20 | JULY 11 • 2024
renewal,” he says.
An artist from a young age, Smith grew
up in Los Angeles and studied graphic
design in college. He loved learning from
“multiple professors who emphasized the
way politics, technology and historical con-
vention impact the way things look.
” For
more than a dozen years, he’s been teaching,
painting murals-for-hire and making art
from words and Hebrew letters.
“Hebrew is the thread that connects all
Jews to their heritage as well as to each
other,
” he says. “No matter what religious or
geographic background you have, these texts
and prayers belong to all of us. By making
art with these texts, my work can be univer-
sal.
”
Debra Darvick, a local artist in her own
right and a Beth Ahm member, attended
two sessions with Smith as well as the syn-
agogue’s annual event honoring past presi-
dent David Stryk, where congregants collab-
oratively painted the mural that hangs in the
synagogue. She especially enjoyed “having
a hand in creating the mural that Hillel
designed for the celebration,
” she says.
“Hillel was a terrific teacher,
giving context for the creative
assignments he had prepared
for us,
” she says. “We were able
to draw upon creative and spir-
itual wells in formulating our
ideas for our works.
”
She also noted that “when
you create art together, all sorts of new
conversations come to the surface.
” Darvick
enjoyed getting to know fellow communi-
ty members on a deeper level as they sat
together making art.
“I had a truly wonderful time at Beth
Ahm,
” says Smith, who had never before led
two big group projects with one congrega-
tion. “From the get-go, Rabbi Rubenstein
was very interested in getting everyone to
make art. An unprecedented two of them
were communal pieces, one a mural by teens
and their families and the second an even
bigger mural by everyone in the community.
“This speaks to the values of the shul,
holding community above all else,
” he adds.
Smith designed the foyer mural as a piece
“about the joy in doing Judaism.
” The Beth
Ahm team guided him to create “something
with energy.
”
The mural features abstract representa-
tions of hands, a lulav, a Torah, a Havdalah
candle and a shofar being blown. “The idea
was that the abstracted figures would allow
anyone to see themselves in the piece and
feel the joy that comes from these rituals
and traditions,
” he says. “The style would
give a sense of dynamism that I hope every-
one feels when they do these mitzvot.
”
The first Shabbat after the mural went
up at Beth Ahm, a crowd gathered around
it. Seeing it up on the wall as one complete
design gave the artwork new meaning,
Darvick says.
“I had painted two hands but had real-
ly recognized them as hands,” she says.
“Looking at the mural, I recognized the
hands I had painted were holding the
lulav and etrog, [which had been] paint-
ed by someone else. The mural, and the
whole experience of having worked on it
with fellow Beth Ahm-ers, makes a great
metaphor for joining together in a com-
mon cause, each of us doing our part and
then seeing the result come together in
such a beautiful way.”
OUR COMMUNITY
Hillel Smith works on the mural.
Debra
Darvick
COURTESY OF BETH AHM
This “Burning Bush” mural was installed near the weekday entrance.
Another mural was installed in the Beth Ahm lobby.
continued from page 18