THE ART OF TRANSFORMING ART INTO HOLINESS

He was a good boy from Kiryat Yam. He grew up in a home far from Torah and mitzvos, but one Shabbos meal in Maryland ignited within him the passion that he was searching for all the years. * The story of Maoz Toledo, who turned his art into Chassidic artistry.* He tells about his work, offering us a look into his studio, and recounts his fascinating life story.

By Mendy Dickstein

When looking at the beautiful paintings of the Chassidic artist Maoz Toledo, one’s heart fills with delight and a warm, Chassidic feeling. These paintings bring the viewer back to days gone by, simple, small-town life. So much innocence and purity are conveyed. With some of them, it’s hard to believe they are paintings and not a photograph.

“I try to be as accurate as possible. When I draw a Chassid or a Chassidic place, these aren’t images I conjured up in my imagination; they are all accurate, genuine replications.”

Sometimes the pictures are supplemented with miniature images of shuls, yeshivos and other holy structures, also the handiwork of R’ Maoz.

Those who enter his home in Migdal HaEmek can’t help but feel that they have entered a Chassidic art exhibit. The house is a gallery, packed with his paintings of obvious Chassidic motifs such as Chassidim, farbrengens, the likenesses of the Chabad Rebbeim, along with scenic paintings with novel elements.

During the week, he teaches boys in a number of schools. He spends a few hours on his creative hobbies such as building models and painting. He is always looking for new techniques to convey to the children to whom he teaches art.

It is easy to picture R’ Maoz sitting for hours over some artistic creation with his head and most of his body bent over, while he listens to classes on Tanya, Chassidus and halacha or to farbrengens of mashpiim.

“There are parts of pictures that remind me of segments of recordings that I heard, and then the painting reminds me of Torah, Chassidus, and the Rebbe, even if the painting is scenic.”

The Chassidic paintings, as well as how Maoz appears, make it hard to guess his past. He looks like any Chassidic man with deep Chabad roots who grew up in the system, but that’s not the reality. Maoz, like many men his age, especially those for whom art is in their blood, kept looking for Truth. He grew up in a home with values, love, joy, and endless giving, but that did not slake his soul-thirst. He sought deeper meaning. He tried to fill the void with art, but he was unsuccessful.

He quickly realized that art is only a step on the way to the destination, one that best expressed the search for self that he was on. Today, after having traversed that part of the journey and discovering the Truth, he can look back and recall, with a mix of nostalgia and regret, those days of confusion. Once he was trained in the teachings of Chassidus, Maoz took his great talent for painting and art and harnessed it to spread the beauty of Chassidus to the public.

THE CAPTIVATING SHABBOS TABLE

Maoz spent his childhood in Kiryat Yam. He attended the public school near his house and received the typical Israeli education grounded in the principles of democracy and pluralism.

He drew his first painting when he was four. He has many childhood memories of himself with a pencil in hand, sketching people or scenes.

“My father would sit with me and my twin brother for hours and teach us the fundamentals of art. He himself was a craftsman with a natural gift for technical skills, and it was important to him to develop our creativity.”

When he was in preschool, he brought drawings to class that he had painted at home after school. The amazed teachers would show them to the other children for them to try and copy.

“At school, everyone knew that the Toledo twins know how to draw. Teachers would ask us to draw decorations for their classrooms. Under my father’s influence, we drew all the time. At age 16, I began studying professionally; I felt I had gone up a level.”

Even though he had no formal education about Torah and mitzvos, his parents wanted their children to keep traditions. Maoz’s father put on tefillin every day and fasted on Yom Kippur.

“My father, by nature, was a person with a genuine desire to give to others. Once, when I was a kid, we were driving down the street and noticed bachurim busy with Mivtza Chanuka. My father saw me looking at them and said, ‘You should know that the world stands on them, and in their merit.’ That message penetrated my heart. Outside, we saw materialism and self-interest; at home, we experienced compassion and love.”

At a young age, Maoz traveled to the United States to visit his grandparents who lived in New York. He spent the summer there.

