arts & culture
Interactive Mosaic Exhibit
Encourages Diverse Interpretations
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
B eauty may be in the eye of the
beholder, but for Rabbi Gila
Ruskin, she hopes the beholder
sees more than just beauty in her
mosaic art.

The West Philadelphia-based rabbi
and artist, with 15 years of mosa-
ic-making under her belt, created the
project Mosaic Midrash hoping others
would help add meaning to her pieces,
which were inspired by the words of
the Torah.

Combining meticulously placed tiles
traditionally seen in the mosaic medium
with three-dimensional elements from
found objects, Ruskin constructs her
mosaic pieces drawing not just on the
materials of everyday life, but also the
theme of what it means to be alive.

“I love the idea of taking broken
objects, constructing them into some-
thing beautiful. To me, that’s the
essence of life,” Ruskin said.

Audiences can view and participate
in Ruskin’s Mosaic Midrash project by
visiting her exhibit, which opened Feb.

27, at Mekor Habracha/Center City
Synagogue, 1500 Walnut St., #206.

The exhibit consists of 35 mosaic
pieces, almost all of them drawing
inspiration from a scene from the
Torah. The exhibit is interactive, with
visitors able to affix materials to some
pieces, and add their own midrashic
interpretations to the works.

Divided into three separate themes,
the exhibit is a loose exploration of one’s
life and their connection with God,
according to curator Seraphina Ferraro.

The first theme is Mavo, which
Ferraro described as “the chaos before
divine order.” The theme is represented
in pieces such as “Midrash of the Arks,”
which has become a hotbed for interpre-
tation in the exhibit. Instead of one ark
represented in the piece, there are nine,
and Ruskin asks her viewer why this is.

Among the responses she’s received,
Ruskin has been stunned by the diver-
sity in thought the pieces have evoked.

“One person said it’s so the ani-
mals don’t ever give up hope; they can
always see that there’s another art com-
24 Ruskin’s mosaics represent different themes and scenes from the Torah, many of which are related to an individual’s life
and relationship with God.
Courtesy of Gila Ruskin
ing along, and that they don’t have to
despair,” she said of one interpretation.

The second theme is M’orav, involve-
ment, which represents the human cov-
enant with God and the intertwining of
spiritual values and practices in Jewish life.

The last theme is Matmid, which
focuses on the idea of the promises of
the future one keeps with God, and
includes a piece she created several
years ago about the Red Cross refusing
to collect blood donations from Black
Americans in 1941.

“What I love about Gila and about
the way that she approaches her work
is that she really wants that moment
when the rubber meets the road, of
her artwork and her concepts, meeting
other people and creating new stories,
new ideas,” Ferraro said.

Ruskin was inspired to display her
artwork in this fashion after visiting
Mekor Habracha and being struck by
the lighting in the space’s hallway.

Mekor Habracha Rabbi Eliezer
MARCH 17, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM