DESCRIPTION: The Mezuzah is a case which includes a Holy Prayer, placed on the doorpost of a Jewish home. It acts as a spiritual protection. The eight string harp represents a time when the world will no longer be bound by nature. In the center is the artist's interpretation of the Holy Temple which will be rebuilt when the Messiah comes. Of course the Hebrew letter "Shin" which signifies G-d's name appears on top of the Mezuzah.

ARTIST BI0GRAPHY: Today's renaissance of the traditional Jewish lifestyle has been accompanied by the blossoming of a multi-faceted Chasidic art movement. Michoel Muchnik, among the foremost Chassidic artists, has gained prominence with his joyfully imaginative renderings in acrylics, watercolors, and original lithographs. He frequently combines his delicate use of color and fine line work into a story book motif. Even at its most mystical, a Muchnik painting is inexplicably familiar.

Muchnik has staged exhibits of his original paintings, bas-relief mosaics and lithographs throughout the world. His originals have been displayed at the Brooklyn Museum, the Goldman Arts Gallery in Washington, D.C., Yeshiva University Museum in New York, Dansforth Museum in Massachusetts, the Sydney Jewish Museum and the Sharei Tzedek Collection in Israel. He recently created "The TreasuredLand", a 6' x 24' sculptural mural depicting the Land of Israel for the Jewish Children's Museum in New York.

Muchnik was born in 1952 in Philadelphia, Pa. He attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, and later studied at The Rabbinical College in Morristown, N.J., a Lubavitcher Yeshiva.