Midrash Notes
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notes to explain the meaning of the images in the midrash galleryPreliminary Midrash
Notes 2011An Artist’s Vision by Brian Shapiro
The sages who compiled the Midrashim were saintly personalities. No Midrashim were recorded to tell us a simple story -- each conveys a profound message.
Abbreviations are:
MS for Weissman, Rabbi Moshe, The Midrash Says, Denei Yakov Publications, Brooklyn, NY, 1980.
MR for Midrash Rabbah
GIN for Ginsberg, Louis, Legends of the Jews, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2003.
BL for Bialik, Hyim, and Ravnitzky, Yehoshua, Editors, “The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah”, Schocken Books, New York, 1992.
1. " Finding the Parsha 4" Several years ago I went to a gathering in New York called the Jewsh Art Salon. There was a speaker and he was talking about "Midrash". I had heard the word before but was not sure what it meant. I read some books and I could see painterly images. A Rabbi reminded me that The Torah is in black and white. The Midrash is the color. This painting shows an Orthodox Jewish prayer service. The women separated in the balcony, closer to G-d. One man holds the Torah, a second points to a page in a book to find where the congregation will read together. I have seen little girls running to the men's section to their grandfather. That is the story I paint.
2. “Leaving the Ark”: The Earth was filled with violence and the people ridiculed Noah for building the ark. The ark had three stories with corridors containing hundreds of dark crowded compartments. Animals entered in pairs but were separated, as intercourse was forbidden for them as well as Noah and his family. After a year the door is finally opened, revealing the rainbow. This represents the covenant from G-d to Noah, the promise not to destroy the earth again. The animals are beginning to come out of their pens. The lion at the entrance is waiting for Noah who he will castrate. (MR p. 244-291. GIN p. 144-151.)
3. Ancient Synagogue, Bar Am". This is a painting of a Synagogue in Israel that once had a congregation. Like we have today. The foot print of time is a great interest to me. Our Jewish history is vast.
4. “Tower of Babel”: Nimrod was crowned King and claimed divine power. “Let us build a tower so high that it will reach to Heaven, and we will make a name for ourselves and be above any future flood”. Another group said, “We will set up an idol at the top of the tower, put a sword in his hand, and show G-d that we are declaring war on Him.” G-d, together with seventy angels, changes their common language to seventy different languages. The people are confused by lack of understanding and begin to fight. “Come, I will go down and confound their language and through their own lips will I destroy them.” Horses and carts are seen returning for more bricks as other horse drawn carts are depicted carrying bricks to the top. Furnaces bake bricks at the bottom. The top third of the tower burns as the bottom third sinks into the earth. The center of the tower is in chaos. They never slackened in their work, and from their dizzy height, archers constantly shoot arrows toward heaven to kill G-d. This is seen as a revolt against G-d (MS p. 107- 112. GIN p 164. <R p 306-307).
5. "Binding of Isaac": G-d tells Abraham, “Take Yitzchak, who is thirty-seven years old, and bring him as an offering.” Abraham selected branches fit for the altar, and they left for the mountain. Yitzchak cried, “My father, here is fire and wood but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham said, “You will be the lamb.” Yitzchak put his face between his hands and wept. G-d said, “When I commanded take your son, I did not mean slaughter, but only to prove your love for me.” In the background is the ram caught in a thicket, which will become the sacrifice. Sarah can be seen with her arms raised toward Heaven. Two companions await the return of Abraham and Yitzchak. (MS p. 194-197.)
5. “Jacob’s Ladder”: Jacob prepared for a night outdoors. He chose twelve stones from the altar that had been built on this mountain by Abraham when he offered up Yitzchak. As soon as Yaakov was asleep, each stone cried out, “I want the tzaddik to rest his head on me.” All twelve stones then merged into one big rock, for HaShem wished to assure Yaakov that the twelve Jewish tribes would be united into one nation. Yaakov (Jacob) dreamed and had a vision of a ladder that extended to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Their mission completed, they rose to heaven, or having their new assignment, descended to earth. The angels, whose assignments were not met, needed help getting up, so G-d sent a ladder. On the whole it was a night of marvels. He saw angels from Babylon, from Greece, from Media, and Edom. The ladder symbolized Mount Sinai, ablaze with flames that reached to heaven. (MS p. 275. GIN p. 276.)