“The talk then was that the future was in the U.S. where one could develop in any field, where one could earn a respectable living and live well. We would someday go there to work and save the money we earned in order to invest wisely when we finished our army service.

“My connection to Judaism in those years equaled a few minutes of putting on tefillin every morning. Occasionally, we went to shul on Friday night; nothing more.

“All this took a sharp turn one year, when we went on a summer vacation that was longer than usual. We stayed with my uncle who lives in Ocean City, Maryland. This uncle was close to the shliach there, Rabbi Noam Cohen.”

After davening Kabbalas Shabbos, many of the people remained for the Shabbos meal in the shliach’s home, but Maoz opted to leave. Sometime later, he remembered that he had forgotten his siddur in the shliach’s house. Since the siddur was dear to him, he went back to get it.

“I stood for a few minutes near the door, but I didn’t have the courage to knock and enter. From outside, I could see the Shabbos table and get a feel of the atmosphere, and it captivated me.

“R’ Noam Cohen sat at the head of the table and the many guests were listening to him. That image is engraved in my mind. ‘This is what I’ve been looking for all my life,’ I thought. Such beauty, such sweetness, that I could practically touch it, something that for me until then was but a dream. When I returned to my uncle’s house, I suddenly realized that my entire long journey and the desire to meet new people was actually a journey of searching for myself.

“I didn’t dare enter the house for I didn’t want to disturb those magical moments I saw through the window. I turned around, but what I had seen changed my life. That Shabbos meal made me aware that this is where I wanted to be, it’s what I was searching for. I felt that inside me in the deepest, most internal, and most personal way.”

CLOSURE

Around that time, something else happened that strengthened the connection Maoz felt toward Chassidus. On his way to New York, he felt strong stomach pains. In the hospital, they discovered that his appendix had burst, and toxins had filled his stomach. He was in the hospital for two weeks for treatment and observation.

“A difficult situation became ten times more difficult because I had no source of encouragement and hope. My father tried to reassure me as much as he could, but it wasn’t enough. The ones who helped were a Lubavitcher couple who came to the hospital and visited people. They listened to my story and were able to cheer me up. After talking to them, I was another person entirely. I left the hospital with a strong feeling that Chabadnikim have special powers.”

Ten years ago, when Maoz visited Beis Chayeinu, this time as a Chassid, he decided to go back to that hospital ward to try and give hope to other patients as the Chassidim had done for him.

“I remembered how much their smile and words of encouragement helped me and I decided to do the same thing to help others. I went to the room I had been in years ago, and surprisingly, I met a Jew in that same room who was suffering from the identical problem! We put tefillin on with him and he was thrilled.”

MIND-BLOWING DREAM

However it came to be, the fact is that from the start, Maoz knew he wanted to be a Chassid. “I started going to the Chabad House regularly, with my brother.”

The decision not to work on Shabbos came quickly. As a result, he left his job and soon found a new job where the boss exempted him from working on Shabbos.

“The matter-of-fact way that the gentile boss agreed to my condition served to strengthen my commitment to the path of Judaism.” His connection with the shliach grew stronger.

“Every Shabbos I would go with my brother to the Chabad House for t’fillos, and I gradually became the shliach’s right hand. I remember that one time I went to the Chabad House and the shliach wasn’t there. I opened the video player and took out a video of 770. I watched for a long time; it had excerpts from the Rebbe about the Geula and the ingathering of the exiles. I was moved to tears. I felt this was a deep truth, it was our future, and this was what I was always seeking. It’s hard to explain it analytically; it’s a feeling that overcame me.

“I returned to Eretz Yisroel, deep in the teshuva process.”

When he returned to his parent’s home in Kiryat Yam, he met with the shliach Rabbi Moshe Oirechman, who helped Maoz progress to the next step in Torah and mitzvos. He went to learn in Yeshivas Tomchei T’mimim in Migdal HaEmek. Every summer, he went to Maryland where he would help the shliach, R’ Cohen.

