Bereishit and Creativity

Tuesday, January 10, 2017 • 12 Tevet 5777

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM

Please join us tomorrow night, Tuesday, January 10, as we welcome Rabbi Richard Borah, who will help us explore the central role of creativity in the Book of Genesis, in Torah law and practice, and in the decisions and actions of the Patriarchs.
Richard McBee, a contemporary painter of Jewish art, will provide an analysis of his Biblical paintings on Genesis, with guidance on how to look at a painting and how to encounter art in an enjoyable and impactful manner.

The program will draw from discussions, poems and paintings found in Rabbi Borah's new book “Creativity and the Jewish Soul”, which draws on ideas from scholars such as the Rambam, Rashi and Rabbi Soloveitchik, poetry from a broad spectrum including Yehuda HaLevi to Robert Frost and Rilke, and features contemporary paintings and annotations by Richard McBee, all contributing to a unique exploration of creativity and art from a Torah perspective.

Pizza and Beer will be served.
The event is free, but please register on the event page if you plan to attend.

About Richard Borah

Rabbi Richard Borah received smicha in 1991 from Rabbi Yisrael Chait, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Bnei Torah, located in Far Rockaway, New York. Rabbi Borah was the principal of the Torah Academy of Suffolk County in Commack, Long Island for ten years and has taught Torah subjects at various education institutions in the New York area. He is the founder and president of the Observant Artist Community Circle, a non-profit organization focused on developing the nexus between Jewish artists and Jewish scholars. Rabbi Borah recently published 3 books:

1. “Yad on the Yad: 14 Essays on Maimonides Laws of Repentance”
2. “Understanding the Lonely Man of Faith”- a Guide to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s Essay”
3. “The Rambam and the Rav on the 54 Portions of the Torah”.

All three texts are available through Amazon.com.

Rabbi Borah’s most recent effort is “Creativity and the Jewish Soul - An Analysis of the 12 Torah Portions of Genesis”. In this text, Rabbi Borah collaborates with Richard McBee, a contemporary artist whose paintings are featured in each of the book’s 12 essays on the weekly Genesis Torah portion. This book explores the central place of creativity within Judaism and Jewish thought.

About Richard McBee

Richard McBee is a painter of Biblical subject matter and writer on Jewish Art. From 2000 until 2014 he wrote about the Jewish Arts for the Jewish Press and continues to exhibit paintings, lecture and curate Jewish art exhibitions. He is a founding member of the Jewish Art Salon. His website, richardmcbee.com, exhibits over 300 of his artworks and 250 of his Jewish Art reviews.