ISAIAH IN MANHATTAN
– “And You Shall Be a Light Unto the Nations”
 
 A few years ago, in Madison Square Park in NYC, I spotted an unusual bright, green top of a black lamp post. At noon, on a bright, sunny day, one does not expect an electric lightbulb to illuminate its surroundings but the light, shining onto and bouncing off the millions of small bright, green leaves was remarkable. I knew I had found the starting point for my series based on Isaiah 49:6, challenging the Jews to become or la-goyim – a light unto the nations.
 
          Then I noticed an astonishing contemporary plaster sculpture: a large, dark, and naked tree-like creation, its few branches carrying huge and heavy-looking rocks. The dead-looking tree seemed to drain everything and give nothing. Light and darkness were in my face, a few yards apart, as if they insisted on reminding me of two sides of the human story: striving to live an exemplary, ethical life is a path either embraced or dismissed.