“One summer, something special happened. Since I loved the interaction with people, I wanted to remain in Maryland on shlichus, but my mashpia was firm, ‘Your place is in yeshiva!’

“Despite this, after thinking about it, the Chassidishe yetzer ha’ra convinced me to stay in the United States and help R’ Cohen. I filled out my passport application to U.S. Immigration to extend my stay. That night, I had an astounding dream. I was in 770 and there were many Chassidim around. The Rebbe was sitting on a bench in the midst of the crowd. I went over to sit near the Rebbe, but then I saw the Rebbetzin sitting there too, and I hurriedly stepped back. After I moved away, I remembered that my passport was on the table. I thought of how to go back and get it when I suddenly saw the Rebbe put the passport into his siddur and go up on the bima and say a sicha.

“I woke up in utter confusion. I didn’t know how to interpret it. In the morning, I went over to where I had put my passport to send it to the immigration office, but the passport was gone! I turned over the entire house, but the passport had vanished. This was so unlike me, to lose something so important, but it’s what happened. The only choice I had was to ask the Israeli consulate for a transit visa and return to Eretz Yisroel as quickly as possible. I had gotten the hint and went straight back to yeshiva.”

THE REBBE’S GUIDANCE

After he married, Maoz looked for his shlichus in the world. He wasn’t sure that his mission in life was to use his artistic talent.

He wrote to the Rebbe and put all his concerns down on paper. He had some serious offers that he presented to the Rebbe. He put the letter into a volume of Igros Kodesh. The answer he opened to amazed him. He hadn’t expected such a direct answer.

“If it doesn’t disturb your work in art, since you were granted the talent for painting by Divine Providence, it would be proper to use it to spread authentic Judaism and its matters.”

“I remember that one time, I wrote to the Rebbe about being involved in art and the possibility of earning a living from it. I opened to a letter in which the Rebbe writes to someone about the possibility of dealing in art in Eretz Yisroel. The Rebbe writes there that since there is a lot of competition in Eretz Yisroel, it would be very hard to make a living with art. So, it would be worthwhile to invest in education, since Eretz Yisroel is progressing toward a time when chinuch will be a priority issue, and that is what is worth investing in.

“Another time, I had an offer to be a secular studies teacher. I didn’t want to be teacher of secular skills and I opened to a letter in which the Rebbe writes that even someone who teaches secular subjects can influence others and instill Torah and fear of Heaven in his students.

“Because of these clear answers, it was obvious to me that teaching art is my shlichus, by combining my artistic talent with education.”

ART, PAINTING, CHASSIDUS

Maoz sits for hours opposite the painting easel and brings to life memories that he has from various events over time. Most of his paintings are made with acrylics on canvas or with pencils and water colors. You can find quite a few of his works gracing the walls of mosdos, schools and Chabad Houses.

“I feel great satisfaction that I can use the talent G-d gave me and beautify mosdos of the Rebbe,” he says.

Maoz finds inspiration for his drawings from farbrengens that he attends as well as special events.

“Whenever I see something that speaks to me on a deep level, I rush to paint; it can be people whom I admire or an event that affected me greatly. I always try to add my colors and interpretation to the realism to make it unique.  I use all the techniques I acquired over the years in these Chassidic paintings.”

When I ask Maoz for examples, he has plenty to say:

“When I would visit the United States before I became religious, I would paint scenic paintings. I did many of these paintings because they quieted, somewhat, my inner search.  There were moments that I thought this was the truth I was seeking: to disengage from civilization and watch a sunset or sunrise and paint it.

“When I became involved with Judaism and Chassidus, I realized that scenery and nature cannot be the essence of things. It’s just the means to get to know the Creator better, and His might. I still love beauty but in the right proportions. Just recently I drew a painting that joined an amazing scene with true substance; I painted a beautiful scenic picture with an isolated village in the center, but instead of painting a typical American barn, I turned it into a yeshiva from which came rays of light to illuminate creation.”

