Digital Art, printed on poster paper

18" x 24"

2024

Coexistence is a word often used to describe the intermingling, or shared space of different groups of people, and often has been applied to the world’s major religions.  It rings with the sentiment of a peaceful or non-tenuous existence, one without war or violence, and maybe even cooperation and ideally a harmony.  The symbols used to represent the Abrahamic faiths, a cross, star of David, and crescent and star are typically shown in equal scale, giving the illusion that these groups are similar in status, numbers, or importance.  However, the imagery is misleading, and does a disservice by reinforcing the false notion that these groups occupy the same space.

How does seeing the disparate proportions of these symbols alter your perception of their respective collective groups?

At the bottom of the poster, you can see the date this art was created in both the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars.  If you notice, the Hebrew calendar has its own months, and follows the lunar cycle, with an adjustment every few years by repeating the month of Adar when there is a leap year, as was the case this year of 5784, since many of the Jewish holidays follow the agricultural cycles of the Levant.  Certain holidays must occur in their proper seasons, not here in America, but in the Land of Israel, so Passover can fall in the Spring season, as is required in the Torah.  By contrast, the Muslim holiday of Ramadan can fall in winter or summer.

Jewish festivals like Shavuot mark the harvest of barley or wheat.  The holiday ending of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel where Jews all over the world start to pray for rain (in the Land of Israel).

• What does the Hebrew year tell you about the Jewish people’s concept of time verses the Gregorian year?

• How does Hebrew calendar inform one’s understanding of how Jewish time differs from Islam or Christianity?