Key Takeaways
- • Barbara Hines, a painter now living in Jerusalem, is showing a new exhibition, "Jerusalem in My Soul," at the Moshe Castel Museum of Jewish Israeli Art in Ma'ale Adumim, running through the end of the year, according to The Times of Israel.
- • Hines was born in Germany to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust; her parents concealed their Jewish heritage from their daughters, believing it would keep them safe.
- • Hines's religious journey moved through yoga, Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism, which she practiced for more than 20 years, before her son Trevor's conversion to Judaism prompted her own embrace of Jewish life.
- • Hines's mother revealed that 86 of her relatives were killed in the Holocaust, and Hines chose to embrace Judaism "100%."
- • Hines moved to Jerusalem after the death of her husband Gerald in 2020 and married Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir in Jerusalem earlier this year.
Summary
Barbara Hines, a painter now living in Jerusalem, is presenting a new exhibition at the Moshe Castel Museum of Jewish Israeli Art in Ma'ale Adumim, according to The Times of Israel. The show, titled "Jerusalem in My Soul," runs through the end of the year and traces her religious evolution and her connection to Israel and the stories of the Bible.
Hines was born in Germany to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust together after her father, Rolf Otto Julius Fritzsche, escaped from a Nazi prison, where he had been held after being expelled from the Luftwaffe. Her mother, Ursula, hid him from the Nazis. The family later emigrated to Australia, where the daughters were raised in a predominantly Christian community. Her father told her of his Jewish mother shortly before she returned to Germany after university. Hines spent decades exploring other faiths, including Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism, which she practiced for more than 20 years.
Her path changed when her son Trevor, studying at Westminster School in London, decided to become Jewish. Hines supported his journey, hosting Shabbat meals and connecting him with a local Chabad house, and used her German to translate Yiddish texts. When Trevor told his grandmother in Australia of his decision, she revealed that her own mother and grandmother were Jewish, making Hines Jewish as well. Hines's mother also disclosed that 86 of her relatives were killed during the Holocaust. Hines said she chose to embrace Judaism "100%," and her husband Gerald, a practicing Unitarian, supported the family's observance. Hines's sister later became affiliated with Chabad in Australia.
Following Gerald's death in 2020, Hines moved briefly to Florida before immigrating to Jerusalem. Her subjects have shifted from landscapes, flowers and portraits to Israel and Torah narratives. Her earlier exhibitions include a long-running show at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, a series on the biblical Joseph, and a project on the circle of life shown at the 2019 Jerusalem Biennale. Hines married Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir in Jerusalem this May after they met through a date arranged with a visit to the Castel Museum. In Hines's words, "My paintings have made aliyah, too."
Hines was born in Germany to Jewish parents who survived the Holocaust together after her father, Rolf Otto Julius Fritzsche, escaped from a Nazi prison, where he had been held after being expelled from the Luftwaffe. Her mother, Ursula, hid him from the Nazis. The family later emigrated to Australia, where the daughters were raised in a predominantly Christian community. Her father told her of his Jewish mother shortly before she returned to Germany after university. Hines spent decades exploring other faiths, including Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism, which she practiced for more than 20 years.
Her path changed when her son Trevor, studying at Westminster School in London, decided to become Jewish. Hines supported his journey, hosting Shabbat meals and connecting him with a local Chabad house, and used her German to translate Yiddish texts. When Trevor told his grandmother in Australia of his decision, she revealed that her own mother and grandmother were Jewish, making Hines Jewish as well. Hines's mother also disclosed that 86 of her relatives were killed during the Holocaust. Hines said she chose to embrace Judaism "100%," and her husband Gerald, a practicing Unitarian, supported the family's observance. Hines's sister later became affiliated with Chabad in Australia.
Following Gerald's death in 2020, Hines moved briefly to Florida before immigrating to Jerusalem. Her subjects have shifted from landscapes, flowers and portraits to Israel and Torah narratives. Her earlier exhibitions include a long-running show at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, a series on the biblical Joseph, and a project on the circle of life shown at the 2019 Jerusalem Biennale. Hines married Rabbi Dr. Natan Ophir in Jerusalem this May after they met through a date arranged with a visit to the Castel Museum. In Hines's words, "My paintings have made aliyah, too."
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