This exhibition was supposed to be opened on October 25 th ; the artworks were brought to the Museum on October 5 th , 2023, and hung in the Hallelujah Hall, which overlooks Jerusalem. We eagerly awaited the opening day, working tirelessly on the exhibition, but the recent tragic events, unprecedented in Israeli history, have changed everything. The Hamas attack on the State of Israel, which resulted in hundreds of civilians being killed and abducted, has forced us to declare war and defend our lives, the lives of the abductees, and our own living in the State of Israel.
Pinchas Shaar found the strength to go on and create his wonderful and inspiring paintings, after witnessing and experiencing the horrors of the Holocaust. Likewise, we draw strength from the rebirth of the people of Israel, UNITED in our homeland, and from our readiness to defend and protect our children and homes – UNITED WE
STAND AND SAY: “NO MORE!”

The Moshe Castel Museum of Art has opened its doors free of charge to everyone, and we invite the Israeli public to come and see our collection, finding in Pinchas Shaar’s works the strength and inspiration to accomplish the task with which we are faced: returning the abducted and missing persons from Gaza, and defending our land and people. Despite being forced to postpone the opening of the exhibition, we are much stronger and firmer in our belief in the unity of the people of Israel, and in our
mission: defending the people of Israel.

We dedicate this exhibition to the memory of the murdered and the fallen. May their memory be blessed.

Moshe Castel (1909–1991) and Pinchas Shaar (1923–1996) were two immensely talented artists, whose works are characterized by a unique pictorial language that poetically combines childhood memories, many of which revolve around Jewish plots, the Tanakh, and Hebrew scripture; and the revival of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel. This exhibition underscores the originality and value of the art that has developed from the strengthening of the national roots. Thus, it bears a powerful
national and educational message.

Pinchas Shaar was an outstanding artist with a highly distinct artistic voice. Nowadays, as we mark the 100th anniversary of Shaar’s birth, this exhibition restores to the public consciousness one of the most original, brilliant, and unique artists that our Land has ever seen. Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel wrote in his introduction to
the catalogue of Shaar’s exhibition Let My People Go, which was held at the Jewish Museum in New York in 1975: “He is a true artist, one who knows how to dream and how to make others dream.” As an inmate of the Łódź Ghetto and the Nazi concentration camps, Pinchas Shaar dreamed of the independent Jewish state, and he arrived there at the age of twenty-six. Through his art, Pinchas Shaar was able to transcend his tragic life story and leave behind a legacy of amazing artworks,
brimming with joy, happiness, and hope.

Today, as the people of Israel rise up to defend their homeland from brutal terrorists, whose like has not been seen since the Holocaust, his life story assumes particular importance for us. Thanks to his unique and extraordinary combination of Jewish tradition and the innovations of Cubism, Shaar secured the status of an original artist in the contemporary Israeli and Western landscape. Pinchas Shaar’s artistic quest unfolded in parallel to that of Moshe Castel,
who likewise combined the legacy of Judaism and Modernist styles in his art. In a broader perspective, this is a relevant message for us today: Despite all the tragedies which we have endured, and which we will never forget, we will carry on our mission – building the Land and developing it, and preserving the world’s only Jewish State as a free, progressive, and innovative country, which defends all its citizens.

We are honored to host an exhibition of this outstanding artist here, in the heart of the Land of Israel, at the Moshe Castel Museum of Art in Ma’ale Adumim. I would like to thank the Museum curator, Dr. Alek D. Epstein; the artist’s widow, Ms. Elisheva Shaar Caspi; Mr. Zohar Bernard Cohen, and Mr. Omri Dubosc Cohen, for their dedication to the artistic legacy of this wonderful painter and their collaboration on organizing this exhibition. I have no doubt that all those who care about art in general, and Jewish art in particular, will visit it repeatedly, finding in these artworks, and in the renewed permanent exhibition of our Museum, a source of inspiration, prosperity, and creative and spiritual growth for many years to come.

We are a strong people – and we will never break.
Am Yisrael chai. The people of Israel live.