Art Lessons

Tucked away in the corner of a winding cobbled alleyway in Tzfas’s Artists’ Quarter is an ancient solid wooden gate. Behind it lies an entire world — the world where Rabbi Noah Greenberg lives and works; his exquisitely carved Judaica his “box of tricks ” which he uses to inspire and educate the Jewish world.

As we enter through the gate to the Greenbergs’ home we have to duck beneath hanging branches of vines and pomegranates before entering the spacious courtyard once an inn during the Ottoman period. First impressions of Noah Greenberg as a gentle jovial soul quiet and modest give way to something deeper — there seems to be an inner fire that drives him as he talks about his numerous projects. That fire has propelled Greenberg over the last 25 years to clock up countless air miles traveling across the globe to demonstrate his artwork — artwork that has managed to inspire and educate tens of thousands of people about Jewish life. For his stunning carved wooden items are not only pieces of exquisite beauty but somehow have evolved into the perfect tools to teach about Judaism. His now-famous Tree of Life Shtender his Kesher Tefillin project and other art-based works are perfect tools to teach about Judaism enabling Greenberg to synthesize his considerable talents as both artist and educator.

Today Noah Greenberg is a master wood carver but the transition from craftsman to artisan was a winding path typical of most of the transformations in his life.

Born in Oakland California in 1955 Noah Greenberg was brought up with a love of Yiddishkeit imbued in him by his parents. “My parents were basically the founders of Beth Israel the first Orthodox shul in Berkeley. In 1963 they brought in the shul’s first rabbi Rabbi Saul Berman who was my childhood ‘rebbi ’ has been a mentor and has come to be a dear personal and family friend.”