Sh’Dai

For thousands of years Jews have affixed the mezuzah, a small box containing passages from the Book of Deuteronomy, to the doorposts of our homes. Often a mezuzah will have the Hebrew letter “shin” on its front, which is the first letter of one of God’s names: Sh’dai.

This piece centers on family and its protection. A mother deer lays with a child inside her, an image taken from tombstone engravings in the Jewish Cemetery in Prague. The father, a Lascaux cave bull, completes the family unit. These ancient images are rendered in charcoal and graphite on leather, and suggest that family stretches back to our earliest beginnings.

Surrounding the family are lions, an Israelite symbol of strength and protection. Amongst the lions a mezuzah and the Ten Commandments can be found, symbolizing that the ethical teachings of the Jewish People, when incorporated into our homes, also serve as protection.

Protection is also afforded through the wire mesh roof that covers the ancient family. Finally, at the bottom of the piece is yet another amulet against harm: a coyote face provided to me by a Native American shaman.

Listen to Ed talk about this piece in a video