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  • Daddy's Graduation Picture
  • Helène Aylon (bio)

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I'd study Daddy's Graduation Picture that hung in the bedroom I shared with Baba. Everyone in the picture had good posture, sitting tall, standing tall. Daddy's in the middle row, first one on the right. The teachers resembled the students and the students resembled the teachers.

Shoes were all polished. For sure, everyone was circumcised. Everyone had a kippah and everyone looked seriously sad. One day, like a pink streak of lightening, long after I grew out of that house, it hit me what was missing. Color the lightening streaks pink and you'll see.

Helène Aylon

Helène Aylon is a cutting edge feminist artist born in Borough Park, Brooklyn where she was raised and educated according to strict Orthodox tradition. Her nostalgic critiques won the Foundation for Jewish Culture's Visual Art award of 2002. The Liberation of G-d (i.e., G-d with a pink dash), shown in 6 museums, was acquired by the NY Jewish Museum. This was the first of a series called The G-D Project. The finale, All Rise, a petition for women to serve as judges on a Beit Din, will be part of the Jewish Museum's show, "The Reinvention of Ritual." Visit www.heleneAylon.com.

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