This work is inspired by an event which took place at a Shabbat morning service in a synagogue that I attended where my wife was the congregation's Rabbi. I was the only male in attendance and was observing a service run entirely by women. I recalled Max Weber’s 1934 painting of a group of patriarchal characters in “The Talmudists” and the stark contrast to what I was seeing. Upon further reflection, I considered the biblical narrative of the five daughters of Zelophehad with its elements of the feminist aspect in relation to changes within the contemporary Jewish paradigm. The daughters have become symbols of feminist consciousness and the struggle of women to affirm their rightful place in all facets of our Jewish communal life.

Alan Falk has taught painting, drawing and printmaking at universities and colleges of art in England and Canada and, in the USA at New York University and SUNY Buffalo. He has exhibited extensively in Europe, UK and the US, and has been represented by major commercial galleries in New York and London in both solo and group exhibitions. His work hangs in museums, university, corporate and private collections worldwide and he is a fellow of the New York-based Jewish Art Salon.