Rabbi Yona Weinrib

so rabbi thank you so much for joining us on our show it's an honor to have you on and it's a pleasure to be here so you were fr from what i understand you were a rabbi first and then you got into art what was your evolution into the art world it was basically merging two processes uh there are two loves in my life one was the love of learning and a love of art and as i started growing and started doodling a little bit more i said the two of them came to work hand-in-hand and it's a beautiful merger of the two i started learning and it's like the more i started learning and i saw the images that our rabbis have given us the the text is so full of rich imagery i said and when i started drawing i said let's bird these two together and it's a magnificent uh union of the two of them together so it's uh i i have smirk but the the more i started learning and the deeper i started getting involved in the artwork i said wow this is phenomenal and it's uh the i i'm looking for the beauty and the meaning in judaism and this has been for me it's been a tremendous year you know so interesting about your artwork and you know it's so thank god hashem god has blessed you it's so famous in the jewish world it's so a part of our current life meaning your artwork is in everyone's home whether you know about it or you don't know about it like if you have a venture if you have a parquet ovo's if you have stuff on your wall if you ever got honored at a dinner like however else like people have no idea that you're already all over their house and i'm sure of it it's very humbling but it's a uh certainly very much appreciated and then it's it's it's not me it's a gift from from upstairs for sure and and it's so wonderful and what i think is so unique about your artwork and i'm sure this is part of it i want to hear your thoughts because i've been looking at it i mean my whole life that i can remember is what you do is you are it's almost as if you are taking words actual words and you're not only drawing inspiration from them you're you're it's almost if like you're exploding them if you will into our imagination and i'll i'll give you just a few examples that you know um i'd love to hear your thoughts on it because it's so powerful i i you know there are different artworks that come into my head one is you have this beautiful painting um where olam has a domino right the world is related to like a um a hallway right and you have this beautiful painting where it's you have the words on the screen so to speak on the canvas and then you build an entire artwork around it was that is that deliberate we do you look at these verses do you look at these sukken and then try to bring it out on paper on purpose what's your process for how you do this it's interesting that people have asked me like what are the tools of your trade and and it's you know of course i work with with gouache and watercolor and airbrush on the old pen and ink i start with the books i start with the volumes of the talmud and the midrash and the commentaries that that's really the vision that i'm looking to to bring out and it's something that when you see the the beauty of what our rabies have given us in terms of the the content the imagery the the the parables it's it's phenomenal and it's and then i say like wow let's let's harness this and what that that that's probably one of the most signature pieces of my collection uh and an input about ethics of the fathers it's it's probably the largest collection of ethical teachings that judaism has to offer and and there are very uh sometimes esoteric concepts that we're dealing with how do you how do you depict this world how do you pick the world to come and and you go back to the stages what's all there a friend of mine who's an artist said where do you get your imagery from i said it's all the books it's it's you start with that and it's uh i start with for example the concept of this world that depicted as a sukkah it's a temporary dwelling and that's really what it is and the rabbis tell us that it's seven it's eight days uh that's the extent of what it is it's not a it's not mortar and brick it's frail it's subject to the elements and i said that's this world and i mean when you pick this world you look at it and says wow they've given us a depiction and the way to to envision what this world is all about and then there are concepts called the shabbat show is an element they have of shabbat which deals with this world with kamikaze is like an arab shabbat it's a world of preparation we're dealing with the the work the uh the the focus of our activities but that's not where it ends in the image and the world to come it's large looming shabbat candles that are lit it's a day of eternal shabbat and we're looking at the imagery of this world in the world to come it's it's temporary it's it's fleeting it's ephemeral something which is much greater so the the the statements of the rabbis gave me the background okay and i'll take it from there and share their their vision in a artistic rendering but a beautiful concept that in many ways what if i can just characterize this that i can articulate it for myself and others what you're trying to accomplish in your artwork is really to give expression to the to the the vision of the rabbis that are nestled in the words very powerful that that it's not necessarily you it's really you channeling them and i think in many ways that's probably why people are so connected to it because you feel them on the page also very much so i think that that people are searching everyone wants a connection and you'll have a person an artwork is a tremendous medium and i found that part of the beauty of artwork is it's it's uh you know it's we're not we're not sharing strong messages in a powerful way it's something that we're giving over the the eternal messages of the sages this goes back the texts i go back are 2 000 years old and i bring the imagery that they've given us and people are looking for connection it can be a picture of the coat though on a wall but i want to bring the people beneath the surface of the text show the vision of what judaism has to offer and it's so powerful and when you depict it visually they say a picture's worth a thousand words i give you two thousand words one thousand words in the picture another thousand words of commentary right i think it's important to understand that it's not just the the vision uh but it's the message and people say like you know our artists are very esoteric we're some sometimes we're not so grounded and i think people say like what did the artist mean with this image i said this is what i meant look at the commentary read it and i i take sometimes i'll take longer in terms of the writing and i i do all the the the writing and the uh the commentary because i think it's important i know what i was looking for someone else can't really translate to look at that vision and say well this is what i think he meant no this is what i mean the the the message of the sage is the richness of the image together with the commentary yeah there's one painting i want to talk about a little bit here that's okay you have something called the precious gift of time and and i hope we can bring this up on the screen for those that are watching this but um in there is this fascinating painting that i think really it's i i can't even describe it what it would because you're using not like you're not drawing you're actually drawing with letters you're you're drawing with with with verses is that something that you find to be a very powerful use of of the art which is even even the the the what would be regular drawing really is is words right it's a it's a very ancient art form it's called micrography micrographics and you're taking the letters for the picture and there are different images i've done with obviously having it on screen would be helpful like i said in the images but i think it's something