What added element does a Chassid bring to the art of painting?

R’ Maoz smiled broadly. It looked as though he was waiting for this question.

“After I became involved with Chassidus, I thought about this point,” he admits. “A carpet-seller becomes a mekurav to Chabad and becomes a Chassidic merchant, or a photographer and so on. What is the message in that? How can I as a painter turn this into a shlichus? Later, I understood it better, that with paintings I can reach places and people with whom I would otherwise not be speaking.

“I cannot always find an external common denominator between myself and others, whether because of the age difference or divergence in views, but art bridges many gaps.

“There was an older man I would visit on mivtzaim who didn’t want to hear anything about Judaism. When I painted my first painting of the Rebbe and showed it to him, he was astounded by the accuracy. He held it and was as excited as a little boy. After that, I was able to go over to him and talk about Judaism in small doses. Sometimes, it’s art that enables me to reach people’s hearts.

“I see in my work with young people that there are children I reach only through painting or crafts.  In order to advance a student or mushpa, I must get down into his world, understand him. I feel that in my work as an art teacher I accomplish this through art.”

In a world where every phone is also a camera and you have it everywhere you go, of what value is a painting, as realistic as it might be?

“I have no desire to compete with a photograph; the two things are separate. When people ask me to draw their likeness, or to paint a certain building, I explain that if accuracy is important to them, they should take a photograph. A painting will never be as exact as a photograph. But a painting has aspects and layers that you can’t have in a photo.

“I can add to a picture the inner thought processes of the subjects as I understand them. I can add elements of interest that will make the painting more interesting. It’s realistic, but within the realism you can see things that are different than the dry reality. For example, a painting that I drew of a Chassid being mashpia Chassidus over the entire globe; in this painting the juxtaposition may seem surreal, but the Chassid and the world are painted quite realistically.”

To what extent does learning Chassidus influence your work?

“It’s a dramatic influence. Every artist who learns Chassidus and knows the world of Chassidus, his art is different and

deeper; even in the external aspect of the work. The Rebbe is the greatest source of motivation that I ever experienced.”

When did you feel a change in your art?

“The change began in yeshiva in Migdal HaEmek. That’s when I started learning a lot of Chassidus. One day, we learned the mitzva of belief in G-d in Derech Mitzvosecha, where it says that daas is the key to the six middos. While learning, I thought about how I could express this in a painting. I suddenly had an idea. I drew a Chassid sitting in a valley and learning Likkutei Torah. Out of the book comes a paved path that leads to a gate and on the gate is a hole in the shape of a key. In the drawing there is text from Derech Mitzvosecha containing the relevant quote.  The painting veritably shouts Chassidus.”

R’ Maoz has some amazingly accurate paintings of the Rebbe and the Rebbe Rayatz. I asked him what he feels as he draws them.

“I consider it a great z’chus,” he says. “Before I paint, I look at the photo for a long time and have niggunim playing in the background in which the Rebbe can be heard singing. This has a profound impact on me.  For many hours after I complete a painting, the Rebbe’s eyes are still with me. It’s not easy to paint the Rebbe, but it is a powerful experience.”

WHERE CHINUCH MEETS ART

When I want to hear about the feedback he receives, R’ Maoz tries to deflect the question by saying it isn’t right for him to tell me about the compliments he gets. But when I insist, he tells me one special reaction that he found especially moving:

“A few years ago, we were guests of Rabbi Yossi Paltiel for Tishrei. I was very impressed by him and toward the end of the month, I gave him a painting of the Rebbe that I drew. He looked at it and immediately said, ‘This is an original picture.’ He brought a hammer and a nail and hung it up in his living room. That moved me greatly.”

As an artist and the son of an artist, Maoz likes to talk about the world of painting. “I teach children and I always tell them that whoever wants to express something, should express it in a drawing. When a child expresses his feelings and ideas through drawing, it is etched more deeply inside him this way than through any other medium.  What intensifies the pleasure of drawing is that I can observe any scene from the side. Because I want to remember the setting in order to be able to draw it, I absorb it all.”

