Honey from the Rock: Psalms of Creation in Judaism and Christianity
I’m excited to introduce you to a new and essential project that I’m presently painting and writing, in partnership with the renowned Anglican theologian and scholar, Susan Gillingham, of Oxford. We live in a time when misunderstanding and mistrust among religious communities undermine our societies, and hope that Honey from the Rock: Psalms of Creation in Judaism and Christianity, will encourage the open and respectful dialogue, and facilitate the mutual understanding and tolerance essential to healthy civil society.
Honey from the Rock offers an entirely unique—and timely—interdisciplinary and inter-religious dialogue exploration of the Psalms in the history of Christian-Jewish dialogue. The two of us, Anglican theologian and expert in the reception history of the Psalms, and Hebrew manuscript artist, scholar and author, present you with the fruits of our unique collaboration exploring, in art and word, the often-conflicting Christian and Jewish understandings of this body of biblical poetry at the root of both our traditions. While Judaism and Christianity share a love for this poetry, core tenets of our beliefs lead us often (but not always) understand their meanings in entirely different ways. In our paintings and commentaries we do not hide or paper-over the differences and similarities, but fully recognize and explain them, embodied in the symbolic imagery in the paintings according to our respective religions. It is important to understand that our approach seeks to de-mystify Jewish and Christian beliefs to our communities—not to persuade or proselytize.
The book includes Hebrew and English illuminations of a selection of Psalms, each followed by extensive essays on Jewish and Christian theology of the Psalm, commentaries explaining the symbolism of the paintings from each point of view, and finally a comparison and contrast. The original paintings are accomplished on kosher calfskin vellum, in ink, gouache (opaque watercolor), gold and palladium. Honey from the Rock has already met with excitement at academic conferences, and we look forward to sharing more information as publication approaches. We hope you will find joy and illumination in this work.
Enjoy this gallery of a handful of the pairs of Hebrew and English illuminated paintings, and the very brief discussion of the similarities and differences in Christianity’s and Judaism’s readings of these beloved poems.
