Astonishingly Innovative Book that Interconnects Art, Creativity, Religion and New Media

Praise for Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media from Jewish and Christian spiritual leaders and experts on art and digital culture.

“In Through a Bible Lens, Alexenberg offers us a magnificent and original approach that interconnects art, creative processes, religion and new media technologies. The book is an important contribution to the study of media and is a must read for anyone interested in our contemporary culture.” - Dr. Lucia Leao, author of The Labyrinth of Hypermedia and The Chip and the Kaleidoscope: Studies in New Media; professor of Communications and Semiotics, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, Brazil

“Alexenberg proposes that text and image—something as simple as photos taken with a smart phone, and multiplied in their resonance by the internet—can be used as a consciousness raising tool, at once personal and collective. With such simple means, we can attune ourselves to the sacred dimensions of our lives from moment to moment. In fresh, clear language, he brings his detailed knowledge of Torah texts and what he calls "the down-to-earth mysticism of the kabbalah" to bear on daily life, showing how the annual round of sacred readings from that spiraling scroll provides prompts for deepening our personal and artistic practice.” - Peter Samis, co-author of Creating the Visitor-centered Museum; associate curator, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

“In his astonishingly innovative book, Mel Alexenberg quotes photographer Jan Phillips, who writes, “Everywhere I look, there God is looking back, looking straight back." Alexenberg is able to perceive that Godly gaze not only in nature around us or the heavens above, but in the smartphone we hold in our hand.” - Rabbi Joshua Hammerman, author of thelordismyshepard.com: Seeing God in Cyberspace; spiritual leader at Temple Beth El, Stamford, Connecticut

Photo above is one of the 50 photos in Through a Bible Lens. It shows the author Prof. Alexenberg demonstrating that the entire Bible can be carved out of a potato. In Hebrew, the original language of the Bible, word statute is hok, a word derived from the same root as engraving, hewing or carving out. An engraved letter does not exist as a distinct entity independent of the material out of which it is carved. Hok suggests that our encounter with the Bible should be like carving letters out of everyday life to make the Bible and our lives integrally one to reveal God in our midst.   

The photo is based upon two biblical passages: “If you will walk in my statutes…I will keep my sanctuary in your midst.” (Leviticus 26:3, 11) and “For the Lord thy God walks in the midst of thy camp” (Deuteronomy 23:15).

Literate, Wise and Easily Accessible: Deepens Spiritual Sensibilities as it Extends Imagination

Praise for Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media from Jewish and Christian spiritual leaders and experts on art and digital culture.

“Mel Alexenberg offers a scintillating experiment in creativity.  His work is an invitation to deepen your spiritual sensibilities as you extend your imagination.  An interesting and relevant approach to spiritual practice and creative expression.” - Jan Phillips, author of God Is at Eye Level: Photography as a Healing Art and Finding the On-Ramp to Your Spiritual Path: A Roadmap to Joy and Rejuvenation

“Strikes a balance between Kabbalah and contemporary culture. It is replete with imagery from both universes.  It is literate, wise, and easily accessible.  Alexenberg offers us an elegant and devout example of an evolved Jewish Weltanschauung.  Make no mistake; this is a serious contribution to contemporary neo-kabbalah.”  - Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, author of God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning; scholar-in-residence at Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco 

“In Through a Bible Lens, Mel Alexenberg continues his meandering journey seeking Beauty and the Divine within the commonplace. Gazing vertically and horizontally, across literary, cyber, aesthetic and earthly texts/spaces, the journey's end point is always the same - sublime joy in the revelation of God in the World, God as the world.” - Dr. Randall Rhodes, Provost, American University of Armenia, Yerevan

"Menahem (Mel) Alexenberg is "tov ro'i," "goodly of vision." He sees godliness and goodliness in even the most mundane, and instructs others to behold that vision. We are blessed to have such a wise teacher in our midst." - Rabbi Bezalel Naor, author of A Kabbalist’s Diary and The Limit of Intellectual Freedom: The Letters of Rav Kook; former head of institutes of higher Jewish learning in United States and Israel

The top photo above shows Rembrandt cyberangels flying in to the café at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.  Why the café? The biblical words for angel and food are spelled with the same four Hebrew letters to teach that angels are spiritual messages arising from everyday life. This message that spirituality can be found everyplace you focus your smartphone lens is the major concept of Through a Bible Lens.

The bottom image from the book cover shows cyberangels spiraling up from a NASA satellite image of the Land of Israel on a smartphone screen illustrating the biblical verse: “He had a vision in a dream. A ladder was standing on the ground, its top reaching up towards heaven as Divine angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12) Angels in Jacob’s dream go up from Israel and go down throughout the world.

