Seventeen year old Amy has chronic myelogenous leukemia and is need of a donor so she can receive the transplant that can save her life. So far, no match has been found. Tissue type is inherited, like eye or hair color. Amy’s best chance of finding a genetic match lies with donors or Eastern European Jewish descent, but volunteers of all backgrounds are encouraged to join the donor registry.

The Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, in conjunction with USF Hillel, will be hosting a donor recruitment drive on the following days:

Monday, February 20th from 5-8pm in the USF Marshall Student Center

Tuesday, February 21st, Noon-4pm at USF Hillel (13101 Sycamore Drive across from football practice fields)

Wednesday, February 22nd, 10am-2pm at the USF Marshall Student Center Bull Market

You can find out if you are a match for Amy and countless other children and adults by joining Gift of Life, an affiliate of the National Marrow Donor Program and the worldwide donor registry. Testing is fast and painless, involving only a simple cheek swab. USF Medical School students will perform the swab. Eligible donors must be between the ages of 18-60 and in general good health. The goal for this drive is 100 new donors.

It is reported that one in 200 Americans will receive a transplant with marrow, blood stem cells or cord blood in their lifetime. One in 400 will require cells from another person (a donor). Only 30 percent of patients have a relative who is a match. The rest must search the unrelated donor pool. There is an urgent need to grow the registry of potential donors so that all patients have an equal opportunity to receive a transplant.

For more information, please call 1-800-9MARROW or visit www.giftoflife.org, or Anat Valdman, USF Hillel program director, at (813) 899-2788.

Get more information on Salsa Tel-Aviv.

The Tower of Babel

My piece for the judaica contest is based on the story of the Tower of Babel. The story focuses on how the world came to speak different languages and created cultural separation between different people of the world. The piece I made depicts a weathered bronze hand holding a representation of a peaceful world. The hand is weathered to show the trials and tribulations the jewish people have been through over the course of history. No matter what they face they still have remained strong and powerful. The world Shalom rests between the two fingers atop the hand, to symbolize a peaceful world which is what everyone hopes and strives for. It is the highest point of the sculpture since it is such a high, yet foreseeable goal. Other words for peace, written in multiple languages, trickle down the palm and shatter on the base. This is one of the most important parts of the sculpture as it shows not only the destruction of the Tower of Babel at the base of the piece but also symbolizes the turmoil and pressure that cultural differences cause the world. The destruction of Tower of Babel not only made people unable to communicate verbally, it created a tension between races and groups of people. The lack of understanding made people frustrated and tense. Although even through all of the cultural differences peace is still a possible aspiration. If people could just put aside their cultural differences and come together into one understanding, the world would be a monumental step closer to finding peace. Among all of the cultural turmoil in the world, peace, or shalom, will still find a way to rise up and stand tall.

View more of Danny Samuels’ art at http://dannysamuelsart.carbonmade.com/

Genesis, many would associate the word with the book of genesis, but for me coming from a religious Jewish family, I associate it with the great siege of Jerusalem. The siege of Jerusalem took place at 70 Ad, the might of  roman empire let by emperor Titus besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem the very heart of the Jewish society. This was a pivotal event in the history of Judaism. What might have seemed destructive and fetal at the time is considered by some as the rebirth of the Jewish culture.
Prior to the siege the Jewish society was polluted with decay and corruption, which was the main reason for the famous civil war  of Jerusalem. Rather than letting the horrible circumstance dictate the future of our culture, the Jewish society grew stronger by putting aside it’s remaining differences and focusing on the true essence of the Jewish culture and religion. For me the essence of that book of genesis is creation and birth.

