Bring them home dog tags with yellow ribbon

I’ve been reflecting a lot on still-life painting. It’s always been an intriguing genre for me, but for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out how to make objects truly compelling. Then it clicked—what if I could tell a story solely through objects?

One of the most fascinating aspects of the Jewish people is how we carry our stories in our objects. Think of family heirlooms passed down from grandparents, objects that survived wars, expulsions, and unimaginable hardships. Each one holds not just the story of a family but the collective history of our people.

This year, two objects have stood out for me: the yellow ribbon and the dog tag. They’ve taken on a kind of ritual significance. Almost every Jew in the world has something like this now—a tangible connection to this moment in time. These objects are no longer just personal; they’ve become part of the collective story of this year.

What strikes me is how they tie us together, here in Israel and in the Diaspora. They remind us that even in loss and pain, we carry these stories forward, just as we always have.