Untitled

Somewhat dark but I tend to go for that myself anyway. Striking with the details.

Rabbi

Very good shot, I like the composition and light ! Congrats

Brilliant shot, with amazing details, superb...

 

just out of curiousity, what is that cube in his forehead?

The Cube on the forehead is called a Shel Rosh and is one of two such cubes which make up tefillin. In the Christian Bible these are generally referred to as phylacteries, which is the Greek term used during ancient times.

The tefillin hold small parchment scrolls with specific verses from the Torah (first five books of the Bible). These little cubes are worn during the morning prayer services Sunday through Friday. They are not worn on the Sabbath nor (generally) on the intermediate days of some festivals. Some Jewish traditions wear them on the intermediate days, but do not say the specific blessings when the tefillin are put on. The act of putting on tefillin is frequently called laying tefillin, and it is not uncommon to hear an observant Jew ask another Jew if he lays tefillin.

If you deduced that tefillin are only worn by men, you are correct in the Orthodox context. Among liberal Jews (Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist) some women wear tefillin. Among secular Jews tefillin have been used in sacrilegious art.

My question is based on the title of the work. Is this really a rabbi? Or is this a pintele Yid--a simple Jew--who is simply in prayer?

Strong and eyecaching shot.

Extraordinary portrait