The importance of this event in the Jewish history is exactly that-the rebirth of the Jewish culture. And it was the reason I choose to depict  this crucial moment as the subject of my painting. My painting  depicts the moment when the wall of Jerusalem was breached- the point of no return. In my painting I tried to capture the hopelessness of the situation. I tried to portray the roman soldiers using dynamic angels and large graphic masses to convey the drama. The colors I choose were inspired by religious depictions of hell, intense reds and oranges dominate the composition while cool violets provide extra contrast.  I choose to represent the Jewish society only by showing the city of Jerusalem as at the time the entire culture revolved around the city of Jerusalem and temple. The point of view of the composition is of a roman soldier this is to amplify and push the chaotic nature of war.

What inspired me during the creation of this piece were my personal memories of tisha b’av (the annual fast day commemorating  the destruction of the temple).as a kid I was always intrigued by this day and it’s meaning, I wanted to create an art  piece that would remind us of the our past to ensure we won’t repeat the same mistakes to celebrate our present and future.

For my “Adam and Eve” piece I was inspired by both my love for design and folk art paper cuttings.  I’ve always been interested in patterns and decided to incorporate that into this piece as well. Most of my artwork revolves around the elements of design. I applied the same technique to this piece. At the same time I wanted to focus on illustrating the story.  I’ve also integrated several symbols such as the figs leaves, the forbidden fruit and the spiraling serpent. Since the sly serpent deceived Eve into eating the forbidden fruits. The hypnotic spiral inspired my interpretation of the serpent tricking Eve. For this piece I wanted it to be decorative but at the same time clean and simple.

Joseph Interpreting the Pharos’s Dreams

2011
Digital
32”x17”

The stories of Joseph, sold by his brothers to slave-traders and taken away to Egypt, contain the “Cinderella” motif of the lost son’s rise to grandeur, and reflect a universal bearing. It is through dreams, abundant in these stories, that the innermost desires of the dreamer are revealed and also his fate through objective clues to future events.

The painting shows the pivotal scene where Joseph was brought from prison to the Pharaoh in order to interpret his dreams. While the Pharaoh’s wise men were unable to provide a satisfying interpretation that would be accepted by him, Joseph deciphered the dreams as foretelling seven years of prosperity, which would be followed by seven years of famine. Joseph went further by providing a wise solution to a national economical problem faced by the Pharaoh and proposed to store grain during the abundant years.

The scene depicted in the painting is the moment after Joseph was transformed from a dreamer to the interpreter of dreams, and when he was elevated from a slave to the king’s right hand, as foreseen in his own dreams in the past. The dreams of the Pharaoh present not the mere fate of an individual, but that of a whole nation and its future in fourteen years to come. By acknowledging that and offering a solution, Joseph is a simple slave no more, but a public figure, appointed as Vizier to the Pharaoh.

Joseph emphasized that the solution did not come from him, but from God, and the Pharaoh recognized the spirit of God within Joseph. In fact, Joseph represents a connection between the secular and the holy, which expresses the uniqueness of the People of Israel – a Hebrew man dressed as an Egyptian.

View more of Gal Or’s artwork at http://galorart.blogspot.com/

“The Blessing of Abraham”

“I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” (Genesis 22:17)

These are the words, as recorded in Genesis, that God spoke to Abraham after he had shown his unswavering loyalty by consenting to sacrifice his son. A uniquely brief, sparkling phrase, with shining imagery and resounding implications.
Judaism is one of the oldest and most enduring cultures on the planet. It has given rise to some brilliant minds and brilliant spirits– and I created this piece, “The Blessing of Abraham,” to celebrate this idea. Hovering ghost-like over the starry sky and desert sand are depicted many famous Jewish people in history. They include scientists, musicians, philosophers, theologians, inventors, leaders, martyrs, and biblical figures. Less famously, but no less importantly, I have also included many of my own friends. All together, they form a small part of a diverse cultural family stretching back thousands of years.
I appreciated this opportunity to learn more about some of these people, who truly helped shape the world. Also, to pay tribute to a subtle, but powerful moment in history that, you could say, started it all.

View more of Lindsey St. Pierre’s art at http://gloryfeet.blogspot.com/