We started painting today at The Schechter Institutes! It’s the beginning stages of a collaborative typographic mural that so far has lettering by Hillel Smith over an awesome texture by Shlome J Hayun. The text is from the piyyut (liturgical poem) “Ki Hinei Ka-chomer” typically sung on Yom Kippur, which compares man to a litany of building materials in the hands of a craftsman God. (Hear it sung here.) Schechter features various programs relating to Jewish arts, and Hillel wanted to highlight the centrality of creativity and creation in Jewish thought. Shlome’s texture evokes Jerusalem stone, bringing the mural’s surroundings into the art.

Photo: Hillel Smith