6. “Jacob and the Angel”: Yaakov and his household crossed the river Yabok. On the other side of the river, Yaakov met a man who seemed to be a shepherd. Jacob struggles with the man he calls a magician. He was no magician, but Esau’s guardian angel, who sticks his finger in the earth and a volcano of flames erupts. Yaakov, however, was not afraid. He says, “Do you think this frightens me?” The house of Yaakov is called a fire! The angel and Yaakov wrestle all night, with the angel changing Yaahov’s name to Israel. Yaakov’s nightlong struggle is a forerunner of his descendants’ future struggle in the long exile that is compared to night. (MS p. 314.)
7. “Joseph and His Brothers”: Joseph was a dreamer and dreamed his brothers would bow down to him. When he told his brothers his dream they hated him. When his brothers saw him coming they conspired to kill him. Brother Reuben said, “Let us not slay him but cast him into a pit swarming with snakes and scorpions.” They took off his coat of many colors, that his father, Jacob, had given him. The coat was used to show Jacob that wild animals killed Joseph. Joseph is sold and taken to Egypt, thus beginning the story of the Exodus. (GIN p. 332.)
8. “Baby Moses”: Pharaoh ordered his officers to go to Goshen to look for the male babies of the children of Israel. They tore the babies from their mothers’ breast by force and thrust them into the river Nile. Thousands of male babies were drowned in the river. Moses is put in a canopied basket by his mother and sister and lowered into the river. Pharaoh’s daughter and attendants see the floating basket and rescue Moses. In the distance, horse drawn wagons bring babies to the river’s edge and unload them to be thrown into the water. Moses’ mother and sister wait in the bushes. (GIN p. 472.)
9. “Sea of Reeds”: This painting is an artist vision of his explanation of the parting of the Red Sea. In the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida, grasses have grown over deep water to form what appears to be a land mass. This will support men and women walking in an orderly fashion. However, when the Egyptians, using two horses pulling a metal chariot carrying a man laden with heavy armor at a fast gallop, attempted to cross such a “sea”, the land only supported them until hundreds more came and got out to the middle of the swamp. Then it was only a matter of time before the whole mass collapsed and horse and chariots and soldiers “dropped like a rock” to their watery grave below.
10. “Moses on Mount Sinai”: Moses is shown ascending Mount Sinai holding a staff of sapphire with the initials of the Ten Plagues engraved on it. The Divine Name is also etched on the staff. The Staff was first held by Adam, passed to Noah, Abraham, Issac, Moses and then to David. Below are the tents in the encampment of two million Jews awaiting Moses return with the Ten Commandments. G-d’s light leads him on. (GIN p. 496.) (BL p. 63-37)
11. “Moses and the Golden Calf”: When Moses returned to the foot of Mount Sinai after forty days. He carried the sapphire tablets etched with the Ten Commandments. He entered the camp and saw the Golden Calf, the merriment, and the dancing. Jewish priests and women had turned their backs on this outrage and were leaving the group, marching in order behind their tribal banners. The Israelites represent the intellect in control of the emotions. The wild dancers represent the Egyptians who followed the Jews into the desert. Moses flew into a rage. When he looked at the Tablets, they had turned to stone, and the letters were rising heavenward. (GIN p. 625. MS p. 326. MR p. 359.)
