God:an exploration through art

By the students and families of Temple Sholom2011 5771

As an end of the trimester project, the Family Track participants and students in our Sunday program created a variety of art projects that represented their ideas

about God. These are their creations.

- Unknown (water color)“God is direction. God is everywhere”

- Unknown (paint)“God is people helping people”

- Shoshi (paint)“I think of God as a puppet master. Sometimes you’re on a

string and sometimes you’re not. When you’re not, you have free will.”

- Jason (multi-media)“This represents God because I feel God paints pictures with all of the things in the world”

- Unknown (clay)“God is like a shield – but

sometimes you lose God’s protection

- Unknown (crayon)“Peace, serenity, and the beauty of nature”

- Sam (paint on wood)“I think of God as music”

- Unknown (paint)“Change. There is great beauty in change. There is even greater beauty in knowing that change will bring color to our lives again…and again…”

- Adam (multi-media)“God is in the holidays”

- Unknown (marker)“God is like a lion”

- Talia (watercolor)“Nature is what God gave to us”

- Noah (multi-media)“I don’t believe in God, but I thought about what brings people together. I think patriotism brings people together”

- Unknown (multi-media)“My creation represents God by showing the great outdoors with all the animals and plants that God made

- Unknown (watercolors)“This symbolizes the word of God, the Torah, the tales of history. I believe that this is one of the ways God communicates with us. I believe that it is a key symbol of God.

- Adam (clay and marker)“My art represents nature”

- Bradley (wood and clay)“I believe that God is like a parent or elder that drives the car that leads us through life. My sculpture explains just that.”

- Nathan (clay and marker)“My God is always supervising the earth from beyond”

- Unknown (pastels)“God is watching you everywhere and God can see through anything.

- Unknown (paper mache)“Change. Sometimes we don’t know how things will end up.”

- Mia (clay)“My mom made some

hearts because she thinks God is love. I made a house

because God gives us shelter.”

- Josh (multi-media)The Creation of Time“The world has many creations that are all connected. A beautiful creation is the world.”

And lastly….

A collage by our 7th grade students…

Judaism balances between the dichotomy that we are a chosen people in covenant with God from the encounter at Mt. Sinai, and that we are the “children of Israel” – descendents of our ancestor Jacob

renamed for wrestling with God and humanity. Holiness/K’dushah is the language we use in pursuing this relationship. We see God in many different ways and how we acknowledge the Divine tells us how to treat

other people and act in the world.