Tell Magazine June 2018 5778

and Israel, and my works can be found in many
homes and art collections around the world.
I often lecture on Kabbalah and Jewish Meditation
to groups of teenagers and adults, whether tourists,
students or spiritual seekers from around the
world. These groups usually find my presentations
enjoyable and educational as I use my art to
simplify and clarify profound kabbalistic ideas - as
they say, 'a picture is worth a thousand words'.
Although I have studied many classical Torah Texts
(both conventional and esoteric) I am primarily selftaught,
and I prefer the way of the mystic to be as
independent and non-denominational as possible.
Two of my main influences in the realm of Kabbalah,
whose texts I frequently teach, are the great 18th
Century kabbalist, Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto,
and the early 20th Century mystic, Rabbi Abraham
Isaac Hakohen Kook. I continue to live, work
and teach in Tsfat, Israel, with my wife Miriam.
MYSTICAL ART
Let’s have a look at a few of David’s
paintings and how he explains them:
Kabbalah inspired artwork by David Friedman
David Friedman
QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR UNDERSTANDING
OF THE STAR OF DAVID?
I connect it with a teaching from the ancient Jewish
text: Sefer Yetzirah, Book of Creation: It talks about
space having 6 directions (up, down, left, right, front
and back) and there being a place in the centre of
them which it calls “the Holy Palace” precisely in
the centre, and it is the essence of them all. It relates
it to the holiness of the Shabbat, the 7th day.
So, when you look at the magen david, each point
symbolises one of the 6 directions of space, and
the centre of the star is a holy palace, a
place of harmony. In this image I was
inspired by the artist M. C Escher.
QUESTION: YOU SEEM TO BE
FASCINATED BY LETTERS, CAN YOU
TELL US ABOUT THIS IMAGE? (left)
This is a painting of 3 key letters:
the Shin ש is red, the Mem ‏,מ blue
and Aleph א in yellow. (see left)
The Shin, stands for fire (aish in
Hebrew) and rises like red hot fire; the
Mem, which stands for water (mayim
in Hebrew), flows downward like water. They
are opposites - the outward hissing sound of
Shhh, and the inward humming of Mmmm.
CONNECTION WITH ISRAEL &
WORLD JEWRY
א The yellow which surrounds them represents Aleph
– the first Hebrew letter. It symbolises a breath of air or
light (the Hebrew words for light and air are similar).
Aleph stands for the One that includes the Two – just
as one breath of air includes the exhale and the inhale.
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