It’s spring. It’s Passover. The days are longer. The trees are blooming.
And in these past few months new trees – giving trees inspired by
Shel Silverstein’s iconic book “The Giving Tree” – have grown out
of Isy Mekler’s bar mitzvah project.
Isy, a seventh grader at Solomon Schechter Day School of Boston,
was determined to emphasize the mitzvah in his bar mitzvah.
Along the way he assembled a museum quality exhibit, excelled
as a fundraiser for a national literacy program called Reach Out
and Read and received a Make a Difference Award from the
John F. Kennedy Library, where he was the only student
who spoke at the ceremony.
Isy’s Giving Tree Project
started as an English class
assignment to write a fan
letter to an author whose
book was life-changing for
the student. Although Shel
Silverstein died in 1999, Isy
memorialized him, praising
the late author and illustrator
for helping him understand
life a little better through the
tree’s unselfish giving.
“When I read your book ‘The Giving Tree,’ I thought it was absurd that a
tree could be happy after stripping itself of everything it had. The tree
gave away all its apples. The tree gave away all of the branches it had,
and its trunk. But the tree was still glad that it could keep giving. …Now
I understand how divine it feels to give.”
Isy wanted to “give” his love of reading to other kids. But he realized that
such joy is not easy to come by for children who can’t afford to buy books
or don’t have access to well-stocked libraries in their schools. He was also
well aware that a meaningful commitment to literacy meant giving everything
he had in the form of time and heart and love.
And then, there were the trees. Isy designed trees for artists to paint
or illustrate that were composed of two quarter-inch thick hardboard
panels that slid into each other to create a three-dimensional tree.
Each tree measured 19.5 inches in height and 15 inches in width.
By the time the prototype for the trees arrived from Colombia –
Isy’s family is originally from Colombia and his grandmother there
oversaw the manufacturing and delivery – Isy had written to more
than 300 artists, 28 of whom committed to painting or illustrating a
tree to support kids and literacy. In addition, fine art glass artist Dale
Chihuly donated seven signed copies of his books to Isy’s project,
and illustrator Karla Gudeon donated a giclée print called “Big Tree.”
When Isy became a bar mitzvah last November, the participating
artists had completed the trees in time to be used as table
centerpieces for his celebration. Some of the trees incorporate
explicitly Jewish themes. Tikva Adler, a North Carolina-based artist,
painted her interpretation of an Eytz Chayim, the Tree of Life.
Adler elaborated that creating art was akin to experiencing
“prayer or meditation because it brings my awareness fully
into the present moment.”
Joy Chertow, Isy’s art teacher at Solomon Schechter, created a
weeping willow tree using wire. Isy noted that Chertow was the
only artist who changed the shape of the tree. He pointed out,
“When seen from above, Joy’s tree is more oblong and the
wire seems to be swinging with a non-present wind.”
Raquel Rub, a Peruvian-Jewish artist who makes her home
in Miami, painted her artistic interpretation of “Creation.” In a
recent e-mail, Rub explained that when she visited Israel, she
was moved by: “Four sites in Israel where I was inspired by
Creation. In Hebron, I visited the burial sites of the patriarchs.
In Tiberias, I took a boat ride on Lake Tiberias. In Jerusalem,
we remember where the Temple stood. Tzfat is the mystical
city. Together, these four places reminded me of the elements
earth, water, fire and air to make the piece you now have called
‘Creation.’”
Illustrator and children’s book author, Aaron Becker, was so
impressed with Isy’s commitment to service that he designed
a tree based on his upcoming children’s book called “Journey,”
which is set, in part, in a forest. The material was a natural fit for
Becker, whose tree Isy admired for its air of mystery and “the
beautiful shadowing and the soft glow of the lanterns.”
In his acceptance speech at the JFK Library, Isy said that his
father “was the driving force that inspired me to enjoy reading.”
He also noted, “I want to provide other kids with this wonderful
gift, and I want to make a difference.”
And Isy continues to make a difference in the waiting room of
a Roslindale clinic where he volunteers to read to the young
patients twice a month.
Isy Mekler’s Giving Tree Project will be on display at the
Danforth Museum in Framingham from April 15 to August 17 as part
of the museum’s literacy initiative. After the exhibit, the trees will be
auctioned, with all proceeds going to Reach Out and Read.
