Return to What Was Always Free
By Naomi Kisilevich
I’m a mixed-media artist, educator, and performer with a passion for bringing creativity and meaning into everything I do—whether it’s in the classroom, on canvas, or through community events.
I teach 4th grade general studies at Lubavitch Hebrew Academy in Margate, Florida, and am the proud founder of a professional face painting company that brings color and joy to simchas across South Florida. A graduate of Tzohar Seminary for Chassidus and the Arts, I strive to blend my love of Torah and the arts in all areas of life. I’m also a two-year Whipple procedure survivor, a mother of two amazing boys, and a returning performer with the Jewish Women’s Theatre Group of South Florida. This year, I am honored to be participating in the Chassidus in Art competition for the second year. Through art, music, and education, I aim to help others access their inner light and express their truest selves.
This piece was inspired by the pasuk, “בכל דור ודור חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו הוא יצא ממצרים,” and the deeper explanations in Chassidus about what Mitzrayim really represents. Mitzrayim is not only a place in the past, but any limitation that holds a person back—from external pressures to the quieter limitations we place on ourselves. The Rebbe teaches that the struggle is not between who we are and who we should be, but between our true self and something that was never truly us.
In the painting, the figure represents that רגע of awakening—when a person begins to recognize that they are not defined by those limitations. The splitting of the sea becomes a visual language for this shift, where what was hidden beneath the surface is suddenly revealed. The light emerging from within the figure reflects the idea that geulah doesn’t begin from the outside, but from an inner clarity that was always there.
The title, Return to What Was Always Free, captures the essence of this message. Yetzias Mitzrayim is not just about leaving something behind—it’s about returning to who we truly are. A Yid is not defined by limitation. At our core, we are already free.
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To submit an artwork to the upcoming edition of the Chassidus in Color art contest, visit: chassidusapplied.com/chassidusincolor
- Rabbi Yossi Paltiel Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2L4WHuJwJtWa21tMVooZjS
- The Rebbe Speaks to Children: https://shorturl.at/zZfmK
- Short explanations of each of the 12 Pesukim: Twelvepesukim.org
