Salvador Dali Impression d’Afrique (excerpt)

This week Jews around the world celebrate Passover, a commemoration of the Jews’ exodus from Egypt, complete with tales of miracles, plagues, blind faith, leadership and a number of ritual foods that stand in for various experiences during slavery and the flight.

I have always associated the story of exodus with the concept of courage (either that or a desperation so deep that one was willing to throw all realistic beliefs overboard and entrust oneself into the hand of an unknown entity.) I prefer the idea of courage: the courage to break away, up and go regardless of an unknown and likely insecure future, the bravery to defy oppression.

Salvador Dali Plage avec telephone (excerpt)

This week, then, will be devoted to stories about courage that I have found in my reading, gleaned from various sources. I have no clue how I will choose the photographs to accompany them, so expect occasionally strange pairings. For today they will be excerpts from paintings I saw in January in a exquisite exhibit of surrealists at the Kunsthalle Hamburg. They remind me of the trek through deserts, the parting of the red sea, the plagues descending n Egypt and voices calling from the wilderness.

Yves Tanguy Dehors (excerpt)

Here is the first link:http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/05/in-france-a-farmer-turned-migrant-smuggler-has-become-a-popular-

Someone courageously helping exiles to get to a new, safer place seemed the appropriate choice for the night of the first Seder.

Max Ernst Düsterer Wald (excerpt)