What connection do you see between painting and the Rebbe’s prophecy that “Hinei, Hinei Moshiach Ba”?

“One of the things that bridges art and Geula for me is the fact that I can express myself at all hours of the day in the field that I love. It took me years to achieve this. Previously, I was busy with many things of no lesser importance, with chinuch in Kiryat Yam, Kfar Sitrin, Ganim, Migdal HaEmek, but something was still missing in terms of being able to express my true self as an educator. I always thought, ‘How are there shluchim of the Rebbe who are on shlichus for decades and still carry on?’ Then I realized that a shliach needs to do something that he connects to completely, in line with his unique soul.”

In recent years, after you moved to Migdal HaEmek, you opened clubs for kids in the areas that you excel. What is special about these clubs?

“The children work with all kinds of tools. They find it fun to tell about their experiences in their house, class or with their friends. The various crafts open a new world for them. They do the work themselves and are enormously satisfied when they go home with a new artistic creation. They feel capable, and in turn they get compliments and encouragement from friends and family, which definitely builds them up.

“The clubs are a Chassidic environment. We always talk about the Rebbe and Chassidic stories. We share interesting things we heard the night before at a farbrengen and the children tell stories about their parents who are on shlichus.

“It’s very important that a child be able to express himself through various artistic media in a Chassidishe environment. Many parents say it is a pleasure for them that there are clubs in yeshiva with a nice, Chassidishe atmosphere, as opposed to the various secular cultural centers and youth clubs.  They are grateful to be able to provide art lessons for their children on a professional level and in a Chassidic atmosphere.  This is literally to take art and elevate it to holiness, to the Rebbe.” 

SIGNS FROM HEAVEN

In the days prior to my wedding, I decided to give the Rebbe a present and go out with mivtza tefillin in my hometown of Kiryat Yam in a big way.  That is what I did, and during those days I merited many Jews with the mitzvah of tefillin, and many of them took on additional mitzvos.  It was an amazing feeling.

Suddenly, I noticed one of my neighbors approaching the stand.  In the past, we had a special connection between us, but ever since I became observant the connection was cut off.  He conveyed a strong sense of alienation due to my becoming religious.

And then I saw him approaching the stand, wanting to put on tefillin.  After he took off the tefillin, he indicated that  he would like to share something with me. “I know that you feel like something must have happened. I will tell you what it was.”  At this point, he began to tell me how whenever he asks Hashem for a sign for something, he has the privilege of receiving a sign. 

One day, his son fell ill.  His condition was serious, and the doctors were even talking in terms of danger to life.  He asked Hashem for a sign, and on that very day as he was driving home from the hospital, a Lubavitcher bachur knocked on window on the driver’s side of his car and handed him a picture of the Rebbe.  He saw this as a positive sign, and his son did recover.

He told of another time when his wife was out of a job for a long while.  In the end, she found a job in a factory that produces non-kosher meat and even operates on Shabbos.  When he heard that, he insisted that she quit. To her consternation, all of her explanations about the great loss that it would entail and all the bills they will not be able to cover were to no avail.  Shabbos is not a day of work, no matter what!  But what would be with parnasa?  He once again asked for a sign, and within the week a job opened up for her in a kosher meat plant.

“In the last few days,” he added, “I have been feeling unwell.  I asked for a sign from Heaven, and I suddenly see you with a smile and all happy, and it made me feel good.”

What he said floored me and made me think.  Very often we apply negative stereotypes to our fellow Jews.  I never even dreamed that this Jew had developed a whole “sign language” with Hashem, and that he is in a place that is so close…  I am sure that there are many Jews like him who have a connection on some level with Hashem or with the Rebbe.  We can never know the degree of connection that a Jew has with Torah and mitzvos, even when he seems to convey the exact opposite externally.

Of course, since that day we reconnected to what we had together in the past, and he was always happy to hear about the Rebbe’s leadership and other subjects related to Judaism.