A Bible is illustrated as never before

Nahum HaLevi, The Color of Prophecy: Visualizing the Bible In a New Light;  Hardcover; Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House 2012

By Rabbi Michael Samuels

CHULA VISTA, California — The Zohar teaches that there are many different layers of Torah interpretation. This mystical work cautions us to take the biblical text at face value. In reality, many layers of meanings challenge the reader to look beneath the surface.

Rabbi Shimon said:  Woe to the person who says that Torah presents mere stories and ordinary words! . . . Ah, but all the words of Torah are sublime words, sublime secrets! . . . This story of Torah is the garment of Torah and whosoever thinks that the garment is the real Torah and not something else—may his spirit deflate! He will have no portion in the world that is coming. . . . That is why David says: “Open my eyes so I can see wonders out of Your Torah!” (Psalms 119:18) what [sic] is under the garment of Torah! Come and see: There is a garment visible to all. When those fools see someone in a good-looking garment they look no further. But the essence of the garment is the body; the essence of the body is the soul! So, it is with Torah.[1]

In Nahum HaLevi’s The Color of Prophecy: Visualizing the Torah in a New Light, the author skillfully uses art to convey a visual interpretation of themes taken from the prophetical writings. While the author explains the prophetical writings, his paintings really engage the reader’s imagination on a level that transcends his personal expositions.  For those who do not wish to fully use their imagination, the author is a capable guide in presenting the thoughts that inspired his work.

The author’s words often serve to explicate the dizzying images as well as explain the sacred text. Visionary art emerges from within the artist’s imagination and psyche. As such, it presents a deeply personal and private world, one that is foreign, strange and even frightening to the viewer.

The author’s name, Nahum HaLevi is actually a t pseudonym of Dr. Nathan C. Moskowitz, neurosurgeon, who teaches at Johns Hopkins Medical School. This man has many other talents; he is an inventor, author—and artist!

The book of Hosea is very provocative. God instructs the prophet to marry a prostitute! You cannot imagine a more scandalous biblical love story than this. Yet, Hosea truly loves his wayward wife, who in many ways represents the wayward beloved of God—Israel! The author explains:

• The couple’s marriage as outlined by Hosea himself is a metaphor for the intense and lopsided relationship between God and Israel. The book of Hosea is a profoundly sad and tragic poetic work of admonition that accurately prophesizes the absolute end of the Northern Kingdom and their defeat by the Assyrians in roughly 735 C.E. The Israelites are soon to be ignominiously marched off to Assyria, where and whence they will fade from the crumbling pages of history (p. 81).

It is one thing to read about this old familiar story, it is quite another to see HaLevi’s pictorial rendition. Hosea looks like a frustrated husband who is at his wits’ end. The clouds resembles tears falling from the watchful eye of the Divine. Heaven weeps and for good reason—even as the Assyrian armies march in the background. God is as determined as Hosea to keep Israel and seeks to woo her despite her idolatrous affairs. God recalls how faithful Israel was when she left Egypt. But now, the relationship has soured. God remains determined to find a way to win her back. HaLevi’s depiction of the divine tears is obviously anthropomorphic, but where would we be without anthropomorphism in the Bible?

In this painting, Hosea wears the tefillon, and ties his wayward wife up with them, reminding her of the verse:

 I will betroth you to me forever:

I will betroth you to me with* justice and with judgment,

with loyalty and with compassion;

 I will betroth you to me with fidelity,

and you shall know the Lord.

Hosea 2:21–22 (NAB)

In one painting, he depicts the lovely Gomer, a woman who is better known. The metaphor of the harlot wife Gomer representing Israel running after foreign gods and abandoning the Torah is almost too much to endure; Hosea himself bares his teeth in a grimace of disgust. And yet there is hope in the fact that the prophet is bound to his diminutive wife by the straps of his tefillin, wrapping her body and legs to his arm. The text on the arm strap proclaims the future reconciliation, “I will betroth you to Me forever; and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness, with justice, with kindness and with mercy; and I will betroth you to Me with fidelity and you will know Hashem (Hosea 2: 21-22).”

This book is one of the most beautiful books I have read in years. Reading this in the synagogue while the Haftorah is being read is one wonderful way to treasure the moments. The only suggestion I would make is that the author may want to do a two or three volume artistic rendition of the weekly Haftorah. Such a project would make a wonderful addition to the synagogue services.