The Commonality of Humanity, An Artist's Journey
27th of Nisan In The Year 5783
According to the Hebrew calendar, Tuesday the 18th of April is the 27th of Nisan in the year 5783.
For most of the world it was just another Tuesday and of no particular interest, except for astrologers, astronomers and physicists who prepare for today’s new moon hybrid total eclipse of the sun.
All too many will turn away from reading, seeing or hearing the word, ‘Holocaust.’
Even more most probably will think, “Oh no not again, enough of that.”
However, for families and friends who were personally touched by the unfathomable reality of man’s ultimate inhumanity to man, Tuesday the 27th of Nisan, ‘Yom HaShoah,’ was a day of Remembrance.
Young old, religious-secular, male-female, left-right, gay-straight, soldier-civilian – at exactly 10am, for two minutes, the Nation of Israel stood still.
And as usual, politicians on all sides of the fence scurried around for the best photo opportunity. Little did Bibi’s Coalition Members expect to be verbally forced to retreat from remembrance day gatherings. For one day, politics faded away.
Dame Elizabeth Taylor, Orson Welles, Frank Sinatra
During the 24 hours of Holocaust Remembrance (from the evening of April 17th through the evening of April 18), Israeli television screened nothing but one Holocaust film after another. The Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa Cinematheques scheduled 1 to 2 days of Holocaust-related films.
I place one full length documentary above all Holocaust-related documentary films.
Produced by the Simon Weisenthal Center in Los Angeles, ‘GENOCIDE,’ is narrated by the great humanitarian, Dame Elizabeth Taylor and the indomitable Orson Welles. GENOCIDE (on YouTube)
Directed by Arnold Schwartzman, ‘GENOCIDE’ received the 1981 Academy Award for Best Feature Documentary.
From the early years of country after country expelling their Jewish population, to the 10,000 shtetls where Jews (often forbidden to own land) continued to thrive, ‘GENOCIDE’ examines Jewish culture and religious traditions that were irrationally looked upon with suspicious hatred by their Christian neighbors.
The film continues and focuses upon the unrelenting persecution and systematic removal, torture, rape and murder of 6,000,000 Jews under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, enabled by millions of European and Eastern European supporters.
Among the A-list of Hollywood/Entertainment movers and shakers, Frank Sinatra helped finance this devastating, harrowing, honestly brutal documentary film.
Mother Mary, A Personal Reflection
The foundation of Catholicism and all Christian religions is based upon the Hebraic Old Testament, Mosaic Law (aka the Ten Commandments) and Jewish traditional prayers.
Whether someone venerates, worships or prays to Jesus, the Virgin Mary, the Apostles, John the Baptist, Prophets or Archangels – Christians are venerating, worshiping and praying to ancient Hebrews who once upon a time lived, walked and preached in the Holy Land, today’s modern State of Israel.
In my inability to digest the ignorance of antisemitism that seemingly penetrates the DNA of Christianity, I turn my attention to the Holy Mother, the Cosmic Mother, the Divine Mother, to Mother Mary. For everything is born of woman.
I am fascinated by the millions, perhaps billions around our planet who adore, love and venerate Mother Mary, a simple young Jewish woman chosen by God to bring upon our planet a child, a son, a prophet, a rabbi, a Realized Being, a Guru, a Master, a Siddha.
I chose to release my catalogue of digital paintings entitled, MOTHER MARY, THE COMMONALITY OF HUMANITY, AN ARTIST’S JOURNEY on Yom HaShoah.” “Mother Mary Catalogue of Digital Paintings
In each of the 23 paintings I seek to share the oneness, the similarity, the commonality of Judaism and Christianity. For it has gone on for too many years that Christians continue to hate Jews and Jews continue to fear Christians.
Roman Polanski, Alfred Dreyfus, Theodore Herzl
Roman Polanski is a Polish Jew, born in Paris. A motion picture director with a massive resume, his numerous well-deserved awards and accolades reflect his artistic mastery of story-telling.
His 2002 Academy Award winning motion picture, ‘The Pianist’ (he won an Oscar for Best Director) includes moments that mirror Polanski’s personal experiences of surviving the Holocaust. The Pianist, Wikipedia
In 2019, Roman Polanski released perhaps his most important political motion picture, J’Accuse’ (‘An Officer and A Spy’).
Set in 1895 Paris, the film is based on the true story of the notoriously antisemitic Dreyfus Affair when a Jewish military officer in the French Army, Alfred Dreyfus was wrongfully accused, tried and found guilty of treason. Dreyfus Affair, Wikipedia
Polanski’s film received numerous awards. Although considered by many to be another masterpiece, anti-Polanski women’s groups protested both the director and the film which resulted in an English language boycott and censorship.
‘An Officer and A Spy’ has never been released in the United States or any other English-speaking country. Except for a 1 and 1/2 minute trailer, there are no English subtitled versions of the film. Trailer with English subtitles for An Officer and A Spy
Is it because Zionism, a most provocative word in today’s vernacular, was born in Paris on the shoulders of Alfred Dreyfus? That the vulnerable, controversial and aging Roman Polanski became the perfect target to eradicate the parallel story of Theodor Herzl who is considered the Father of Zionism?
Herzl was a Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright and lawyer. He was the Paris-based correspondent for the Viennese newspaper, Neue Freie Press (New Free Press) and covered the Dreyfus Affair. He soon realized the young officer was falsely accused.
Herzl was devastated to witness mass antisemitic rallies in Paris. He felt betrayed by the city he adored.
He was haunted by crowds of French men and women chanting, “Death to the Jews.”
After the trial, Theodor Herzl experienced an epiphany, a vision, a dream, a knowing.
This knowing completely consumed him. It changed his life forever.
In fact, Herzl’s knowing would impact and change world history forever.
Theodor Herzl furiously wrote a pamphlet entitled Der Judenstaat, ‘The Jewish State.’
Published in 1896 he prophesied that Europe would turn against the Jews in a collective momentum to destroy and annihilate not only the Jews, but Jewish culture.
Theodor Herzl warned the most influential Jews of Europe. He warned the de Hirsch family, the Rothschilds. He warned rabbinical and religious leaders. He warned Pope Pious X. He warned the religious, he warned the secular. He warned the assimilated.
Completely exhausted, Herzl passed away in 1904 at the age of 44.
He did not witness the rise of Nazi Germany. Nor did he witness the Holocaust.
He did not witness the thousands who left, nor the millions who died.
Herzl did not witness the manifestation of his prophetic dream – the creation of a Jewish Homeland.
Epilogue
A quote from Theodor Herzl’s Der Judenstaat:
The Jewish question exists wherever Jews live in perceptible numbers. Where it does not exist, it is carried by Jews in the course of their migrations. We naturally move to those places where we are not persecuted, and there our presence produces persecution. This is the case in every country and will remain so, even in those highly civilized—for instance, France—until the Jewish question finds a solution on a political basis. The unfortunate Jews are now carrying the seeds of Anti-Semitism into England; they have already introduced it into America.
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