12. “Moses and the Rock”: The Jews left Egypt and wandered in the desert for thirty-eight years. “And there was no water for the congregation, and the people spoke saying, ‘Why have you brought the assembly to this wilderness. There is no water to drink.’ ” Throughout the thirty-eight years, Moses had striven to refrain from harshly addressing the people. On this occasion, however, he was mastered by his rage. “I vow that I shall let water flow out of that rock only that I have chosen.” Carried away by anger, Moses still further forgot himself and instead of speaking to the rock as G-d had commanded to bring forth water, he struck a rock instead. He struck the rock again from which gushed mighty streams. G-d said to Moses, “You acted contrary to my command because you did not speak to the rock; you sanctified Me not in the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore, because you did not obey Me, you shall not bring the assembly to the Promised Land.” The painting shows the moment when Moses realizes he has let his anger at the people prevent him from doing as G-d commanded. (GIN p. 733.)
13. “Jonah and the Whale”: Jonah flees from G-d and tries to escape by boarding a ship. A violent storm engulphs the ship. While all the other ships in the area passed to and fro in safety, the ship on which Jonah had embarked was in great peril. The crew realizes that the storm is because of Jonah, and they throw him overboard. A whale made especially by G-d to harbor Jonah, swallows him. The eye of the whale served Jonah as a window. Jonah could see all things in the sea down to its very bottom. When the leviathan, intending to eat the whale, observed the sign of the covenant on Jonah’s body, he fled, and Jonah and the whale were saved. To show his gratitude, the whale carried Jonah whithersoever there was a sight to be seen. The whale showed him the river from which flows the ocean, the spot at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, Gehenna and Sheol, and many mysterious and wonderful places. The whale disgorges Jonah onto dry land. (GIN p. 1033. BL p. 133.)
14. “Hiding the Ark”: Josiah, king of Judah hid The Ark of The Covenant. If invading Babylonians should capture the Ark, it would be defiled and could not be used in the Temple. Members of the household of Rabbi Gamaliel used to prostrate themselves in front of the Temple woodshed because they believe that it is buried in this location. The belief is that it was buried under where the Al Aksa Mosque presently sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This area is now referred to as Solomon’s Stables. The current Arab Wakf maintains laws that will not allow Jews to enter that area. (BL p. 161.)
The sages who compiled the Midrashim were saintly personalities. No Midrashim were recorded to tell us a simple story -- each conveys a profound message.
Abbreviations are:
MS for Weissman, Rabbi Moshe, The Midrash Says, Denei Yakov Publications, Brooklyn, NY, 1980.
MR for Midrash Rabbah
GIN for Ginsberg, Louis, Legends of the Jews, The Jewish Publication Society, Philadelphia, 2003.
BL for Bialik, Hyim, and Ravnitzky, Yehoshua, Editors, “The Book of Legends Sefer Ha-Aggadah”, Schocken Books, New York, 1992.
1. " Finding the Parsha 4" Several years ago I went to a gathering in New York called the Jewsh Art Salon. There was a speaker and he was talking about "Midrash". I had heard the word before but was not sure what it meant. I read some books and I could see painterly images. A Rabbi reminded me that The Torah is in black and white. The Midrash is the color. This painting shows an Orthodox Jewish prayer service. The women separated in the balcony, closer to G-d. One man holds the Torah, a second points to a page in a book to find where the congregation will read together. I have seen little girls running to the men's section to their grandfather. That is the story I paint.
2. “Leaving the Ark”: The Earth was filled with violence and the people ridiculed Noah for building the ark. The ark had three stories with corridors containing hundreds of dark crowded compartments. Animals entered in pairs but were separated, as intercourse was forbidden for them as well as Noah and his family. After a year the door is finally opened, revealing the rainbow. This represents the covenant from G-d to Noah, the promise not to destroy the earth again. The animals are beginning to come out of their pens. The lion at the entrance is waiting for Noah who he will castrate. (MR p. 244-291. GIN p. 144-151.)
3. Ancient Synagogue, Bar Am". This is a painting of a Synagogue in Israel that once had a congregation. Like we have today. The foot print of time is a great interest to me. Our Jewish history is vast.
