I recently visited the Salvador Dali exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum titled “But a dream,” which features a series of 25 paintings by the acclaimed Spanish artist on “Aliyah, the rebirth of Israel.”  According to museum officials, “They were reproduced as photo-lithographs and published in a limited edition presented in a folder with a letter of introduction by David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister.”

In 1966, the head of Shorewood Publishers, Samuel Shore, inspired by the Chagall windows at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, commissioned Salvador Dali to create these paintings in honor of Israel’s 20^th birthday: “An opening exhibition took place in New York in 1968, timed to coincide with the celebration of Israel’s 20^th birthday.  The paintings and prints were later offered for sale and dispersed.    Only a handful of complete public sets remain in public view today.   Dali’s works are on loan from Ursula and David Blumenthal and the exhibition is funded with a grant by the Abraham Pearlman Foundation.”

Rabbi Steven Moskowitz told Israel Today:...