G-d near? — ‘best beware’ — trouble ‘a head’ trouble behind
Throughout the Bible, we are told to draw near to Gd — and yet, we are also aware of the need to see danger (in this) closeness . . . . Gd is not easily managed nor manipulated. ‘Drawing near’ is danger, one we should be more aware of, for it is neither cotton candy, rainbows nor unicorns . . . eyes wide open — or eyes wide shut — trembling before Gd.
Face to Face . . .
After all of the blessing (s), the final word (s): Numbers 7:89
When Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with [God], he would hear the Voice addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Pact between the two cherubim; thus [God] spoke to him.
וּבְבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵד֮ לְדַבֵּ֣ר אִתּוֹ֒ וַיִּשְׁמַ֨ע אֶת־הַקּ֜וֹל מִדַּבֵּ֣ר אֵלָ֗יו מֵעַ֤ל הַכַּפֹּ֙רֶת֙ אֲשֶׁר֙ עַל־אֲרֹ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת מִבֵּ֖ין שְׁנֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִ֑ים וַיְדַבֵּ֖ר אֵלָֽיו׃ {פ}
Note: Chagall — Judges, XIII, 17-20.
This etching is from Chagall’s sublime Bible series. Almost 10 years in the making, and comprising over 100 etchings, it was the third of Chagall’s etching suites to be commissioned by the publisher Ambroise Vollard. Chagall’s Jewish identity had always informed his work; in this major suite, begun in 1930, it was to take centre stage. Embarking on the project during a time of economic uncertainty, Chagall travelled to Palestine in 1931 for inspiration and worked on the plates throughout the 1930s, even as anti-Semitic violence and the rise of the Nazis threatened its existence. By January 1934, a major blow to the project came when Vollard suspended his financial support as he weathered the Depression, but Chagall continued unabated.