4. “Tower of Babel”: Nimrod was crowned King and claimed divine power. “Let us build a tower so high that it will reach to Heaven, and we will make a name for ourselves and be above any future flood”. Another group said, “We will set up an idol at the top of the tower, put a sword in his hand, and show G-d that we are declaring war on Him.” G-d, together with seventy angels, changes their common language to seventy different languages. The people are confused by lack of understanding and begin to fight. “Come, I will go down and confound their language and through their own lips will I destroy them.” Horses and carts are seen returning for more bricks as other horse drawn carts are depicted carrying bricks to the top. Furnaces bake bricks at the bottom. The top third of the tower burns as the bottom third sinks into the earth. The center of the tower is in chaos. They never slackened in their work, and from their dizzy height, archers constantly shoot arrows toward heaven to kill G-d. This is seen as a revolt against G-d (MS p. 107- 112. GIN p 164. <R p 306-307).
5. "Binding of Isaac": G-d tells Abraham, “Take Yitzchak, who is thirty-seven years old, and bring him as an offering.” Abraham selected branches fit for the altar, and they left for the mountain. Yitzchak cried, “My father, here is fire and wood but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham said, “You will be the lamb.” Yitzchak put his face between his hands and wept. G-d said, “When I commanded take your son, I did not mean slaughter, but only to prove your love for me.” In the background is the ram caught in a thicket, which will become the sacrifice. Sarah can be seen with her arms raised toward Heaven. Two companions await the return of Abraham and Yitzchak. (MS p. 194-197.)
5. “Jacob’s Ladder”: Jacob prepared for a night outdoors. He chose twelve stones from the altar that had been built on this mountain by Abraham when he offered up Yitzchak. As soon as Yaakov was asleep, each stone cried out, “I want the tzaddik to rest his head on me.” All twelve stones then merged into one big rock, for HaShem wished to assure Yaakov that the twelve Jewish tribes would be united into one nation. Yaakov (Jacob) dreamed and had a vision of a ladder that extended to heaven with angels ascending and descending. Their mission completed, they rose to heaven, or having their new assignment, descended to earth. The angels, whose assignments were not met, needed help getting up, so G-d sent a ladder. On the whole it was a night of marvels. He saw angels from Babylon, from Greece, from Media, and Edom. The ladder symbolized Mount Sinai, ablaze with flames that reached to heaven. (MS p. 275. GIN p. 276.)
6. “Jacob and the Angel”: Yaakov and his household crossed the river Yabok. On the other side of the river, Yaakov met a man who seemed to be a shepherd. Jacob struggles with the man he calls a magician. He was no magician, but Esau’s guardian angel, who sticks his finger in the earth and a volcano of flames erupts. Yaakov, however, was not afraid. He says, “Do you think this frightens me?” The house of Yaakov is called a fire! The angel and Yaakov wrestle all night, with the angel changing Yaahov’s name to Israel. Yaakov’s nightlong struggle is a forerunner of his descendants’ future struggle in the long exile that is compared to night. (MS p. 314.)
7. “Joseph and His Brothers”: Joseph was a dreamer and dreamed his brothers would bow down to him. When he told his brothers his dream they hated him. When his brothers saw him coming they conspired to kill him. Brother Reuben said, “Let us not slay him but cast him into a pit swarming with snakes and scorpions.” They took off his coat of many colors, that his father, Jacob, had given him. The coat was used to show Jacob that wild animals killed Joseph. Joseph is sold and taken to Egypt, thus beginning the story of the Exodus. (GIN p. 332.)
8. “Baby Moses”: Pharaoh ordered his officers to go to Goshen to look for the male babies of the children of Israel. They tore the babies from their mothers’ breast by force and thrust them into the river Nile. Thousands of male babies were drowned in the river. Moses is put in a canopied basket by his mother and sister and lowered into the river. Pharaoh’s daughter and attendants see the floating basket and rescue Moses. In the distance, horse drawn wagons bring babies to the river’s edge and unload them to be thrown into the water. Moses’ mother and sister wait in the bushes. (GIN p. 472.)
