Commissions are open now from June 4 - September 8.
As some may know, I have long been fascinated by the character of Shaul Hamelech (ie King Saul for most people). He is an incredibly complex character in Tanakh as the first king of the Jewish people, and I wanted to tackle his story. This story centers around the following question: Is Shaul among the prophets?
Classically, midrash aggadah (non-halachic midrash) served as Rabbinic expansions and interpretations of the original story. It reads deeper into the text as written, reads between the lines and blanks, and creates stories around them. One classic midrash is the idea of Miriam's well being a gift from Hashem based on how Miriam's death and a water crisis for the Israelites are linked together within Torah. Not all midrashim are to be taken at face value and some directly contradict the plain text (p'shat), but they can still provide insight about the deeper message. An example of this midrash is Rachel's signs that she shared with her sister Leah (Bava Batra 123a:13-15). Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) Megillah 1:25). This midrash contradicts the plain text, but it may comment on a later episode between Rachel and Leah over Reuven's wildflowers (Vayetze, Bereshit (Genesis) 30:15) as if the past were rewritten (Aleph Beta: The Power of Rachel's Tears).
Modern midrash sees more creative expression as artistic retellings. They aim to add additional meaning or commentary. It can come as two major forms: secular scripture and the connecting Biblical archetypes with the modern Jewish experience (Jacobsen 1989). Shaul HaMelech has been a common subject of modern midrash in Shaul Tchernchowsky's poetry as well as other poems. I see my version of Shaul's story as continuing the tradition of modern midrash hinging on certain questions.
Is Shaul HaMelech among the prophets?
What is the right amount of memory? How is it related to legacy?
We know in Tanakh itself, Shaul prophecies with other prophets (Sh'muel I 10:10) and falls to the ground prophecying (Sh'muel I 19:22-23) and the question is directly posed after both these episodes. According to the Everett Fox translation, Shaul also rants like a prophet during certain mental health episodes (Sh'muel I 18:10; Sh'muel I 19:22-23) and it is supported by the original Hebrew (נָבָא means to prophecy according to Sefaria's dictionary), and there are certain words of his to Yonatan that indeed come true (Sh'muel I 20:31) even if Shaul's interpretation (David has to die) filters through mental illness (specifically in my stuff, it is a combination of bipolar disorder with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)).
The other thing I wanted to explore with this theme is fate vs. free will. Did Shaul's misfortune come about because of his own flaws and only because of those or was he mainly unlucky? Many kings after Shaul committed the big three things that we Jews are supposed to die rather than do.
The other theme I wanted to tackle was memory (zachor, זָכוֹר). Within the annual Haftarah cycle, Shaul features prominently in Haftarah Machar Chodesh (when Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, falls on a Sunday) and Haftarah Zachor (the Shabbat before Purim). Shaul's last words to David (Sh'muel 24:21-22) focus on David's succession (which happens) and an oath about David cutting of his descendants and wiping out his name from his father's house (which happens in some way with the death of Shaul's two sons by Ritzpah and his grandsons by Merav/Michal from the Giveonites). We know from Rabbinical literature that Mordechai and Ester (Esther) are both direct descendants through Shaul via Yonatan (Megillah 16a:18, Targum Sheni Ester 2:5). In the modern day however, the tribe of Binyamin ultimately assimilated into the tribe of Yehudah to become the Jewish people. We know of David's descendants long after he existed (the Meshiach ben David and the Exilarch) but Shaul's descendants disappear from the larger stage after Ester and if we consider the Jewish tradition of her son Darius being Cyrus the Great, after Achaemenid dynasty. In several media interpretations and papers, many interpret Shaul as haunted by memory, and it indeed became a point of fixation for him that even extends beyond the grave in Talmud (Yoma 22b:18). Within my story, I plan to discuss Shaul's memory of the Civil War Against Binyamin and the chaos of the period of the Shoftim.
The theme of memory also connects to mental illness especially since trauma can precipitate many different mental illnesses. Not everyone develops mental illness from traumatic events, but many mental illnesses connect to memory in some way. For instance, long-term depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia see cognitive impairment that can often involve memory. Anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder often can come from improper consolidation possibly of unpleasant or traumatic memories. Various addictions can come from attempts to self-medicate and drown out potentially unpleasant input such as problematic memories.
Portraits of characters important to the story (includes busts).
Artwork featuring more than one character and/or featuring more objects/landscapes.
Works in progress; minor characters; characters without full portraits; memes.
Content warnings for violence, warfare, suicide, gore, and some sexual content. Check it out if you're in a good headspace.
This is where I detail more about how I designed characters and settings from an artistic rather than historical point of view.