The title of the work references the exalted status of the High Priest in the rituals at the Temple in Jerusalem. The piece depicts a single black figure against a glowing blue background, wielding a scepter of sorts. On its head, it wears an elongated hat, which rises diagonally toward the edge of the narrow, vertical frame. At the figure's feet, on the left, there is a medley of ancient and ‘square’ Hebrew letters. Above the head, there is a round sigil or coin, which seems to be inscribed with the words ‘Keter Torah’ (crown of the Torah). The monochromatic background is interspersed with black squares, which identify it as a slate or a scroll. The work’s color palette evokes the sky, heaven, and sanctity, as befits the High Priest’s elevated spiritual rank. An aura of holiness surrounds the letters below him – which created the world, according to the Kabbalah.
Literature:
Moshe Castel. Jubilee Exhibition. Sixty Years of Creativity (Jerusalem: The Knesset, 1984), p. 36.
Moshe Castel (Rishon Le Zion: “Kshatot” Arts, 1995), p. 43.
Castel. Works from the Collection (Maale-Adummim: The Moshe Castel Museum of Art, 2018), p. 31.
Gideon Ofrat, Moshe Castel. Towards a True Sephardic Art (The Levin Foundation Press, 2019), p. 264.
