Artwork

The Ten Trials of Abraham The Ten Trials of Abraham (first mentioned in Pirkei Avos 5:4 and elucidated in later commentaries) charts the dramatic spiritual and personal journey of the first man to recognize and obey God. His journey begins with the wrenching pain of exile…

Genesis 28:10-22 10 And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11 And he lighted upon a certain place, and remained there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows,…

Written by Richard McBee The Divine imperative underlies, indeed propels, the entire narrative of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar. God commands and tests our beloved protagonists. They must carefully parse His words and figure out what exactly He wants of them. It is their earnest reactions…

Written by Laura Kruger The curtains have parted, the orchestra has forewarned us of an impending tragedy; the characters take their places center stage to interact with each other in a story that is well known to the audience. But like a great opera, it…

Written by Jonathan Mark The First Mother maintains her hold on the Jewish imagination. What were the first words in the Bible spoken by a Jew? Was it about monotheism, social justice, the sanctity of land, peace or peoplehood?

Written by Richard McBee God commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac, Sarah’s only child. Our forefather gets up early and obeys, not telling Sarah his wife of 47 years. According to Rashi (Genesis 23:2) when she finds out about this, she dies of shock.…

Written by Menachem Wecker When Richard McBee talks about Abraham and Sarah's marriage, he calls it "a deeply problematic human relationship," which leads him to ask, "Do we look at biblical figures as paradigms of behavior?" McBee is not a therapist who thinks he is living…

Written by Tom L. Freudenheim Confronting Richard McBee’s series of paintings, Sarah’s Trials, is as much about engaging with the concept of Midrashic narrative and its multi-layered plotlines as it is about appreciating the paintings themselves. The duality of the painter’s deeply-rooted impulses, both reimagining…

Each painting is inspired by the Biblical text in several chapters of the book of Genesis and by midrashim and other rabbinic interpretations of the texts. Most of these midrashim come from a collection called Midrash Rabbah, which dates to the early 5th century CE.