The Journey of Three Thousand Years
Eitan Dov Rosenzweig z"l, 21 years old from Alon Shavut, was in Yeshiva and the army called him up for Miluim. Tragically, he fell in a battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
In the reports of his fall, he was defined as a fighter in the Shaked Battalion in the Givati Brigade, and this definition is true - but far from fully describing the person he was. B ehind the military words as a warrior, regiment, brigade - He was a gentle and creative soul of a guy who was gifted with talent. His art is out of the ordinary.
Eitan was a very special bochur who was always searching for kirvat Hashem and an extremely talented artist. When in high school, he was awarded a National Israeli Prize for this work of art - the prize was a full scholarship to the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. He did not take the prize and went to learn in Yeshiva instead.
With this artwork, he won the scholarship. It is amazing to see how he poured onto the canvas the Jewish history of the last 3000 years. The Israeli Museum has requested his artwork so that they can put it up in the museum.
The Moshav where his grandparents lived was in Mavoh Charon. It's the first and oldest settlement in Mateh Binyamin. It was established in 1969, the settlement has a religious character and today has about 470 families living there.
A certain philanthropist with an ultra-large heart heard of Eitan's story and decided to donate a new Aron Kodesh to the central shul of Mevoh Choron that has been in the midst of fundraising and renovating for years. R' A.W. had commissioned two custom Torah mantels from me in the past and approached me about this new project. And that's how I started working on a Shul Branding project based on Eitan's artwork!
Here's the initial branding language for the shul ‘Mercazi Darchai Shalom’ in Mevoh Horon:
I used Eitan's artwork and pictures of the actual Moshav to create icons and then motifs that will represent them both.
I wanted the shul to capture Eitan's over-the-top artistic style while staying true to Mevoh Choron's down-to-earth character as well.
And let me tell you it wasn’t easy!!!!
Here's a look at some of the mood-board images that we used in order to narrow down the exact finishes to be used in the shul:
I also gave options of woodworking and ceramics- so we could incorporate Eitan's illustrations into the Aron Kodesh.
Once we more or less settled on the interior elements of the shul, I got started with my favorite part of this process- designing the Parochet!
Here are the first sketches for the Parochet:
I wanted to use the color blue because it represents strength and peace. And, of course, we wanted to bring Eitan's drawings to the final design. He drew this beautiful Menorah, and I wanted it to be right in the middle.
This is where we're up to now, with the design for the Parochet, Bima and Amud covers:
Here are the two options of the Bima and amud cover set- less appliques or more appliques with 3D gradient embroidery technology:
I showed the committee how the embroidery looks and the different techniques that we use:
We are still in the midst of this honorable project of renovating the shul and designing this magnificent Parochet in memory of Eitan Dov Rosenzweig, z"l. May his neshama have the greatest Aliya, with all of our other fallen soldiers who have protected us in the war.