Ittai Bar-Joseph
איתי בר-יוסף
חֲפִירָה 37
חֲפִירָה 37 (מתוך שְׁאֵרִים), 2024
קולאז' דיגיטלי, 160 ס"מ על 80 ס"מ
לֹא הָיִינוּ גֵּאִים בַּטְּקָסִים שֶׁהִמְצֵאנוּ, הֵם הָיוּ מְיוּתָרִים וּלְלֹא תַּכְלִית. הָיוּ שֶׁאָמְרוּ שֶׁהֵם הַמְּעַט שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ יְכוֹלִים לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעֲנָם שֶׁל הַמֵּתִים. אֲבָל רֻבֵּנוּ יָדַעְנוּ שֶׁאֵין בְּכָךְ אֱמֶת וְגַם לֹא נֶחָמָה. כַּנִּרְאֶה שֶׁבְּמַהֲלַךְ עֲשָׂרוֹת אֲלָפֵי שְׁנוֹת אֱנוֹשׁוּת הַטְּקָסִים הֻלְּחֲמוּ לָנוּ לְתוֹךְ הַדִּי-אֵן-אֵי וְעַכְשָׁיו כְּבָר לֹא הָיוּ בַּנִּמְצָא הַתְּנָאִים הַנִּדְרָשִׁים כְּדֵי לִפְרוֹם אוֹתָם מִשָּׁם.
Excavation 37
Excavation 37 (from Leftovers), 2024
Digital Collage, 160 cm x 80 cm
We were not proud of the rituals we invented; they were unnecessary and purposeless. Some said they were the least we could do for the dead. But most of us knew there was neither truth nor comfort in that. It seems that over tens of thousands of years of human existence, rituals have fused themselves into our DNA, and now the conditions required to unbind them from it no longer exist.
And a man sat among the mourners who had no names, and he said: "A time shall yet come to place flesh upon them."
(Scroll of the Dispersed, Chapter 5, Verse 12)
And I spake within mine heart: Are they not as the children of Ephraim, cast away in the days of famine? Even so, now are souls cast adrift, seeking rest which is not given unto them. Yet, lo, the day shall come when the earth shall be rent asunder, and the spirit shall restore that which was to the dust, for great is His mercy and His wonders toward all His creatures. And naught shall remain of them but faith, and man shall rise forth from the depths of his vanity.
(Epistle of Rabbi Isaiah ben Eliezer unto the Exiled Community of Nehardea, Leaf 8, Section 4).
וַיֵּשֶׁב֙ אִ֔ישׁ בְּתוֹךְ֙ הָאֲבֵלִ֔ים שֶׁאֵ֥ין לָהֶ֖ם שֵׁמ֑וֹת וַיֹּאמֶר֙ ע֚וֹד תָּב֣וֹא עֵ֔ת לְהַעֲל֥וֹת עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם בָּשָֽׂר.
(מגילת נִדְּחִים, פרק ה', פסוק י"ב)
"וָאֹמַרְתִּי בְּלִבָּבִי, הֲלֹא כִּבְנֵי אֶפְרַיִם הַנִּדְחִים בִּימֵי רָעָב, כֵּן גַּם עַתָּה נְפָשׁוֹת נִדָּחוֹת מְבַקְּשׁוֹת מְנוּחָה אֲשֶׁר אֵין לָהֶן. וְאוּלָם, כִּי יָבוֹא יוֹם וּתְבַקַּע הָאָרֶץ, וְהָרוּחַ תָּשִׁיב אֶת אֲשֶׁר הָיָה לֶעָפָר, כִּי גָדוֹל חַסְדּוֹ וּנְפְלָאוֹתָיו לְכָל יְצוּרָיו. וְלֹא יִשָּׁאֵר מֵהֶם אֶלָּא הָאֱמוּנָה, וְהָאָדָם יָקוּם מִתּוֹךְ הֶבְלָאוֹתָיו."
(איגרת ר' ישעיה בן אליעזר אל קהילת גולת נהרדעא, דף ח', סימן ד').
And a man sat among the mourners who had no names, and he said: "A time shall yet come to place flesh upon them."
(Scroll of the Dispersed, Chapter 5, Verse 12)
And I spake within mine heart: Are they not as the children of Ephraim, cast away in the days of famine? Even so, now are souls cast adrift, seeking rest which is not given unto them. Yet, lo, the day shall come when the earth shall be rent asunder, and the spirit shall restore that which was to the dust, for great is His mercy and His wonders toward all His creatures. And naught shall remain of them but faith, and man shall rise forth from the depths of his vanity.
(Epistle of Rabbi Isaiah ben Eliezer unto the Exiled Community of Nehardea, Leaf 8, Section 4).