Artist Mel Alexenberg launches cyberangels from Israel to thirty museums throughout the world as an homage to Rembrandt on the 350th anniversary of his death. These museums have Rembrandt inspired artworks by Alexenberg in their collections. At Global Tribute to Rembrandt are posts for each of the museums and texts on the impact of digital culture on art by the artist, former art professor at Columbia University, research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, and professor at universities in Israel.

Book Launch via Global Flight of Rembrandt Inspired Cyberangels

“A ladder was standing on the ground, and its top reached up toward heaven, and angels were going up and down on it.” (Genesis 28:12)                                                  
What better way to launch the book Through a Bible Lens by Mel Alexenberg than to have Rembrandt inspired cyberangels on the book cover fly up from the Land of Israel and come down throughout the world. 

The launching is a series of global digital art events during the “Year of Rembrandt” commemorating the 350^th anniversary of Rembrandt leaving his artistic legacy for posterity.

The cyberangels begin their flight from the Israel Museum's Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, home of ancient Bible scrolls. They gain momentum by going up from the tallest building in Israel, the 91 story Azrieli Spiral Tower being constructed in Tel Aviv in the shape of a giant Bible scroll. The cyberangels then come down into museums around the globe.

Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media provides the conceptual background for the Global Tribute to Rembrandt by teaching how to transform today’s digital culture into imaginative ways for seeing spirituality in everyday life. 

It speaks to Jews and Christians who share an abiding love of the Bible by inspiring the creation of a lively dialogue between our emerging life stories and the enduring biblical narrative.

The book draws on Prof. Alexenberg’s research on creative thinking in the networked world at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies and on biblical thought in contemporary life at universities in Israel. See praise for the book from Christian and Jewish spiritual leaders and experts on art and digital culture at Israel365.

Creative Exploration of the Bible in the Language of Digital Culture

Through a Bible Lens teaches imaginative ways for developing creativity and spirituality in our age of smartphones and social media by drawing on Prof. Alexenberg’s research on creative thinking in digital culture at the MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies and on biblical thought in contemporary life at Israeli universities.

 

TEACHES HOW TO MAKE THE BIBLICAL NARRATIVE A MIRROR FOR SEEING YOURSELF

It shows how to create a lively dialogue between your emerging life story and the enduring biblical narrative by Bible blogging your life. The blog is an ideal narrative form for developing fresh insights for revealing spiritual dimensions of your personal narrative.

DEMONSTRATES HOW TO USE PHOTOGRAPHY FOR SPIRITUAL SEEING

Through a Bible Lens uses traditional methods of Bible study for seeing beyond the photographic image to reveal fresh insights. It explores Kabbalah as a down-to-earth tradition that provides a symbolic language — a spiritual bar code for understanding how Divine energies are drawn down into our everyday world.

 

SPEAKS TO MILLENNIALS IN TODAY'S LANGUAGE OF DIGITAL CULTURE

It presents to all generations the most up-to-date thoughts on how The Bible gives fresh insights on the impact of new technologies on contemporary life. Christians and Jews should buy THROUGH A BIBLE LENS for themselves as well as for their children and grandchildren.

 

PROVIDES CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND FOR GLOBAL TRIBUTE TO REMBRANDT

Global Tribute to Rembrandt is a year of digital homage to Rembrandt in museums around the world on the 350th anniversary of his leaving his artistic legacy for posterity. Follow Global Tribute to Rembrandt

 

OFFERS A BIBLE CURE FOR SMARTPHONE ADDICTION

Through a Bible Lens offers a spiritual cure for the serious problem of smartphone addiction by teaching how to shift focus from the screen to photographing your everyday life from biblical perspectives. It also shows how to delight in all that happens around you by turning off, tuning out and unplugging one day each week. Follow Bible Cure for Smartphone Addiction

 

A MUST-READ BEFORE VISITING THE HOLY LAND

It teaches how to transform your smartphone photographs into biblical messages emerging your experiences and share them through social media. It's all in the book THROUGH A BIBLE LENS available on Amazon and other Internet booksellers. 

Praise from Christian and Jewish Leaders and Experts on Digital Culture

See praise from Christian and Jewish leaders and experts on digital culture for “Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media" at Israel365.

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS provides the perfect model for the best usage of smartphones and socialmedia to encourage greater appreciation for the Bible and the Land of  Israel.” Rabbi Tuly Weisz, editor The Israel Bible. 

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS will be a joy to any lover of the Bible, Christian or Jewish.  I not only endorse it, I look forward to integrating these ideas into my personal encounter with Scripture." Dr. Jim Solberg, USA National Director, Bridges For Peace.

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS offers profound insights about meaning and purpose in contemporary life in a brilliant and sustained exposition. GREAT BOOK!” Dr. Ron Burnett, president, University of Art and Design, Vancouver. 

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS is a unique and fascinating book. Who would have thought that there would be a way to connect smartphones to the ancient world of the Bible?” Prof. Gerald R. McDermott, Beeson Divinity School, Birmingham, Alabama. 

