, Rav Ovadiah Yoseph, and Nechama Leibowitz are painted across a wall on the landing. Also on the third floor in History Department Chair Dr. Keith Harris’s classroom, Abraham Lincoln fills half a wall, his top hat nearly as big as his face.
“There are proud Jewish values here,” Mr. Souza said, “so that’s definitely the theme, has been the theme of the murals we’ve been doing over the past couple of years.”
