During my art program with members on Yom Kippur this year, we examined the High Holidays through the three B’s of Reconstructing Judaism: belonging, behaving, and believing. True to form, I didn’t show a single “Jewish’ work-there was a Dutch painting from the 16th century, a women’s hair salon by contemporary artist Kerry James Marshall, a photograph by artist and activist Nan Goldin who captured the LGBTQ community in the late ‘90s. Each work asked us to think about how our sense of belonging, our actions, and our ever-shifting belief systems were challenged and strengthened this past year. And then we came to the work above, and I realized that this was the work that held it all.
This gorgeous vase (at least in me and my fellow art explorers’ opinions) kind of stopped us in our tracks in ways I hadn’t fully expected-that’s the beauty of looking at art with friends. The first reactions were about how it looked. It seemed organic, like there was no way to create another vase just like it. Not only was it organic, but it was also cosmic-embodying the earth, the stars, like a look at our entire universe through these glistening lines and sparks of gold. It looked broken, repaired, and beautiful. For a moment I was speechless.
I chose this vase for exactly that reason, and I hadn’t said one thing about it yet. Come to think of it, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to say about it at all – the other works all had people in action, moments of drama-how was I going to talk about a vase? This is why I love looking at art in community. Holding the awe that everyone felt around this work, I shared how it was crafted using the Japanese art of kintsugi, golden repair. Artisans carefully gather and clean shards from a broken vessel. The pieces are joined together using a tree sap binding agent, and the seams are dusted with precious metal powders.
Now it was their turn to be speechless…but not for long.
Yom Kippur asked us not to hide our cracks and imperfections but to look at them head-on, to speak to them out loud, and take action to repair the damage. This vase celebrates imperfections and brokenness through spectacular, shimmering gold. I almost want to break every vase in my house and gild them back together….almost. If anyone practices the art of kintsugi, let me know – I see a powerful workshop in our future!
The conversation shifted to looking at our own lives through the lens of kintsugi. Did we look at our own faults, our sins, however we call them, with the same kind of tenderness that kintsugi gives to shattered ceramics? Can we see that as we work on the repair, we are made whole and more beautiful as a result? Without this wonderful group of open, curious, and deeply reflective people, the vase would be just a vessel. But with them, it became a powerful symbol of teshuvah. The art is magnificent, but the shared experience of looking with adventurous thinking and heightened compassion fills me with awe and gratitude for this community every year.
Rebecca Hirschwerk
Director of Congregational Education
