April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
COMMON GROUND
Calligraphers of three faiths team up
"Three Scribes: Friends in Art" was held Sept. 18 at the Jewish Community Center in Schenectady. Three calligraphers of different faiths showcased their work in illuminated texts, discussed the similarities and differences in their respective religious texts and, together, created a piece of art to donate to the JCC.
"If we could go back in time, to before the tensions or dominations between the faiths," said Mohamed Zakariya, the Muslim scribe for the event, "we could have one heck of a conversation. But we don't have a time machine, so we should do it now."
The idea for the event came about when Shelly Goldstein, a member of the JCC, saw childhood friend Neil Yerman giving a lecture at a temple downstate. Mr. Yerman had become a well-known artist and a traveling sofer - a repairer and inscriber of Torah scrolls - and had presented seminars and workshops all over the country, including the Museum of Biblical Art and the Society of Scribes in New York City.
Mr. Goldstein invited his friend to speak in Schenectady. Mr. Yerman added some friends and fellow artists to the mix: Karen Gorst and Mohamed Zakariya.
Ms. Gorst has been a calligrapher for over 20 years and is an expert on Medieval and Renaissance Christian texts. She has taught and spoken at the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Penland School of Crafts, and the Craft Students League, the Cloisters and Wellesley College.
Mr. Zakariya is an expert in Arabic script and and is known as the preeminent ambassador of Islamic calligraphy in America. He was recently commissioned by President Barack Obama to create "O People," a gift for King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia.
At the "Three Scribes" event, the trio of artists created a unified piece of illuminated text that tells the biblical story of Moses and the burning bush.
Each carefully chose the translation from their respective traditions, as well as where it would fall on the page, what form of ink they used and its meaning and the spacing between the Hebrew, Arabic and English words.
They worked on the piece while simultaneously answering the audience's questions and explaining the history of their respective translations and the common threads found in the lettering and pronunciation.
Mark Weintraub, director of the JCC, declared that the event was "creating art, but more importantly, we're creating community."
Despite having lived in Israel, Mr. Weintraub told The Evangelist that "I learned more about Hebrew today than I ever thought I could. It's more than just the meaning of the words that matter; it's the form of the words, as well."
Representatives of the Islamic community said they were excited to see such a prominent figure in American Islamic culture as Mr. Zakariya emphasizing the need for communion with other monotheistic faiths.
"Building bridges is the most important thing for humanity and for future generations," said Maliha Nazeer, a member of the Capital District Islamic Center who attended the event. "We need to focus on the common threads we have in our spirituality.
"This event has shown me how intermingled we are and I really wanted to be a part of it. The interfaith community has finally made me feel like a part of the fabric here."
For Kathleen Duff, campus minister for Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady and a committee member for the event, seeing the final piece spoke volumes. (It will be on display soon at the JCC.)
"Art gives us another language to speak to God," she said; "and seeing the words intertwined like that, for me, was symbolic of God speaking all languages. They took ordinary letters and, through God's guidance, created a beautiful work of art."[[In-content Ad]]
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