2010 Photo Contest Winners
1st Place: The Flame Within
By: Nissana Boxstein, Yeshiva University Girls School of Los Angeles |
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| I captured the true essence of a mother’s happiness after lighting the shabbos candles with her daughter for the first time. She has come from a dark past, arms bearing tattoos, and the flames of these candles left the spark of what Judaism was once all about, behind.
Sitting beneath the flames of shabbos joy, is a picture of a soldier, their brother who has just returned from his duties in Iraq safely.
The Torah he is holding was commemorated in his honor and the honor of his platoon. |
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2nd Place: Prayer on the Edge of Light
By: Noah Flinkman, Yeshiva University Boys School of Los Angeles |
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| Welcome to LA. City of Angels. Beautiful no? Yet, even amongst the illuminated glory of this effulgent City, there exists something shallow. Each one of these lights, a desperate attempt to be noticed, is ultimately dwarfed by the radiance of it all.
Or perhaps, like a mask, these lights serve to conceal the inner supernal spiritual splendor which lies dormant beneath the concrete artificial shell of LA. Many modern scholars draw parallels between the indulgence of Rome to the decadence of LA.
On a rooftop in LA, this woman chooses to transcend the light, glorious as it is, and raises her eyes to the heavens. She draws joy from the charred shadowed sky, as she realizes, that even the heavens of LA, drowned in light to the very point where the stars disappear, there is true light to be found. The prayer she is saying is Ma’ariv, traditionally associated with an end, or more optimistically, a beginning.
The Jewish day starts at night while the secular day begins at sunrise. While this secular world chooses to begin the day with physical labor, it is us, the Jews, that begin the day with a dream. |
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3rd Place: 13 in the Sunset at Caesaria
By: Shana Sieger, Emunah V’Omanut |
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| In November, a close family friend of mine, Doni, had the privilege of celebrating his bar mitzvah here in Israel with his family and close friends.
While here, he got to see all the great wonders of our holy land and appreciate just how great it is to be Jewish, with all the rich history Eretz Yisrael provides.In this photo, he is standing on the beach in the sunset after a long day of learning the history of Caesaria and finding remnants of artifacts left from the times of Ancient Romans.
It is indeed joyous to see such young people able to discover their heritage and Judaism through such a wondrous land. |
Click Here to view the finalist entries.
Click Here to view all the entries.
