I have a student who is painting portraits of the Lamed Vovniks, the 36 righteous people in the world at any given time. In a variety of different mystical sects of Judaism, it is believed that these 36 people, who have no knowledge and, indeed, cannot know that they are one of the thirty-six without dying or giving up their place, are responsible for bearing the suffering of mankind, and also for diverting the disasters that could end the world. The student, Fikriye, is interested in portraits, and most particularly in the painful gaze of the solitary subject. Her work is beyond anything I could hope to produce, but I was fascinated by the idea and so I drew one for myself.
