Dialogue With A Waterbug
By Greta Elbogen
Benjamin Rubin
Dialogue With A Waterbug I
Oil on canvas
20’’ x 16’’
Benjamin Rubin
Dialogue With a Waterbug II
Watercolor and pencil on a paper
11.5” x 15.5”
About Benjamin Rubin
I was born in New York City. My ancestors come from all over Europe and the Mediterranean, Jewish as far back as I can imagine. I am currently a junior at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, studying Biology. Greta is a friend who I have deep appreciation, respect, and love for. Her message to the world is simple and one I can always get behind: choosing compassion and peace. I think of Greta’s mission in terms of the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam or “repairing the world”.
I chose Dialogue with a Waterbug to make two separate art pieces. This poem always stood out to me in Greta’s collection as sweet and meaningful. Why can’t the Divine be present in every particle of being on earth? Why not even in the more disregarded creatures of the world, like a waterbug (which is essentially a cockroach)? Can we communicate with our world through the understanding that some sort of intimately interconnected presence holds it all together, whether we call that God, or the forces of Nature, or Universe?
How Ben and Greta Met:
Ben met Greta as a high school student, assigned to help her as a weekly volunteer. They developed a deep friendship.