Bible Lands Museum

Address: Shmuel Stephan Weiz St 21

Wednesday 13.03.2024 at 19:00

Closing Date: Tuesday 30.04.2024 (time will be announced)

Doe of Dawn

Curator

Rachel Verliebter

Artists

Maya Zack, Yifat Bezalel, Alana Ruben Free, Sandra Valabregue, Iris Ahuva Pykovski, Giordana Musani, Méïr Srebriansky

The Doe of Dawn engages with the mystery of the doe, a biblical myth about the Divine Feminine. It gives rise to manifold meanings in the Kabbalah throughout the generations, interweaving love, birth, nature, deliverance, and longing for God. The Sages compare the doe to the Shekhinah: “the most selflessly devoted among the animals who has great mercy for her children,” who every night, gives birth to the dawn anew.

The myth depicts the fateful encounter of the doe representing purity, grace, divine beauty, and nourishment—with the snake, that creature representing the forces of evil, but also, masculinity and  healing. From this union of opposites,  delivered  in pain, redemption is born.

In the wake of October 7, heavy mourning surrounds Mother Zion, who is weeping for her children. 

Some of the artworks on display bear witness to the brutal negation of everything the doe stands for, while concomitantly conjuring up the procreative force of life and its continuity. Through the image of the doe, symbolizing the feminine resilience of Israel, the exhibit raises the crucial question burning within us right now: How can there be rebirth after such a deeply inflicted wound to the collective womb? How can we restore a sense of Malchut—feminine majesty—to our broken selves?