Image of the Week: Ruach Elohim (Breath of Life)
© D. Yael Bernhard
Ruach Elohim is the image for February 2024 in my newly-published calendar, The Jewish Eye 5784/2024 Calendar of Art. The title is tricky to translate. The Hebrew word ruach means "breath," "spirit," or "wind;" while Elohim means God or in this context, "that which gives life" – for the phrase Ruach Elohim occurs in the second sentence of B'reishit (the Book of Genesis). Creation itself begins with the breath, or spirit, of the life-giving force, which ripples across the primordial depths of darkness.
In my mind’s eye, an image began to swirl into form. As blackness gives birth to light, it seemed logical to break this rippling force into colors. I thought of showing a prism, but decided it was more important to place this unfolding in human hands. In the Torah, humans are created in the likeness of their Creator, and human attributes are what sets the divine in Judaism apart from the pagan deities that flourished in the time of Abraham. That there is a creative force in the universe that is benevolent, compassionate, fierce, omnipresent, and deeply concerned with people, was an entirely new concept.
Some names of God, such as the sacred tetragrammaton YHVH, emphasize mercy and compassion; while Elohim is the god that prevails over justice. When justice is dispensed with mercy, life is good. That's the balance that's delicately held between these two hands. Not a static state to be sure, but evanescent, turning and changing. These are the undercurrents that were set in place before the things of the world took shape.
The colors here represent the basic elements of Creation: night and day, plants and water, earth and sun, with sunset and sunrise hues infusing the center as the first evening and first morning – in that order – are completed. And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day. This is why all Jewish holidays begin in the evening, at sundown.
And God saw that it was good.
Surely that goodness ripples through us still, just as the cycles of nature set in motion by the Breath of Life continue to turn.
The Jewish Eye 5784/2024 Calendar of Art is available in my webstore ($20 with shipping included) or on Amazon ($16.95). If you want to purchase this calendar, please consider buying it directly from me, as Amazon takes a substantial cut. If you buy it from Amazon, please consider writing a review! This is very helpful in pushing the calendar up in Amazon's search engine.
You can view the entire calendar here.
A good week to all!
D Yael Bernhard
children's books • fine art • illustration
