Nehardea Magazine

Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center
No.14, Autumn 2003

IRAQI JEWS IN THE DIASPORA

THE LIGHT FROM JUDEA IN OR-YEHUDA

A SCULPTURE MADE BY ODED HALAHMY

Idit Sharoni-Pinhas

At the Heritage Circle located opposite the building of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center stands Oded Halahmy's sculpture "The Light From Judea" sculpted in the year 2001. (see cover photo).

"The Light From Judea" an upright Chanukkah lamp raised on a rectangular cement base, has arms that are sculpted in the form of curved branches, each branch ending in a candle-holder in the form of an ornamental pomegranate. The ornamentations of the Chanukkah lamp originate from Jewish tradition and the cultural heritage in which Halahmy was brought up.

The sculpture, it seems, also symbolizes the Chanukkah feast in the sculptor's imagination.

Says Halahmy, "The pomegranate is an ancient and universal symbol of beauty, love, marriage, fertility, prosperity, hope, life and rebirth. Even in the Song of Songs (7:14) we find the well known reference, 'If the pomegranates are in flower there will I give you my love'".

It was not in vain that Halahmy placed the pomegranate as the symbol connecting the lamp's branches to light. He thus made the pomegranate the source of light. To Halahmy, the beauty of light and the love of life are the central motif, which represents the feast of Chanukkah.

"BEN PORAT YOSEF, BEN PORAT A'LEI A'YIN" (Genesis 49:22)

This verse is often used as protection from the evil eye. It is taken from Jacob's blessing. Jacob's warmest, most loving prayers were for Joseph.

This inscription carved on Halahmy's sculpture is a popular inscription found on many Chanukkah lamps from Iraq in the 19th century. Iraqi Jews believed that this inscription possessed magic powers and was a shield against the evil eye. This tradition is mentioned in the Talmud: "I am born of the offspring of Joseph, whom no evil eye had ever ruled". (Berachot: 20, p.1)

The palm of the hand, (Chamsa) another motif, is also frequently found on Chanukkah lamps in Iraq. It was also considered a shield against the evil eye. This symbol was recognized and accepted by both Jews and Muslims in Iraq.

The palm tree was an integral part of Halahmy's childhood as he grew up in Baghdad, and it frequently appears in his works. The palm tree is the symbol of growth and fertility. "The righteous man flourishes like the palm tree"

(Tehillim/Psalms 92:13).

Says Halahmy, "The palm tree holds its head up to the sun and rests its feet in water in a hot climate with no rain. Each time I look at a palm tree, I am taken by the beauty of its elegant trunk and the graceful movements of its huge head. It is a magnificent sight. It always fills me with awe and I can sit staring at it for hours. When there is a slight breeze in the air, it dances for me.

With my sculpture of the palm tree, I created rivers of water to embrace and feed it. I made a special base to hold it up high and important. After the sculpture was cast in bronze, the tree and water were given a patina of rich, golden date brown and the 'tachtah' base was colored oasis green".

Photo No. 1: A Gift to a Palm Tree

1991, Bronze cast, H30 W17.5 inches

Oded Halahmy collection

The sculpture of the Chanukkah lamp is dedicated to his father, Saleh Chebbazah. The installation was made possible by the Or-Yehuda municipality on the 7th of January, 2002. In the sculpture "A Gift to a Palm Tree" (photo No. I) the tree stands out as the central motif: it is hugged by two rivers, symbolizing the Tigris and the Euphrates. A depiction of palm trees behind a flowing river is a frequent symbol imprinted on metalwork in Iraq, in the nylo techniques and on postcards.

Photo No. 2: Homemade

1984-1986, Bronze cast, H88 W72 D12 inches

private collection, Boca Raton, Florida

In Halahmy's works one finds both the traditional and the modern, the East and the West, the past and the present. A good example is the sculpture "Homemade" (photo No. 2), which combines a traditional kitchen utensil, a large serving spoon called a "kifkeer" with scenes from childhood into one modern work of art.

In the years 1985-1990, Halahmy often included the kifkeer in his works. It seems that this symbolizes his mother's cooking in Baghdad, especially the traditional "Tibeet".

Photo No. 3: Touching Heaven

1990, Bronze cast, H87 W57 D17 inches

Athenaeum collection, International Sculpture Park, Illinois

In his work "Touching Heaven" (photo No. 3), a specially designed kifkeer is the central motif amid oriental architectural elements, such as a stairway and a bow. The palm of the hand is situated above the kifkeer as if trying to reach for paradise.

Oded Halahmy was born in Baghdad in 1938. He studied in the Rachel Shahmoon school until 1950. A year after he left with his family for Israel under the sponsorship of the "Ezra and Nehemya" Campaign.

