Kuznitsky portrait of Stampfers at Neveh Shalom

By PAUL HAIST

article created on: 2010-10-01T00:00:00

Susan Kuznitsky was in the Stampfer Chapel at Congregation Neveh Shalom not long ago for her younger son Matthew Heiteen’s bar mitzvah rehearsal. Associate Rabbi Bradley Greenstein was there along with Matthew’s tutor Deb Freidberg.

They looked out the open doors of the chapel where Kuznitsky’s portrait of Rabbi Joshua and Goldie Stampfer had recently been installed facing the chapel entrance.

“They looked like they were smiling into the room,” said Kuznitsky of the canvas that seems to glow with its own light.

Stampfer is emeritus rabbi at Neveh Shalom. He and his wife Goldie endeared themselves to generations of Neveh Shalom members and are greatly admired across the Jewish community.

Kuznitsky is a Neveh Shalom member and a portrait artist who was recruited last May by CNS Executive Director Fred Rothstein to create the portrait.

The canvas measures 24 by 30 inches. The painting is executed in oil.

Kuznitsky said she worked from a photograph selected by Stampfer daughters.

No one was sure exactly where or when the photograph was made, although Kuznitsky estimated that Rabbi Stampfer was in his 70s at the time. He is 89 today.

Stampfer daughter Nehama Glogower, now of Ann Arbor, Mich., found the photograph, according to her sister Elana Stampfer Emlen of Portland.

She said everyone agreed the painting should be adapted from that image.

The painting does reveal the couple’s inner selves.

Emlen said, “I love it. It’s so joyful. It really captures their delight.”

Greenberg said, “It captures Rabbi Stampfer’s sweet and gentle nature.”

Greenstein was present when the Rabbi Stampfer first saw the painting. He said Stampfer wanted right away to bring his wife to see it.

Kuznitzky studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago and then with Albert Handell when he was in New York.

Today, she paints and teaches art at her Studio in the Woods Northwest near her home in the vicinity of Alpenrose Dairy. See more of her work at studiointhewoodsnw.com.

Kuznitzky is a member of ORA Northwest Jewish Artists, which will host its fifth annual exhibition and sale Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mittleman Jewish Community Center.