art by Michel Schwartz

The Midrash tells us that when Rabbi Chananya ben Tradyon was burned at the stake by the Romans for studying and teaching Torah, they wrapped him in the scrolls and set him ablaze. One of his students approached and asked, "Rabbi, what is it that you see at this terrible moment?" . . .to which the Rabbi replied, "I see that the parchment is burning, but the Otiyot, the Holy letters, are wafting up to Heaven, intact." It was also thus when Moses dashed the Tablets of the Commandments upon his descent from Mt. Sinai. . .the stones broke, but the letters ascended to the Heavens. Our sages ruled that just as every letter in the Torah is equal in importance to every other letter, that if a single letter is damaged or erased, the entire Torah must not be used until it is repaired. . .so is every Jew, regardless of religious persuasion, age or gender, responsible for his fellow Jews. . .We are, after all, very much a part of the Jewish People. In this painting, we see Jews. . .men, women, children. . .each holding a single letter in outstretched arms. . .rushing towards the Torah. . .eventually themselves becoming letters. . .soaring into the heavenly Torah. . .which is opened to the Ten Commandments. . .the very essence of our religion and world civilization. Note: Over 250 Torahs were completed as a result of this inspiration by the Rebbe. A Torah has 304,805 letters.

"Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. . . they who love thee shall prosper." Psalms 122:6 How precious is Jerusalem to the Jews? Since King David declared Jerusalem as the Capital of the Kingdom of Judah and Israel, it has been the focal point of Jewish existence; the direct connection between Jewish People and G-d. For 3,000 years, their prayers, 3 times daily, (1,095,000 times) were directed toward Jerusalem no matter where they were. The Holy Temple was built there twice on an elevation called "The Temple Mount," which to this day is still referred to as such, even after the Romans utterly destroyed the City and the Temple, in 70 c.e.

CHAI...To Life! Forever persecuted... forever driven...disposessed...forever on the brink of disaster, pogrom or being murdered... yet the Jewish byword was always "L'chaim, to Life!"... even during the darkest days of the Holocaust, hope was never abandoned. The word CHAI as seen in this symbolic painting, is happily nestled among colorful abstract cartouches, and with the Hebrew numberical value 18, "chai" has become the benchmark for Jewish living and giving... charity to sustain the poor, the aged, the sick and institutions of learning... in multiples of 18... 36... 54... 180... 360... – L'CHAYIM!

The Torah contents comprise every field of Jewish culture, ethics, justice, religion, education, and our Sages tell us ". . .Study the Torah again and again–for everything is contained therein." (Avot 5:25) The Torah has traditionally fostered the unquenchable thirst for learning in the broadest sense of the word. Hence it was revered as the most holy of all Jewish possessions and guarded by Jews, over the millenia, even with their very lives. . . for without the Torah, Judaism would have disappeared. Beautifying the Torah, "Hidur Mitzvah," with special wraps and ornaments, stems from the earliest days of scroll writing, as mentioned in the commentaries.