His father, Saleh Yehezkel Chebbazah, owned a goldsmith workshop, and was one of the first goldsmiths to introduce metalworking machines in 1932. Goldsmiths all over Iraq were acquainted with Chebbazah and used to bring their gold bars to his workshop for cutting and processing. They nicknamed him "Saleh Abu El Makakeen" or "Saleh Abu Heskel", "the machine owner", in reference to these new devices. His spacious workshop was closed and confiscated by the Iraqi authorities following his family's registered application to emigrate to Israel.

Halahmy's parents encouraged him in his artistic occupation, at a time when Jewish parents not only withheld their support from their artistically-inclined children, but even discouraged them and tried to turn them away from art.

Photo No. 4: Oded Halahmy with his father,

working on "Songs of Songs, Father and Son"

on their house's balcony in Ramat-Gan, 1968

Says Halahmy, "The title 'Song of Songs, Father and Son' was suggested by memories of my father chanting entire chapters of the Old Testament 'Song of Songs'. He knew them by heart and loved to sing. I listened and absorbed the words.

This experience created a very strong, personal and joyous bond. He was a true believer in the goodness and grace of God, and this attitude always remains with me. He was very dedicated to his family and his work. The sculpture is dedicated to his love of the Bible, his wife, his family and all mankind.

Photo No. 5: "Song of Songs, Father and Son"

1968-1969, Bronze cast, H13 1/4 W25 1/4 D7 3/4 inches,

Chess Bank, New-York

In the beginning, my studio in Ramat-Gan was the balcony of our home and I have wonderful memories of my father's excitement when he assisted me in the construction of an original piece in wood. This work consists of two independent pieces joined together. The larger one holds and supports the smaller one. It is one of my earliest abstract pieces and was cast in bronze from the wood maquette. For me, the two forms are love and joy, together in peace. My father used to say, 'If we were still living in Baghdad, I would cast all your sculptures in pure gold'".

Halahmy studied sculpture at the Institute of Arts in Bat-Yam in the years 1961-1965. He then studied sculpture for two years at the St. Martin School of Art in England.

Halahmy displays his artistic works in solo exhibitions in galleries and museums in the United States and Israel, and is represented in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and other fine institutions worldwide.

Love, joy and harmony are expressions which Halahmy frequently uses to describe the process of sculpting. He describes himself as a believer, connected to a Higher Power. Says Halahmy, "When I am creating I feel in harmony with my sculpture. I feel like an athlete, a performer, a dancer or conductor. I am fit and in good physical shape. I move and dance with my work using rhythm and harmony, both fast and slow, always at one with the steady spirit of my higher powers.

I practice using positive and negative space; my practice of art is my everyday prayer, always searching for peace and harmony. Primitive myths and nature are of interest to me. I use my mind and body when I sculpt with my hands or with electric tools. I am alert when I am sculpting.

Music is important when I am sculpting. Music occupies space; sculpture also occupies space. Both are expressions of time and culture".

The artist lives with a sculpture and waits for some time to pass. After sculpting the work in wood and plaster, and only when he feels he is completely satisfied with it, does he cast it in bronze.

Halamy points out that nature is beautiful, that life is more beautiful than wars, and he hopes that all people will live in harmony and peace. He currently lives in New-York City and Old Jaffa, Israel.

In the year 2000, Oded Halahmy created a foundation for the arts. The Oded Halahmy Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit cultural organization created to fund original artistic expressions of peace and hope by Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, the United States and around the world.

The Foundation launched its first series of grants, funding a series of prominent writers from the Middle East, many of whom have never had the opportunity to appear in print in English for the reading public. Future grants will support innovative artistic expressions of peace in drama, music, and in visual art, encouraging all forms of art as a mean of fostering the peace dialogue.

The foundation is very pleased to undertake this new effort, particularly now when the Middle East is so in need of the hope and life that art brings to everyone.

Recent publications: The Fire Stays in Red by Ronny Someck, published by Wisconsin/Dryad Press.

Modern Poetry in translation: its latest book, Iraqi Poetry Today, edited by Professor Saadi Simawe.

Upcoming publications: A novel by Samir Nakash, translated by Sadok Masliyah.

An anthology, in English, of Iraqi writers by Prof. Sasson Somech.

Modern Poetry by Palestinian and Israeli Poets, by Prof. Saadi Simawe and Daniel Weissbort.

Modern Poetry/Modern Sculpture by Professor Saadi Simawe.

In September 2002, a book of poetry by Ronny Someck was published in English and Hebrew. On that occasion, Halahmy held a book≠signing reception at his home in New York and invited Someck and his family to meet with prominent personalities from all over the U.S. to promote the book.

In that same year, Halahmy, helped by his friends David Moche, Robert Shasha, Isaac Yohanan, Maurice Shohet and Eli Saraf , set up the American Friends of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, a voluntary organization, which aims to collect donations for preserving the culture of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Israel.

