The Carpenter's Chairs

By Nahum Kruger

Autobiography:

Nahum Kruger was born in South Africa in 1944. He married Tikvah in 1965, and together

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writers Branding LLC
• Release date: Nov 29, 2022
• ISBN: 9781639455478

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The Carpenter's Chairs

Copyright. 2023 by Nahum Kruger

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Library of Congress Control Number: 202-0906-364

ISBN: (E-book) 978-1639455478

Writers’ Branding Revised Date: 1/11/2023

The views expressed in this book are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Table of Contents

1. Dedication

2. Aliya (Ascent to Israel) 1967

3a. Seeds. 3b. Funeral.

4. Four Corners.

5. Corpus Callosum

6. The ‘Now’ Then.

7. Despair. Hope.

8.Night to Day.

9. Conflict.

10. Gone to the Beach ‘75.

11.Space and Enclosure ‘75

12. CHAIRS 1978. Oil on wood 74cm X 122

13a. INTRODUCTION to LIGHT

13b. Intro. to Light

14. CHOOSE LIFE (‘76)

15. DIRECTION

16. THERE and HERE

17. FOUNDATION.

18a. REVELATION at Mount Sinai.

18b. LUCHOT HABRIT.

19. SHABBAT

20. ESHET CHAYIL

21. AMIDA

22. TWENTY FOUR HOURS

23. RETURN TO SOURCE

24. THE FLOOD

25. KERUVIM

26. ALL MY NEEDS

27. ASHER YATZAR...

28. CHANUKAH

29. PESSACH. (Passover)

30. PURIM

31. ALEPH

32. Tefilat Haderech

33. ORAITA KADMA ALMA

34. KOTTEL

35. SEPHIROT

36. WAY OF LIFE

37. HAVDALAH ‘88.

38. BRIT MILAH

39.BREAKING BARRIERS

40. LIMOOD HANISTAR

41. LOGICAL CONFUSION

42. OUTSIDE IN.

43. BACK OF CANVAS

44. NEW BEGINNINGS

About the book

1. Dedication

WIFE (to be) Painted 1962. ‘....bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.’ TIKVAH: Born in South Africa 1945. Married (Nahum) 1965. Made Aliyah 1967. Became mother 1968. Departed 2017. Buried in Bet Shemesh area .

Nahum saw Tikvah and Tikvah saw Nahum... in Shul in 1960. The Shul had an open upstairs gallery, from where the women could observe their husbands below, and of course, vice-versa also applied. Such set up in Israel would certainly not be accepted without some form of partition preventing that ‘vice versa’ scenario. Had that partition actually been there, would they have met? The answer is ‘yes.’Many thoughts in the heart of Man, but the plan/will of Hashem will arise (Mishlei 19:21) It is clear today that this ‘union’ was the plan of Hashem (G-d) and would have materialized one way or another.

Tikvah's father passed away when she was just six After short period, her mother remarried widower with 4 children. Tikvah, together with her mother and brother, were now part of family of eight. Not an easy adjustment. The husband died one year later, leaving her mother now, with six kids. Time passed and each went their way. Her mother married again and they lived peacefully for thirty-plus years, of which the last ten or so, they lived in Israel in the home of Tikvah and the family, happy and fulfilled.

This book is lovingly dedicated to Tikvah's memory.

Toa a Woman of Valor

Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother

Whose will (desire) was like that of hashem...

שעשני כרצונו (Morning Blessing)

לעילוי נשמת תקוה פייגל בת משה ובתי‘ה וולוזינסקי

The

Carpenter's

Chairs

2. Aliya (Ascent to Israel) 1967

When looking at this painting, (our S.A. Hostel room), it recalls to memory the entire adventure of my wife's and my ‘whirlwind’ aliya to Israel and our subsequent settlement. And although none of that is obvious in the painting, the memories it evokes are of incidents that clearly revealed to us the difficult to deny and consistently active ‘individual providence’ prevalent in Eretz Yisrael as opposed to the ‘general providence’ operating everywhere else.

Passports and visas were ready. We had listed ourselves as ‘volunteers,’ ready to assist any Israeli appeal that might arise due to the growing threat of annihilation posed by the 40 million troops of the Arab nations surrounding little Israel on 3 sides and with the sea at its 4th, a type of ‘David and Goliath’ scenario. All flights, in and out, had been suspended some 10 days prior to the start of war. Tikvah’s brother was at this time in Israel on preplanned student tour. No communication with him was possible. Regular mail took about 2-3 weeks (No emails no cellphones Imagine.)

At 10 o’clock one sunny Tuesday morning, about a week after Israel’s victory in the now-called ‘6 Day War’, I was called to the phone at my place of work. It was my mother-in-law. She said, The first flight after the war would be leaving that afternoon at 16:00… there are two places available.… do we want them? Yes, Yes! I contacted Tikvah at her place of work and arranged to meet at ‘home’ (my parents’ house). We each informed our respective shocked bosses and left our jobs. At home, we sold our small old car to a neighbor, threw some basic stuff into a small suitcase (including some paints later used in the subject picture)… ate a light lunch and were taken to the airport. Time: close to 14:00. Just 4 hrs, since that workplace phone-call. A SAA aircraft, filled to capacity with excited, confused young Jews of all shapes and sizes... took off