Title: Art of Revelation – A Visual Encounter with the Jewish Bible
Yoram Raanan and Meira Raanan
Art is supremely the language of the spirit. Few artists in the Jewish world today better capture the beauty of holiness than Yoram Raanan – Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
The first time I saw Yoram Raanan’s work on the Internet, I longed to own one of his paintings. Infused with spirituality, light, deep insights and layers of color, they are a feast for the eyes, the mind and the soul.
And now I am blessed to own over 100 of his paintings published in the labor of love, joint project of his and his wife Meira called, Art of Revelation.
This book is not light reading. Literally. It is a massive tome depicting over one hundred of the artist’s paintings all related to the parshah.
In 2016, Raanan’s 300-meter studio in Moshav Beit Meir burned down. Two thousand paintings worth millions of dollars and the culmination of 40 years of work went up as a burnt offering to Hashem.
“On the night of the fire, as we watched the studio burn, and hundreds of paintings go up in flames, Yoram actually said, “Only good will come from this,” says Meira.”I could not fathom what he was saying at the time, but we have indeed been fortunate to be seeing much good in the aftermath of the fire. For me, the greatest loss was the parshah series. But we were most fortunate to have had digital images of these paintings.” All the original paintings (except for five) were lost in the fire. “After the fire, we felt a sense of urgency to share these paintings with the world and the most special “good” for me is to have finished and published Art of Revelation. I had been writing and researching for many years but the fire and loss of these paintings was the impetus that got me to actualize my dream – like a kind of phoenix rising from the ashes.” Meira provides the commentary for the books’ art offering artistic and spiritual insights into her husband’s creations.
The paintings were originally a three-year project during which time Yoram was commissioned to provide a new painting each week on the subject of the parshah, for the magazine section of The Jerusalem Post newspaper in Israel. The paintings also appeared on internet sites, including www.chabad.org.
The result, this magnificent book, is indeed a treasure. Equally transcendent and vibrant, the paintings bring the Torah to life through a visual medium that, inspired and inspiring, is ultimately seen with the eyes of the soul.
The book costs $120 (with free world wide shipping) and can be purchased on the artist’s website: www.yoramraanan.com/new-release.
