A painting of Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM, inspired by Australian events since 7 October 2023.
Toward the Light, 2025, oil on canvas, 100 x 200 cm.
A life of service
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio OAM was born into a closeknit middle-class family in Adelaide Australia. Her education includes a law degree and a degree in rabbinical studies. After a short stint in legal practice Jacqueline decided that her calling was to promote God’s laws and not just those of man alone – undertaking five years of rabbinical studies in the United States.
Rabbi Ninio was ordained in 1998 when she became the seventh Australian-born progressive rabbi and the third Australian-born female rabbi. Rabbi Ninio joined Emanuel Synagogue in Woollahra Sydney in 1998 and is the congregation’s first female rabbi. She is happily married with a teenage daughter. She has managed to balance home and a very demanding rabbinical career tending to the needs and blessings of the largest progressive Jewish congregation in Australia.
In 2024 Rabbi Ninio celebrated her Silver Jubilee (25 years) as a Rabbi at the Emmanuel Synagogue. She is beloved by all who meet and know her, and is a strong voice for her community, for Progressive Judaism, and for women. In 2024 Rabbi Ninio was also awarded an OAM for her service to community.
In the words of an angel
“Being a rabbi has been one of the greatest privileges and joys of my life. I have had the honour of walking beside people at some of the most special moments of their lives, and also some of the most difficult. The power of ritual and prayer to give voice to feelings and help heal, comfort, soothe and bless is transformative and I have been able to help people to connect with these deep and beautiful parts of Judaism.
I have been able to challenge our congregation, as they challenge me, to see different perspectives, to search for meaning and to try and make a positive difference in the world. Judaism calls on me to help to heal our broken world and to be with others in our vulnerability and our grappling. I have felt the power of community to hold people in their darkest moments, to wrap each other in comfort and the delight of celebrating with others, sharing the joy, lifting one another to places of happiness and blessing.
I believe deeply in the power of storytelling and it has been a passion of mine to share the stories of our tradition, the folktales, the midrash, and more modern expressions. It provides the ability to make difficult concepts accessible and touches our hearts in ways that prose sometimes cannot. Language and story enable us to traverse time and space and connects with something deep within our souls.
And it is that soul connection formed when we gather in community and link together with the past and at the same time, hold our hands out to the future, shaping a Judaism and world we hope and dream of. Knowing that we need to make those dreams manifest in the world through our hearts and hands, joining together across all boundaries, dissolving them as we unite in a goal of bringing peace and blessing to our world and all people”.
Jacqueline Ninio OAM
Rabbi
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio on location at Little Clovelly Bay Sydney
The subject and the symbols
This painting “Toward the Light” is a celebration of Jacqueline Ninio’s achievements, including her remarkable spiritual journey to assist others throughout life. It is also a way of marking this time: 2024 and 2025 represent a very difficult chapter for the Jewish people, with the dramatic upswing in antisemitism within Australia and worldwide. I took my inspiration for this painting from several historical works – foremost is the famous work ‘Liberty Leading the People”, painted in 1830 by the French painter Eugène Delacroix; a painting that represents triumph over adversity. Rabbi Ninio, in a similar way has had to navigate her congregation through this ‘war’ against the Jewish people.
In my painting it is Friday night – Shabbat eve – at Little Clovelly Bay Sydney, a location where Rabbi Ninio has occasionally held Shabbat service outside. She is turning toward the setting sun as she attempts to place her tallis (pray shawl) upon her shoulders – as it is caught by the wind.
This work is rich in symbols: Jacqueline’s loving service to her community is represented by the crashing wave touched by the sun in the shape of an angel’s wing on the left-hand side of the painting. Her Silver Jubilee is celebrated in the painting by the silver brocade on her tallis (pray shawl). The motifs on the tallis brocade are of olive leaves and olives – representing Jacqueline’s strong desire for world peace.
Rabbi Ninio is facing the destructive forces of nature, yet she is impervious to it, instead gaining her strength from within and looking toward the Light . The storm represents the dramatic increase in antisemitism within the Australian community and worldwide during 2024 and 2025. The rocks behind her, on the water’s edge, form an abstracted human skull, further highlighting the evil nature of antisemitism. She is turned away from this darker side toward the Light – Jacqueline represents ‘the calm within the storm’.
Jacqueline dresses proudly in pink signifying the celebration of her femininity – she is a woman rabbi, not trying to take the traditional role of a male, she brings a different emphasis to this role of a loving spiritual teacher! On her left hand is her wedding ring naturally highlighting that she is married, and on her left wrist is an Apple watch signifying that she is progressive and connected to the modern world. Rabbi Ninio is wearing three necklaces - the Star of David representing her commitment to Judaism and the Jewish people, the Hebrew word “חי (hhai)” meaning ‘life’, and the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the foundation of Judaism - and they are the centrepiece of the entire painting; the pendant is placed directly over Jacqueline’s heart in clear view for all to see. The Ten Commandments are:
My creative method
This work is 100 x 200 cm. canvas painted in oils. I first undertook several detailed charcoal concept drawings for this work as well as an oil study of the Rabbi that was started in a life model sitting and then completed in studio – see below. The study was literally producing a map of her face, helping me to easily understand the face's structure and lines. These facial lines I parred back in the main work. Several fun life photography sessions with Rabbi Ninio outdoors at Little Clovelly Bay Sydney followed, where body movement and light were examined. My storm colours were also based on a reference photograph at the same location.
The main work is a landscape portrait – designed to tell a story about a Rabbi who loves storytelling! The colour palate is very feminine using pinks, purples and pastels. I have purposely undertaken lots of detail and movement within the landscape and minimised such in the figure – to both highlight the figure and create a sense of calm with Jacqueline’s presence.
The composition uses repetition of shapes throughout, with a cross as its major form. The figure is painted purposely with an oblique perspective. This creative device is designed to produce a feeling in the viewer of being very close to the subject in terms of locale – literally ‘up close and personal’!
The work has been slowly produced over 8 months, with my end objective being its entry into a major Australian portrait prize in 2025.
Stay tuned!
Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio Study, 2024, oil on linen, 36 x 46 cm.
Selected concept: Shabbat Shalom, 2024, charcoal & chalk on paper, 25 x 50 cm.
Rejected concept: Exultation, 2024, charcoal & chalk on paper, 25 x 50 cm.