By Yochanan Gordon
I generally like to utilize the yom tov issues of the newspaper to write something pertaining to the holiday at hand. That is especially so regarding Rosh Hashanah, which is the source of all holidays and all of history as it is the birthday of the world. So, when the opportunity presented itself to write about Karin Holzer’s story—an Israeli-born, Woodmere-based, internationally acclaimed artist—I knew that I wanted to do it in the context of Rosh Hashanah. But the question remained, how?
A pasuk from Parashas Ha’azinu came to me. It’s a verse that we will be reading on Shabbos Teshuvah and is therefore very much relevant to the time period that we find ourselves in. The verse states, “Hatzur tamim po’alo ki kol derachav mishpat, keil emunah v’ein avel tzaddik v’yashar hu.” The translation from Sefaria (sefaria.org/translations/en) is: “The Rock!—whose deeds are perfect, yeah, all of G-d’s ways are just; a faithful G-d, never false. True and upright indeed.”
A light went off in my head:
Hatzur, the rock;
Mishpat, meaning judgment;
Emunah, faith—a word that shares a root with “oman,” which means artist.
I mean, here we are, the day of judgment upon us, in the context of my decision to write a story about an acclaimed artist in the context of the greatest piece of art ever to be created in the creation of the world. It seemed like it was literally all coming together so seamlessly. But let’s begin with the word “hatzur.” There is a Gemara in Berachos that expounds upon this unique word.
The Gemara relates:
He said to him: “What is the meaning of the verse ‘Bless Hashem my soul and all of my innards, His sanctified name’? He replied: “Come see that G-d is altogether different than man: Human beings hang pictures on walls but are unable to enliven them with a soul, spirit, innards, and digestive organs. This is the meaning of what Chanah said: “There is no one as holy as G-d, because there is no one other than G-d, and there is no rock quite like G-d.” What is meant by the phrase, “There is no rock quite like G-d?” The Gemara interprets it: “There is no artist like G-d.”
The name Karin Holzer is a familiar one to readers of this newspaper. Back in January Karin Holzer took home the grand prize from amongst 5,000 entrants in the Richard C. Kessler Collection exhibit in Times Square. Her painting of the Kotel Menorah was chosen from thousands of other pieces of art, which represented the first of a series of big breaks in the young artist’s burgeoning career.
Karin had a number of creations that she thought would be capable of fetching the coveted prize so I asked her about her decision to overlook her Waterlilies and other more generically appealing creations and instead display the Menorah, which although inspiring to her may not have resonated in the same manner with Mr. Kessler and the other judges in the competition. One could initially tell, by the passion in her voice, that her decision to go with the Menorah ran to the core of her very being and that’s why I deemed it important to tell her story. Karin kept talking about the light of the Menorah illuminating the darkest places in exile. To her, there was never a question of which piece of art to enter in the competition; all she saw was an opportunity to share this most mystical and luminescent light with the world of art, entertainment, and culture.
Although it was this story that catapulted Mrs. Holzer into international stardom it was by no means the beginning of her story. Karin Holzer was born to Abraham and Anette Navon in Safed, Israel, among the mountain views, alongside many waterfalls. Her mother, a reflexologist by profession, is similarly an artist and art instructor, a discipline that was inherited only by Karin among her 5 siblings. As a child Karin was influenced by art and saw everything within the context of that discipline. It was her love for art that motivated her to graduate Art Studies at Tel Hai Academic College as well as her role in the Israeli Army in the intelligence force, creating maps for various military operations, completing her military service with honors. In 1999 Karin Holzer moved to the U.S., where she pursued a degree in Architecture and Interior Design, ultimately working for an architectural firm in New York City, where she used various software, such as AutoCAD and Photoshop, to design blueprints and three-dimensional computer simulation. She got married in 2005 and is today the mother of two sons.
To know Karin Holzer as the winner of an international art prize without knowing the story of where she came from and what led her to this great feat is to not know her at all. Because there is an aspect of Karin Holzer’s art that comes alive and jumps three-dimensionally off the canvas that it was created upon. There are a lot of different and eclectic sceneries within Karin’s art collection, but it is the way that she interfaces with the tzaddikim that she paints which serves as a window into understanding what makes her tick. A lot of that has to do with where she hails from; an illustrious Moroccan pedigree. A descendent of Rabbi Avraham Wazana, a Moroccan sage who was the recipient of many miracles of the type which only occurred to the greatest tzaddikim. One of the more famous Wazana chronicles is about his trip through the Dra Valley, having to travel through cities filled with bandits and murderers. At one point Rabbi Avraham diverted his course to stop and pray in a cemetery where many great leaders were interred. There, he encountered a Muslim shepherd whom he ordered to vacate. The shepherd threatened to kill the rabbi only for his gun to turn to stone and his entire flock of sheep to headstones. After news of this extraordinary miracle spread, the local ruler traveled to the great sage to apologize for the actions of the shepherd and to make amends by building a wall around the cemetery so that the Jews could pray there in peace.
It is her deeply embedded sense of emunas chachamim and the protection that she senses having these great leaders gracing her home, which is where all of her painting takes place, that guides her in all of her ways both personally and professionally. And there is no question in my mind that it is this mission to illuminate her surroundings through her art that is directly related to her exponential growth in a very short period of time.
Since January, Karin Holzer’s art has been featured in Berlin, Germany, Palma, Spain, Venice, Italy, and is currently on exhibit in one of the world’s largest art exhibits in Zurich, Switzerland. Karin has just returned from a two month visit in Israel where she was busy around the clock with meetings with the Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, a series of interviews hosted by Hidabroot, Israeli Mishpacha, Radio Kol Berama, Radio Kol Hazafon, TV Channel 14 as well as Ma’ariv and an invitation by the Minister of Culture in the Knesset where the original Menorah painting is currently being displayed alongside artwork by many famous artists such as Marc Chagall. A clear indication of just how broad of an impact Mrs. Holzer’s art has had on the length and breadth of Israeli society.
All holidays have its root in the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah. There is a unique connection between Chanukah and Rosh Hashanah which marks the beginning of the Days of Judgment which, to some, extends until Neilah on Yom Kippur or Hoshana Rabbah and the conclusion of the holiday of Sukkot. However, the Chassidic masters write that the last day in which the judgment which began on Rosh Hashanah is in fact the final day of Chanukah, referred to as Zos Chanukah. There is an allusion to this in the Neilah prayer where we recite the words “batuach ani b’eileh b’zechus shloshes avos” in effect declaring at the pinnacle of Yom Kippur that we have assurance that eileh which is the numerical value of thirty-six corresponding to the thirty-six candles that we kindle throughout the holiday of Chanukah, minus the shamash.
The light of the Chanukah menorah is a manifestation of the Ohr Haganuz which G-d created on the first day of creation for the purpose of the righteous who were created on the 6th day of creation, which is Rosh Hashanah. It’s a brilliant light which reveals the beauty and pristineness in everyone and everything. There seems to be a semblance of that light and positivity in the art of Karin Holzer and in the way she interacts with people which is remarkable. Wishing everyone to be inscribed and sealed for a year of health, wealth, happiness, and redemption both personally and collectively.
Yochanan Gordon can be reached at ygordon5t@gmail.com. Read more of Yochanan’s articles at 5TJT.com.