9. “Sea of Reeds”: This painting is an artist vision of his explanation of the parting of the Red Sea. In the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida, grasses have grown over deep water to form what appears to be a land mass. This will support men and women walking in an orderly fashion. However, when the Egyptians, using two horses pulling a metal chariot carrying a man laden with heavy armor at a fast gallop, attempted to cross such a “sea”, the land only supported them until hundreds more came and got out to the middle of the swamp. Then it was only a matter of time before the whole mass collapsed and horse and chariots and soldiers “dropped like a rock” to their watery grave below.
10. “Moses on Mount Sinai”: Moses is shown ascending Mount Sinai holding a staff of sapphire with the initials of the Ten Plagues engraved on it. The Divine Name is also etched on the staff. The Staff was first held by Adam, passed to Noah, Abraham, Issac, Moses and then to David. Below are the tents in the encampment of two million Jews awaiting Moses return with the Ten Commandments. G-d’s light leads him on. (GIN p. 496.) (BL p. 63-37)
11. “Moses and the Golden Calf”: When Moses returned to the foot of Mount Sinai after forty days. He carried the sapphire tablets etched with the Ten Commandments. He entered the camp and saw the Golden Calf, the merriment, and the dancing. Jewish priests and women had turned their backs on this outrage and were leaving the group, marching in order behind their tribal banners. The Israelites represent the intellect in control of the emotions. The wild dancers represent the Egyptians who followed the Jews into the desert. Moses flew into a rage. When he looked at the Tablets, they had turned to stone, and the letters were rising heavenward. (GIN p. 625. MS p. 326. MR p. 359.)
12. “Moses and the Rock”: The Jews left Egypt and wandered in the desert for thirty-eight years. “And there was no water for the congregation, and the people spoke saying, ‘Why have you brought the assembly to this wilderness. There is no water to drink.’ ” Throughout the thirty-eight years, Moses had striven to refrain from harshly addressing the people. On this occasion, however, he was mastered by his rage. “I vow that I shall let water flow out of that rock only that I have chosen.” Carried away by anger, Moses still further forgot himself and instead of speaking to the rock as G-d had commanded to bring forth water, he struck a rock instead. He struck the rock again from which gushed mighty streams. G-d said to Moses, “You acted contrary to my command because you did not speak to the rock; you sanctified Me not in the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore, because you did not obey Me, you shall not bring the assembly to the Promised Land.” The painting shows the moment when Moses realizes he has let his anger at the people prevent him from doing as G-d commanded. (GIN p. 733.)
13. “Jonah and the Whale”: Jonah flees from G-d and tries to escape by boarding a ship. A violent storm engulphs the ship. While all the other ships in the area passed to and fro in safety, the ship on which Jonah had embarked was in great peril. The crew realizes that the storm is because of Jonah, and they throw him overboard. A whale made especially by G-d to harbor Jonah, swallows him. The eye of the whale served Jonah as a window. Jonah could see all things in the sea down to its very bottom. When the leviathan, intending to eat the whale, observed the sign of the covenant on Jonah’s body, he fled, and Jonah and the whale were saved. To show his gratitude, the whale carried Jonah whithersoever there was a sight to be seen. The whale showed him the river from which flows the ocean, the spot at which the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, Gehenna and Sheol, and many mysterious and wonderful places. The whale disgorges Jonah onto dry land. (GIN p. 1033. BL p. 133.)
14. “Hiding the Ark”: Josiah, king of Judah hid The Ark of The Covenant. If invading Babylonians should capture the Ark, it would be defiled and could not be used in the Temple. Members of the household of Rabbi Gamaliel used to prostrate themselves in front of the Temple woodshed because they believe that it is buried in this location. The belief is that it was buried under where the Al Aksa Mosque presently sits on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. This area is now referred to as Solomon’s Stables. The current Arab Wakf maintains laws that will not allow Jews to enter that area. (BL p. 161.)