Installations: The Invisible Part of the Children of Israel
Size/Variable
The goal of The Invisible Part of the Children of Israel is to name all the women in Torah, especially those identified as possessions such as Lot’s wife (Idit), Noah’s suffering spouse (Zedekelbab), Haman’s selfish, significant other (Zeresh), Moses’ brave mate (Zipporah) and on and on and on. Sarah, Leah, Rachel and Rebecca (the original “girls) are present as well as they have served as mentors for Jewish women and girls from the very beginning of time. Women were indeed present in all of the circumstances described in the Bible and their attendance will be duly noted by this work. We cannot rewrite Torah (nor am I suggesting we should), but we have an obligation to inform our daughters (and our sons) of the important parts our foremothers played in Jewish history. The Invisible Part of the Children of Israel raises our consciousness and illustrates the significance of Asenath, Orah, Na’amah, Zelapoint, Mahlah, and all the unnamed others in Jewish history. It fills a sacred obligation by sanctioning their presence and, when possible, acknowledging their attendance.
The information presented on the “text pages” consists of the women whose names I’ve discovered and their relationships/accomplishments. I’ve cut out individual letters from old and damaged books and placed them on the folio surface. In this way I’ve re-written history and hope the viewer understands my sense of obligation as a Jew to note the participation and presence of women in the events of the five books of Torah.
