Middle School Yitzchok Moully-Inspired Simchat Torah Art Competition

This year for Simchat Torah, Middle School students had an opportunity to discover their inner Yitzchok Moully as they created art pieces inspired by his work. Moully is an American-Australian artist and rabbi known for his Chasidic Pop Art painting style. Sarah Ettinger, the Pardes Jewish Studies Coordinator, is intrigued by Moully’s art for many reasons. “You don’t really see a lot of Jewish Pop Art like this. I liked how what we were able to create was uniquely Jewish. It’s also easy to talk about Moully’s work and I wanted to bring that to the students.”

Students were tasked with creating art based either on a single aspect of Judaism, the Torah itself, or simply the holiday of Simchat Torah. To make it even more exciting, the middle schoolers were competing against one another to have the best Moully-inspired piece. They were reminded that Pop Art is meant to catch the eye and hold it. Mrs. Ettinger was highly impressed with the work turned in. Thinking back on the projects, she describes what she saw, “in the moments that make the art pop, the areas with no color are almost as important as those with color.”

There were several honorable mentions in this competition, but the pieces were judged in two categories – Torah with first and second place winners and Creation with first, second and third placed winners. Kol Hakavod to the winners and Yasher Koach to all the honorable mentions and students who participated!