Halahmy's wish: "May there be peace in Iraq, Middle East, and throughout the world".

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IRAQI JEWS IN THE DIASPORA
THE LIGHT FROM JUDEA IN OR-YEHUDA A SCULPTURE MADE BY ODED HALAHMY Idit Sharoni-Pinhas
At the Heritage Circle located opposite the building of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center stands Oded Halahmy's sculpture "The Light From Judea" sculpted in the year 2001. (see cover photo). "The Light From Judea" an upright Chanukkah lamp raised on a rectangular cement base, has arms that are sculpted in the form of curved branches, each branch ending in a candle-holder in the form of an ornamental pomegranate. The ornamentations of the Chanukkah lamp originate from Jewish tradition and the cultural heritage in which Halahmy was brought up. The sculpture, it seems, also symbolizes the Chanukkah feast in the sculptor's imagination. Says Halahmy, "The pomegranate is an ancient and universal symbol of beauty, love, marriage, fertility, prosperity, hope, life and rebirth. Even in the Song of Songs (7:14) we find the well known reference, 'If the pomegranates are in flower there will I give you my love'". It was not in vain that Halahmy placed the pomegranate as the symbol connecting the lamp's branches to light. He thus made the pomegranate the source of light. To Halahmy, the beauty of light and the love of life are the central motif, which represents the feast of Chanukkah. "BEN PORAT YOSEF, BEN PORAT A'LEI A'YIN" (Genesis 49:22) This verse is often used as protection from the evil eye. It is taken from Jacob's blessing. Jacob's warmest, most loving prayers were for Joseph. This inscription carved on Halahmy's sculpture is a popular inscription found on many Chanukkah lamps from Iraq in the 19th century. Iraqi Jews believed that this inscription possessed magic powers and was a shield against the evil eye. This tradition is mentioned in the Talmud: "I am born of the offspring of Joseph, whom no evil eye had ever ruled". (Berachot: 20, p.1) The palm of the hand, (Chamsa) another motif, is also frequently found on Chanukkah lamps in Iraq. It was also considered a shield against the evil eye. This symbol was recognized and accepted by both Jews and Muslims in Iraq. The palm tree was an integral part of Halahmy's childhood as he grew up in Baghdad, and it frequently appears in his works. The palm tree is the symbol of growth and fertility. "The righteous man flourishes like the palm tree" (Tehillim/Psalms 92:13). Says Halahmy, "The palm tree holds its head up to the sun and rests its feet in water in a hot climate with no rain. Each time I look at a palm tree, I am taken by the beauty of its elegant trunk and the graceful movements of its huge head. It is a magnificent sight. It always fills me with awe and I can sit staring at it for hours. When there is a slight breeze in the air, it dances for me. With my sculpture of the palm tree, I created rivers of water to embrace and feed it. I made a special base to hold it up high and important. After the sculpture was cast in bronze, the tree and water were given a patina of rich, golden date brown and the 'tachtah' base was colored oasis green". Photo No. 1: A Gift to a Palm Tree 1991, Bronze cast, H30 W17.5 inches Oded Halahmy collection The sculpture of the Chanukkah lamp is dedicated to his father, Saleh Chebbazah. The installation was made possible by the Or-Yehuda municipality on the 7th of January, 2002. In the sculpture "A Gift to a Palm Tree" (photo No. I) the tree stands out as the central motif: it is hugged by two rivers, symbolizing the Tigris and the Euphrates. A depiction of palm trees behind a flowing river is a frequent symbol imprinted on metalwork in Iraq, in the nylo techniques and on postcards. Photo No. 2: Homemade 1984-1986, Bronze cast, H88 W72 D12 inches private collection, Boca Raton, Florida In Halahmy's works one finds both the traditional and the modern, the East and the West, the past and the present. A good example is the sculpture "Homemade" (photo No. 2), which combines a traditional kitchen utensil, a large serving spoon called a "kifkeer" with scenes from childhood into one modern work of art. In the years 1985-1990, Halahmy often included the kifkeer in his works. It seems that this symbolizes his mother's cooking in Baghdad, especially the traditional "Tibeet". Photo No. 3: Touching Heaven 1990, Bronze cast, H87 W57 D17 inches Athenaeum collection, International Sculpture Park, Illinois In his work "Touching Heaven" (photo No. 3), a specially designed kifkeer is the central motif amid oriental architectural elements, such as a stairway and a bow. The palm of the hand is situated above the kifkeer as if trying to reach for paradise. Oded Halahmy was born in Baghdad in 1938. He studied in the Rachel Shahmoon school until 1950. A year after he left with his family for Israel under the sponsorship of the "Ezra and Nehemya" Campaign. His father, Saleh Yehezkel Chebbazah, owned a goldsmith workshop, and was one of the first goldsmiths to introduce metalworking machines in 1932. Goldsmiths all over Iraq were acquainted with Chebbazah and used to bring their gold bars to his workshop for cutting and processing. They nicknamed him "Saleh Abu El Makakeen" or "Saleh Abu Heskel", "the machine owner", in reference to these new devices. His spacious workshop was closed and confiscated by the Iraqi authorities following his family's