Suffering With Joy

Interpreting Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger’s Paintings

July 30, 2010

As I was looking for an illustration for a post on “Praying the Psalms” recently, I stumbled upon the work of Jewish painter Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger who founded the Museum of Psalms in Jerusalem in 1995.  Until then I had never heard of his work.  What a discovery this was and what a great journey from both an art standpoint and a spiritual standpoint he set me upon!

Berger’s work is like none other’s.  Some people use the word “psychedelic” in describing it, but I think that is an injustice.  I matured in the psychedelic 60s and the term connotes to me a drug-induced state of mind out of touch with reality.  Berger’s paintings on the other hand are colorful and at first glance seem abstract in nature, but again, abstract is an unfair term if used in the sense of most abstract art, because every aspect of each canvas has meaning easily accessible if you understand the symbols. Just as every word of the Bible means something, every part of Berger’s images mean something.  Those of us who are not familiar with the Kabbalah, Zohar, and Hebraic letters just have to work a little harder to discover how Berger is depicting the Psalm verses he illustrates.

As a Catholic, I view Christ in Berger’s works, not something he intended or would agree with, of course, but nevertheless, just as Christ is the Word of God, so in depicting the Word Berger depicts Christ and the escatological truths of the Bible. This allows the Christian to consider a deeper interpretation of each image.  For example, his illustration of verse two of Psalm 9:

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous deeds.

Berger writes:

Jerusalem and its holy temple are situated at the top of a garden.  Myriads of angels stand guard over this holy place.  The birds represent Herut, a state of freedom, whereby man is liberated from all mundane concerns, enabling him to freely serve the Almighty.

As a Christian, this image speaks to me of the Garden of Eden transformed into our final destination of Paradise for which we hope, green being the color of hope in eternal life. The holy temple and the city of Jerusalem signifies the New Jerusalem of heaven where we will celebrate the eternal todah (Thanksgiving – Holy Eucharist).  We will be among the angels (book of Revelation) who surround the throne of God, totally liberated from the imperfections of this world. Our service to the Almighty will be eternal praise and adoration which we freely begin to give in this world and continue perfectly in the next. The menorah atop the temple represents to me the rule of Christ the King and the sun connotes God and His love, mercy, and justice from Whom all life comes.

Berger paints in the seven colors of the rainbow, and each color has significance.  Seven is also the number associated with God in the Bible, which reminds me of the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost which are designed to bring us to perfection if we co-operate with God’s grace.  In the above painting in addition to the green (hope) of the garden, we see the royal blue (Mary’s color), indigo (the heavens), yellow, red, orange, and violet.

“These paintings are in the metaphorical tradition of ma’asei merkava (Divine Chariot) rather than the realistic mode of the ma’asei Breishit (Creation) which most art work emulates,” he explains. “To transliterate the Psalms from written poems to visual image was a difficult task. Just as each psalm is different, so is each painting. And yet, as each Psalm is inherently connected to the other 149, so too a unifying element had to run through the 150 Psalm paintings, a task accomplished through careful observation.”

Berger drew inspiration for his paintings from years of study of the Psalms based on Judaism’s classic medieval commentators on the Kabbalah including Rashi, Radak and Malbim, among others, he says.

“All figurative representations are intended as metaphors. We know the world was created with letters; [an interesting take on the Word] we know that Ha-Shem (God) is represented by fire in the Bible. Therefore in each painting there are letters, or fire, or both. Nothing happened by accident.”

If you want to order prints of Berger’s work, go to the Museum of the Psalms. If you would like an entire book of his works along with his commentary, Feldheim, the publisher has a compact edition.  At their page you can see into the book.

Tags: art, Christ

1 Comment to Interpreting Moshe Tzvi HaLevi Berger’s Paintings

1. 

   Thanks for introducing this artist! A simple yet evocative paiting. And he only uses the colors of the rainbow…
Evan on August 1st, 2010