Pen and Marker on paper.
About the artwork "For the Miracles and for the Heroism" from the Birkhon "Al HaAretz HaTovah" for Independence Day:
As a bereaved father that experienced the worst in the war but still believes with whole his might that we were blessed to be partners of the incredible miracle of the beginning of flowering of our redemption – I asked myself what I'm being told by those words from the "Al HaNisim" opening.
How can I talk about miracle and heroisms, when my personal pain is immense?
I recalled the childhood thoughts I had, when I was told about the annual celebration we had at our home for miraculous saves we had. When my grandfather survived in a convoy to Jerusalem on the third night of Hannukah, when the passenger next to him and many others were killed by the attackers' shooting. How can we celebrate and being grateful, I thought, when the suffering is so large and fresh?
In Hannukah, with the events are thousands of years away from us and the pain is dull, we can focus on the miracles and the heroisms. But we are still here, fighting for out independence, and the eye and the ink have not yet dried from the lists of our heroes… We have to remember the heroisms along with the miracles, which are the high cost we need to pay.
Thus, I chose to paint my eldest, Aner Elyakim, may his memory be blessed, from his last picture, inside the safe room in Re’im. The photo was taken by Itamar Shapira, that survived and brought it to us after the Shiva.
The original photo is stronger than every painting I could paint, but the purpose of the painting is to express that safety – the 'protected area' – is a result of miracles alongside heroism.
Through his actions, Aner revealed supreme, wondrous courage, beyond my understanding. Courage that was a salvation and a miracle for his friends in the shelter.
Moshe Shapira – a bereaved father, Jerusalemite architect and a painter.