registered application to emigrate to Israel. Halahmy's parents encouraged him in his artistic occupation, at a time when Jewish parents not only withheld their support from their artistically-inclined children, but even discouraged them and tried to turn them away from art. Photo No. 4: Oded Halahmy with his father, working on "Songs of Songs, Father and Son" on their house's balcony in Ramat-Gan, 1968 Says Halahmy, "The title 'Song of Songs, Father and Son' was suggested by memories of my father chanting entire chapters of the Old Testament 'Song of Songs'. He knew them by heart and loved to sing. I listened and absorbed the words. This experience created a very strong, personal and joyous bond. He was a true believer in the goodness and grace of God, and this attitude always remains with me. He was very dedicated to his family and his work. The sculpture is dedicated to his love of the Bible, his wife, his family and all mankind. Photo No. 5: "Song of Songs, Father and Son" 1968-1969, Bronze cast, H13 1/4 W25 1/4 D7 3/4 inches, Chess Bank, New-York In the beginning, my studio in Ramat-Gan was the balcony of our home and I have wonderful memories of my father's excitement when he assisted me in the construction of an original piece in wood. This work consists of two independent pieces joined together. The larger one holds and supports the smaller one. It is one of my earliest abstract pieces and was cast in bronze from the wood maquette. For me, the two forms are love and joy, together in peace. My father used to say, 'If we were still living in Baghdad, I would cast all your sculptures in pure gold'". Halahmy studied sculpture at the Institute of Arts in Bat-Yam in the years 1961-1965. He then studied sculpture for two years at the St. Martin School of Art in England. Halahmy displays his artistic works in solo exhibitions in galleries and museums in the United States and Israel, and is represented in the collections of the Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and other fine institutions worldwide. Love, joy and harmony are expressions which Halahmy frequently uses to describe the process of sculpting. He describes himself as a believer, connected to a Higher Power. Says Halahmy, "When I am creating I feel in harmony with my sculpture. I feel like an athlete, a performer, a dancer or conductor. I am fit and in good physical shape. I move and dance with my work using rhythm and harmony, both fast and slow, always at one with the steady spirit of my higher powers. I practice using positive and negative space; my practice of art is my everyday prayer, always searching for peace and harmony. Primitive myths and nature are of interest to me. I use my mind and body when I sculpt with my hands or with electric tools. I am alert when I am sculpting. Music is important when I am sculpting. Music occupies space; sculpture also occupies space. Both are expressions of time and culture". The artist lives with a sculpture and waits for some time to pass. After sculpting the work in wood and plaster, and only when he feels he is completely satisfied with it, does he cast it in bronze. Halamy points out that nature is beautiful, that life is more beautiful than wars, and he hopes that all people will live in harmony and peace. He currently lives in New-York City and Old Jaffa, Israel. In the year 2000, Oded Halahmy created a foundation for the arts. The Oded Halahmy Foundation for the Arts is a non-profit cultural organization created to fund original artistic expressions of peace and hope by Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, the United States and around the world. The Foundation launched its first series of grants, funding a series of prominent writers from the Middle East, many of whom have never had the opportunity to appear in print in English for the reading public. Future grants will support innovative artistic expressions of peace in drama, music, and in visual art, encouraging all forms of art as a mean of fostering the peace dialogue. The foundation is very pleased to undertake this new effort, particularly now when the Middle East is so in need of the hope and life that art brings to everyone. Recent publications: The Fire Stays in Red by Ronny Someck, published by Wisconsin/Dryad Press. Modern Poetry in translation: its latest book, Iraqi Poetry Today, edited by Professor Saadi Simawe. Upcoming publications: A novel by Samir Nakash, translated by Sadok Masliyah. An anthology, in English, of Iraqi writers by Prof. Sasson Somech. Modern Poetry by Palestinian and Israeli Poets, by Prof. Saadi Simawe and Daniel Weissbort. Modern Poetry/Modern Sculpture by Professor Saadi Simawe. In September 2002, a book of poetry by Ronny Someck was published in English and Hebrew. On that occasion, Halahmy held a book≠signing reception at his home in New York and invited Someck and his family to meet with prominent personalities from all over the U.S. to promote the book. In that same year, Halahmy, helped by his friends David Moche, Robert Shasha, Isaac Yohanan, Maurice Shohet and Eli Saraf , set up the American Friends of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center, a voluntary organization, which aims to collect donations for preserving the culture of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Israel. Halahmy's wish: "May there be peace in Iraq, Middle East, and throughout the world".
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