Avi Vofsi: Embracing Jewish identity through art

The tiny studio which is one of four in a space that Avraham (Avi) Vofsi shares with three other artists in Jerusalem’s bustling Talpiot Industrial Zone belies the extent of his creative talent. Although he started out as a documentary filmmaker and writer, he prefers to be known as an oil painter. On entering the confined area, the eye is immediately drawn to two massive portraits that look more like photographs than paintings. One is of a woman, the other of a male soldier. Both are so lifelike that one can almost feel their presence – and one has to look very hard to see a brush stroke. These paintings and smaller landscapes that Vofsi has painted during his travels around the country in the aftermath of October 7 have contributed to the strengthening of his Jewish identity.

Born in Melbourne, Australia, to American immigrant parents, Vofsi, 34, had very little to do with the Jewish community during his growing-up period. The family, though fully Jewish, lived in an outlying neighborhood in which there were very few Jews. Even when they moved to another neighborhood in which there were more Jews, they didn’t socialize with them.

Although there are several Jewish day schools in Melbourne, Vofsi went to a regular state school, where his friends were non-Jews. When he was old enough to date, most of the girls he dated were not Jewish.

There was not much Judaism practiced in his family, although they did make Kiddush on Friday nights, and on Passover his mother made a Seder at which most of the invited guests were not Jewish.

Vofsi had a bar mitzvah in a Reform synagogue, and for some years that was more or less the end of his adherence to Jewish tradition. At school, he and his friends studied filmmaking and produced several short films. He continued in this vein after graduating.

For Vofsi, like many Australians in the film industry his big dream was to hit the jackpot in Los Angeles. He had an advantage over his colleagues in that as the son of American parents, he was a US citizen and thus did not have to go through the hassle of obtaining a work visa. At 22, he went to LA  and spent two years there, making films and making contacts. 

Although Los Angeles has one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, Vofsi hung out mostly with non-Jews or people from blended families in which only one side was Jewish. At one stage, he missed his mother’s Passover Seder and decided to make a Seder of his own. All the invitees were either non-Jews or non-practicing half-Jews. 

Fame eluded him, so he returned to Melbourne to advance his education by enrolling at one of the branches of the Melbourne Institute of Technology. He wanted to study sketching to help him when making animated films. But his art teacher recognized his talent, and she encouraged him to be an oil painter. She was so enthused about his ability that she became not only his teacher but also his mentor.

Vofsi has been painting ever since and admits to being obsessed with oil painting. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in illustration, drawing and painting, but painting is his main occupation. He has not entirely given up filmmaking and writing. He works for an American company that wants him to create two short documentary films a month about contemporary Jewish life in Israel. 

This necessitates his traveling around the country and talking to people from all walks of life, hearing their stories, becoming aware of the challenges they face and those that they overcame in the past. In doing so, he has felt a closer bond with his Jewish identity. He now observes Shabbat and keeps kosher, but he doesn’t yet know where he fits in Jewishly. 

Like many secular Jews who are drawn to a more observant lifestyle, he took up residence in a religious neighborhood when he made aliyah in August 2023. But he soon realized that he would not quite fit in there and moved to another neighborhood that is populated by Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and secular Jews, who live in harmony with one another. 

This is actually his second time in Israel. He initially came in 2022 and spent five months in the country. He knew even before arriving that he wanted to move to Israel permanently but realized that his experience in the country might cause him to change his mind. As it happened, the experience of living with a family in Netivot, and visiting kibbutzim and other places cemented his decision to stay. He flew back to Melbourne to tie up some loose ends, and now sees himself as an Israeli. He is studying Hebrew and has acquired a reasonable command of the language.

During that preliminary visit, Vofsi fell in love with the vibe of Israel, which is what caused him to make what he calls “a leap of faith.” He has no regrets and is currently preparing for a solo exhibition of three portraits, four landscapes, and a collection of studies in smaller format which will constitute a solo exhibition that he plans to show in Israel and then take around the Jewish world – including Sydney and Melbourne in Australia in December; and from there continue to Los Angeles, New York, and Miami before returning home to Israel. The traveling exhibition, “HaAliya,” is his way of explaining his own journey to Israel and enhanced Judaism, and what has been happening in the country since October 7. “‘HaAliyah’ tries to express the mood and feelings of what it’s been like for Israelis here and Jews around the world,” he says.

Paintings evoke impressions and emotions, he says, and his paintings serve as a platform for him to tell the story in the same way that a film tells a story. Eventually, he will add new chapters to the story by painting still life Judaica based on the traditions of Israel’s demographic melting pot. No matter how “Israeli” the people of different national and ethnic backgrounds have become, a vestige of the traditions of their ancestors stays with them. This is something that Vofsi wants to capture for posterity.

His first Israeli solo exhibition

The solo show will be his first solo exhibition in Israel, though he has had three solo exhibitions in Australia.

Meanwhile, he is participating in a group exhibition that opens on October 7 at the impressive Jaffa Road building which housed the old Shaare Zedek Medical Center and later became the headquarters of the now defunct Israel Broadcasting Authority, after which it was turned into a cultural hub. 

The group exhibition is one of many that will be seen throughout Israel in relation to the events of October 7 until the present time. There have been painting and photo exhibitions throughout the year, and many more have been prepared for October 7 and the months ahead. October 7 is etched into the Israeli psyche no less than the Yom Kippur War, the Gregorian calendar date for which was October 6, and Vofsi is a living testament to this.

“October 7 is both a fresh nightmare and a constant distraction in our thoughts,” he writes on his website, avrahamvofsi.com. “We cannot yet process what has happened to us and our country. The war not yet over, the hostages not yet home, a plan for the future not yet laid out – what should we feel? We may not know for certain for many years to come.”

Asked by The Jerusalem Report how October 7 has affected his aliyah and his art, he says: “I moved to Israel because I wanted to be part of Jewish history – but I forgot what that really means. October 7 didn’t change me; it just reaffirmed my decision to make aliyah. I didn’t come for fun, though there’s plenty of that, too. I came to do something meaningful for the Jewish people. Now my art is my response to the war, to what’s happening to me, my friends, my family. It’s how I help people here, and I hope it also helps others abroad understand what we’re going through.”■