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS’s wonderful synthesis between spirituality and technology, heaven and earth, is exciting and thought-provoking.” Rabbi Chanan Morrison, author of Sapphire from the Land of Israel. 

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS is an intellectually exciting book that stimulates the sensory palate. Shares in-depth, meaningful insights about encountering God in the creative process through photography.”  T. Mandel Chenoweth, head of Art Education Department, Oral Roberts University. 

“THROUGH A BIBLE LENS one of those books that other thinkers will wish they had somehow thought about how to write, and to which readers of diverse sorts will simply respond by saying: wow!” Dr. Ori Z. Soltes, professorial lecturer of Theology and Fine Arts, Georgetown University. 

Celebrating Shirel's Birthday on Jerusalem Day 2019

My granddaughter Shirel from Yeroham is on the left with cousins from Sderot and Dimona. The photo was taken on June 2, 2019 at the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, Shirel's 25th birthday. It is based on the iconic photo below of the first Israeli soldiers to reach the Kotel in 1967 when Jerusalem was liberated after 2,000 years of occupation by foreign powers from the Romans to the Ottomans.      

In creating the "Bible Blog Your Life" project, my wife Miriam and I invited our granddaughter Shirel to be the guest blogger for the post "Numbers 2: Jerusalem Means Seeking Peace." See the post at http://bibleblogyourlife.blogspot.com/2014/01/numbers-2-jerusalem-means-seeing-peace.html. 

The "Bible Blog Your Life" project forms the core of my book Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media.

Bible Inspired Legacy Thrones Created by Christian and Jewish Elders

Jewish Legacy Throne in Miami

 

An Open Letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from Israeli Prof. Mel Alexenberg

As a citizen of both Florida and Israel, I applaud your visit to Israel and thank you for being the most pro-Israel governor in America.  I appreciate that you brought with you Floridian businessmen, university administrators and faculty, religious leaders, and elected officials to work with their Israeli counterparts in developing collaborative Florida-Israel projects.

You would enjoy knowing about the collaborative Florida-Israel “Legacy Thrones” monumental art project created when I was dean of visual arts at New World School of the Arts in Miami.  I worked with my college students and elders from Miami’s Hispanic, African-American, and Jewish communities to create three twenty-foot high, two-ton thrones that visually convey the stories of each of the ethnic communities.

Hispanic Legacy Throne facing Biscayne Bay

 

Through aesthetic dialogue between young people and elders valued traditions of the past were transformed into artistic statements of enduring significance. Together, young and old hands shaped wet clay into colorful ceramic relief sculptures collaged onto three towering steel and concrete thrones that stand facing Biscayne Bay in Margaret Pace Park. See photos of the project at http://melalexenberg.com/artwork.php?id=11.  

In addition to being intergenerational and multicultural, the “Legacy Throne” project created a vibrant dialog between Christians and Jews.  The Catholic Hispanic, Protestant African-American, and Jewish elders worked on each of the three thrones in one huge studio at NWSA.  Working alongside each other and learning about each other’s cultures, they came to realize how much they shared in experiences and in values. The theme of the “Legacy Thrones” project became the biblical passage “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is when we sit together” (Psalm 133).  Biblical images formed in clay adorned all three thrones.

African-American Legacy Throne

 

The elders shared their commitments to living in freedom in America and to biblical values. Freedom from slavery and from the tyrannical regimes of Hitler and Castro shaped their reminiscences. Some women had heard first-hand stories of slavery on Southern plantations from their grandmothers. One Holocaust survivor spoke about having to bite the umbilical cord of her child born in hiding in an underground pit.  Cuban exiles talked about escaping the brutal oppression on the island they loved.

The ceramic relief sculptures could only be epoxied to the front of the thrones resting horizontally on the studio floor.  Completing the backs had to wait for cranes to lift them in place vertically and install them facing the bay.  The long delay in finishing the park found me back in Israel.  My wife artist Miriam Benjamin and I worked with students at Emunah College School of the Arts in Jerusalem to create the relief sculptures to adorn the back of the Jewish throne.  They were shipped to Miami where our former NWSA students completed the throne with Israel-made ceramic Hebrew letters. The “Legacy Throne” project became the first collaborative Florida-Israel art project.

 Retiring after a decade as dean at NWSA, I returned to Israel to accept a professorship at Ariel University.  I was happy to see you honored by Ariel University and hear you say: “This recognition means a lot and I am humbled to be the recipient.  Let it be known that Florida will always stand with Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East.”  I am certain that the partnership that you forged between Ariel U. and Florida Atlantic U. will be rewarding to both universities.

The writer is author of Through a Bible Lens: Biblical Insights for Smartphone Photography and Social Media and former dean at New World School of the Arts in Miami, professor at Columbia University, research fellow at MIT Center for Advanced Visual Studies, professor at Ariel University, and head of Emunah College School of the Arts in Jerusalem.