It might be one of the highest forms of meaningful impact of a Jewish artist’s artworks—to comfort the bereaved and to movingly convey the vibrance of those they lost to terror.

Ilan Block of Highland Park has established a reputation in the Highland Park/Edison community for his expressive artworks that amplify the emotional resonance of gedolim, biblical scenes, IDF soldiers, Israeli settings and other images that speak deeply to our shared Jewish identities. His renown is not limited to Central New Jersey; his Twitter account (@ilanblock) has over 5,000 followers and an exhibit of 40 of his artworks is on display this month at the Miami Beach JCC.

When Ilan saw the news in September of the cruel execution of six hostages in Gaza, he was troubled that the last impression people would have of the hostages would be as helpless victims. As he told The Jewish Link, he started creating artwork of the six recent victims “as a response to people sharing the Hamas propaganda video. I could not tolerate the thought of that being the image people associated with [the six murdered hostages].”

Ilan took it upon himself to start creating an expressive and lively artwork for each of the six hostages and to tap his network, to see if he could arrange for the artwork to be delivered to each of the families. What he may not have anticipated was the warm response he got from one of the families.

In a picture sent to him by the person who delivered the artwork, Eden Yerushalmi’s mother and two sisters, Shani and May, held up an artwork that Ilan created of Eden. Ilan learned from the Israeli friend who graciously sponsored the printing of his artwork, in Israel, that when the artwork was delivered, “Their reaction was indescribably emotional.” Later via Instagram, he received a message directly from the family: “We will keep this art of Eden forever.”

Ilan is currently working on artwork depicting all the victims of the Nova Festival and has already reached other families. You can see more of his artwork on his website, ilanblock.com

Harry Glazer is the Middlesex County editor of The Jewish Link. He can be reached at [email protected] and he welcomes reader feedback.