Life Through a Jewish Lens
Exploring Jewish identity through photography with Jason Arel-Klein.
Hi friends old and new,
It feels good to be back after taking a short break from this weekly project. Now more than ever, it’s important to keep posting Jewish content. During this time of rampant antisemitism, when protestors in Sydney chant “gas the Jews,” Jewish college students are barricaded in their library during protests, and people in my own neighborhood are going around asking people if they’re Jewish (and probably not to get a good bagel rec I’m guessing), the time to show up for the Jewish people in our lifetimes is now.
Some people are posting advocacy and educational content, some of which I’ve been sharing on my Instagram. But I want to reserve this particular Friday space for Jewish joy, because isn’t that what Shabbat is all about? And we need to celebrate Shabbat extra hard because this will now be the third Shabbat when the Israeli hostages aren’t home.
Another way to express Jewish identity is through art. Allow me to introduce Jason Arel-Klein, an Atlanta-based photographer, filmmaker, and screenwriter, who explores his Jewish identity through superimposition photography.
“Star of David with Mezuzot”
“Tikkun Olam (Hands)”
“Before my grandfather died, I wasn’t inclined to shape my work in relation to my Jewish heritage, but after the funeral, I started creating some images representing strength, resilience, and power. These images provided me with a degree of comfort amidst a wave of grief and uncertainty.
I’ve been inspired by the use of signs and symbols to convey multiple concepts in one image. Judaism uses symbols as a kind of multilayered pictorial language that can be understood by the members of the community as deeply personal. Some symbols are very specific to the branch you belong to, and others are more all-encompassing, spreading amongst the Jewish diaspora.
The Hebrew word for symbol is ot, which doesn’t just indicate a sign. It is a visual religious representation of the connection between God and humans. These symbols are multifaceted as they may convey dynamic concepts. From colors to numerical alphabets, metals, fabrics, holidays, and biblical geographic locations, the list extends into different branches of our pan-ethnic people extending across the globe.
Personally, these images link me with the global community, our symbols overlapping and manifesting in different ways. The idea of being part of a people that extends close to 5,800 years is empowering to say the least, and individual symbols may come to reflect for each of us our connections to that heritage and to the global community.”
"Untitled (Hamsa)”
“Peace is a Two Way Street”
“As an American Jew, I’m put in a precarious position when discussing the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Conservative family members see me as self-hating, and my Middle-Eastern friends think I am supporting colonization. Yet it occurs to me, that I am an intensely conflicted centrist, torn between ideologies and social pressures, trying to navigate a tumultuous landscape. … This photo series is a means of catharsis from my anxiety. Hopefully, it validates the emotions of those who identify with me. … This one says a bunch of things in English that are said on both sides of the rhetoric. It was supposed to be darkly ironic because the chai is a symbol of life and yet so much carnage is happening.”
Check out more of Jason’s work here and follow him on Instagram at @mrjbird101.
Shabbat Shalom and may we find Jewish magic within ourselves to give to the world.
xx Miranda