The IFAF team explored Rabbi Yitzchok Moully’s installation “Spread Your Light” at the 2019 Jerusalem Biennale. The structure is a unique representation of a sukkah, a structure in which people eat, sleep, and find community during the celebration of Sukkot. The sukkah provides a space for reflection on the time that the Israelites spent in living the wilderness once they were freed from slavery in Egypt. In Jerusalem, many people place a sukkah outside of their home during sukkot. There, they have meals and spend time together to celebrate Sukkot.
The message of Rabbi Moully’s site-specific installation comes alive through participation. You are invited to perform a Mitzvah or reflect on how you may do so in the future. A Mitzvah is a good deed performed out of sincere devotion, an action “for the sake of Heaven,” as it says in the exhibition statement. The reflective plexiglass exterior invites participants into the space. They see themselves in the work itself. The all white interior awaits your Mitzvah. Rabbi Moully has created colorful flame stickers for participants to choose from and to place inside the space. The exhibition statement describes the effect of this installation:
As the stickers fill the space, the bare white walls and floor transform into a colorful and visual symbol of Mitzvot changing the world around us. The sukkah transforms into a visual prompt to contemplate the spiritual impact of a physical action.
The artist envisions “Spread Your Light” impacting communities around the world. Visit the installation now in the city of Jerusalem. Go to JerusalemBiennale.org to learn more about the event.