that you can check it out the precious gift of time carries the life cycle of man uh the rabbis gave us the different way station of a person's life uh five would be studying the scripture or ten for the mishnah and you walk through the different stages of his life to 120 and i paint the image as a clock and they use the lettering of the different weight stations or person's life there's a time to be born of time to die the different messages from kohelet ecclesiastes that gives us an understanding of there's it's powerful because you're seeing it visually and together with that if you read the commentary there's a message and a very profound message and it's something which the rabbis have given us of taking the different letters and using them to form the both the the image and the picture as well beautiful do you have a favorite that you have that um you that you could say this was really from old and the one that i love most every artist has asked that question uh one of the ones i think the uh is really the pros door the the this world is like an anthology before the world of comets one of the people i did in particular ethics of the fathers uh i think it captures so richly the the imagery together with the messages and there's such a profound message you know we're dealing with with life it's this world in the world to come these are these are big topics in judaism and we'll deal with it about what a person's all about uh our our uh what's our life all about and how do we look at it uh is this the end goal or is it something which goes far beyond that and i think very often in art there's an understanding of secular art and jewish art and i try to convey the the balance between the two because secular art is beautiful the world is beautiful and i think sometimes it means harnessing the powers that we have and understanding that in judaism i see that the art is a means to an end it's a much higher higher goal a richer purpose in terms of what we're doing so when we're creating we're not just training for the visual there's the visual the intellectual the emotional and all come together with the the the imagery and the commentary and the and the the inspiration that hopefully people will get when they see the work and they say wow this is something which which talks to me with every second of judaism yeah you know it's interesting in you as you're saying um but just so i can continue to bring this out because it's so powerful the words that we have in our torah is itself art is itself valuable it's not and and you make use of that um and there's one or two things that i that that that struck me because i've only seen it you know i've seen this i i it's countless how many times i've seen these paintings um and one of the things that you do so beautifully is that you take prayers you keep them in their entirety and then you beautify them it's not just a verse that brings something out it's almost like it's almost as if you're saying the prayer is fine the way it is it's beautiful the way it is i'm just gonna like fix the edges and put something in it so that when you see it you're connected deeper and in my mind i'm thinking of three different art pieces um i'm thinking of asia you have this asia style that is in like i said in all of our um ventures it's on our walls uh it's it's a it's a mainstay and as i'm thinking about it the reason why it's so beautiful is that you didn't change asia you didn't take one line you it's as if you said you know stay saying this is a beautiful thing unto itself just when you look at it i want it to be a little bit prettier so let me put this beautiful flower and let me highlight and is that do you do do you get do you like go to like a prayer and say wait this is gorgeous let me just make this pretty how does what's the process for picking the ones and how does that work i think that the part of it is that you're you're right charlie it's the the beauty is in the prayer itself and and it's the sometimes it's interesting because i work together with someone who's a software and they work on a torah the torah is black and white there's no color nothing it's it's like it's like it's so clear it's black and white right and then i'll work with a project on the torah in color that that's the commentary so you're looking at the text of the of the rabbis and it stands in its own right we don't doesn't need any embellishment but we're visual people and we're a generation that needs to look at things and say okay i the text is great but let's just give you the the the trappings around it to give it a little more enhance and embellishment and that's hopefully what i'm trying to do with it with the text and all the work i'm doing yeah and i'll end with this one and i know that your time is limited just we can do this all day i can dig like every single thing i've seen you know it's beautiful you have what i'll just i'll end with this one again like i said thank you for your time and again we could be here all day you have one in the haggadah it is the vehicle and it's so the prayer is so you know we say that like you know between the yakov shweki version of the song right and where it stands in its placement like everybody knows like and when you look at your artwork it's what you're saying it it captures so much more you have the the hand with the kettle holding the glass the the cup you have where we were you have where we're going like there's so much on that page you even have the haggadah in it like when you look at it it's not just that it looks nicer to your point i can almost imagine you saying how much can i stick into this one painting to bring imagery of the cs mitzrayim of mashiach of the that that that leader of the seder and in the kittle holding the back like and then maintaining the entire prayer so someone could look at it and simultaneously pray say it and then grab all this imagery around it it's it just that that i'm assuming is is the goal yeah i i'm hoping to the the artwork hopefully invite them into the into the process and and the judaism there's so much it's so rich so so many different dimensions and sometimes people don't understand it and they'll they'll if they look just look at the artwork and say rabbi the artwork is beautiful i said did you look at the commentary yeah okay now you've got it it's a combination of the the two elements coming together and the and the merging of the the physical and the and the uh parts that go beyond the physical and looking at those different dimensions they can they can capture and bring a person in again when a person sees it they you want art to be inspiring want the message to be there it's something it's not just for us it's for generations and the the something which is uh hopefully we'll capture with the the messages and i've done work for uh different people i've done work it was in in the white house by the president clinton and uh with a gift that had got it was given as a gift to former president uh bush and they gave them the jewish jewish organization want to give them something of meaning uh what tells us about who we are the people that got it i got us something which is so eternal and when i created there was something that was a collector's edition the regular edition was something that was so powerful and i said this talks to us talks to everyone because it's a story about the jewish people about who we are the people and if we can do that the art can capture the messages uh both visually and and spiritually i think we've done something which is really phenomenal rabbi thank you so much for joining us in the show for what you do continue inspiring uh and and really bringing us to a higher level of relationship hashem through your beautiful art i appreciate it so much and hopefully people get a chance to see the visuals uh together with the audio and then they get the full pictures thanks so much for watching 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