Bere’Shith (In the Beginning) by Dena Eber

Issue 162

“Bere’shith” is the first Hebrew word in Genesis and means "in the beginning." This work is my story of starting again after considerable loss in my life, and that coupled with the COVID period warranted a reflection on the larger meaning of cycles, death, and renewal. While working on this project I noted that my process of starting again mirrored a combination of the Jewish mourning process and our yearly Torah cycle that culminates in the High Holidays, our change to create a new life, and to start again. This is also a universal experience, so in short, the project investigates what it means to be human, to move through sadness, to start again, to create a new life, and to be alive.

The images reflect many forms of cycles that encompass reformation, from “welter and waste” (also from the first sentence of Genesis), to a form of restoration and ultimate peace, only to break down again. It is as simple as the transition from day to night and back to day again, and as complicated as the creation of all things. As I worked on this project, I discovered something that represents “Shekhinah,” or the divine in its feminine, motherly manifestation. The female form reflects seeing myself, a woman, both in this imagery and in the divine.

I used Hebrew words and metaphors because I approached this project from a personal cultural lens, and my Jewish background informs the view from which I understand our human purpose, even as we move through pain. Indeed, references in the larger project and the way it is organized lines up with Jewish customs and teachings.

What surfaces is a metaphorical continuum of cycle, tradition, and light as part of the human condition. We cycle through happiness and sorrow as we go through life, and as we come around again, we are different and new each time. To me, this represents the spiral variation of a cycle and mimics the way we read our Torah scrolls, over and over again, starting from the beginning with each new year as we read, “Bere’shith” yet again, but seeing new ideas in the same text as we evolve.

This work is my spiral, my renewal, and dare I say – heaven presented through light.

Dena Eber (she/her) lives and works in Northwest, Ohio.
denaeber.com | @denaeber