Hannah Helen: "All My Life I Dreamed of Being Jewish, At 60 It Happened"

Hannah Helen Rosenberg was born in 1946 in the suburbs of Manchester, England, as Helen Patricia Wilkinson. Her father, Frank Wilkinson, was a devout Christian and frequently took his daughters to church from a very young age.

When Helen was about nine, her father, who served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, shared his war experiences with her, especially about the Holocaust. "He spoke to me about the great respect he had for the Jews he knew in his youth in Manchester," Hannah Helen recalls. "I wondered who these Jews were, as there weren't any in my family, and to my knowledge, I had never met a Jew."

Western Wall

Seeking Spirituality in the Church

On the atmosphere at home, Hannah Helen says, "My father was a devout Christian. We celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving, but he mainly passed on his love for nature and the wonders of the Creator to me. He loved nature so much that he even studied botany. I remember as a child, we would go for nature walks and paint flowers together. We'd simply go out for picnics, sit on the grass, and paint with watercolors.

"It's no coincidence I became an artist; my love for painting came directly from him. At nine, I even won a drawing contest and received a prize from the newspaper. My younger sister and I would go to cafés, spending hours painting. We enjoyed observing people and studying them through our gaze. I wasn't into portraits, not at all, but I loved characters, their movements, trying to guess who they were and what their stories were. People always fascinated me."

At 16, Hannah Helen began studying art in Bradford for two years towards a bachelor's degree in art, at Maidstone University near London.

A bachelor’s degree studies at 16? That sounds impressive

"It's no wonder," she insists, "Art has always been my favorite subject. At 16, I decided to study at an art college towards a bachelor's degree. At that time, you could leave school to start college, and it was clear to me that I wanted a degree in art. Without any doubt, after two years, at 18, I began my BA studies and graduated with honors."

She also started seeking spirituality in several churches near her university but didn't find what she was looking for, so she stopped going and never returned. "Dad talked to me a lot about Hashem, more than he did about Jesus. He always said Hashem created everything and is always watching over us."

Realizing churches didn't interest her, Hannah didn't stop exploring Judaism, which captivated her. After finishing her studies, she moved to Leeds to study teaching. "I lived in an area called Chapeltown and quickly discovered it was very Jewish. I walked the streets, looking through windows into the workshops of Jewish tailors, who worked day and night. I wondered, were these the Jews my father spoke of? It heightened my interest in Judaism, but I hadn't yet thought of converting."

In 1973, Hannah met her husband, Shlomo Rosenberg, from Brooklyn, while traveling in Wales. "From the moment I saw him, I knew deep in my heart he would be my husband. When I discovered he was Jewish, I was even happier. It was like a dream come true for me."

Shortly after meeting, Shlomo and Hannah Helen traveled to Israel together, volunteering for several weeks at the kitchen of Kibbutz Revivim. "I remember being offered to live in the kibbutz permanently. I said I wasn’t Jewish, so they told me it was okay because I could convert, and I really loved the idea."

Shlomo and Hannah married civilly in England, and a year later, their daughter Naomi was born.

Why didn’t you want to convert and get married as a Jew back then?

"We wanted to have a child, and marrying beforehand was important to me. I thought about converting first, but in England, it's a long and complicated process that takes years and requires quite a bit of money. I didn't realize the significant issues with interfaith marriages at the time. Unfortunately, even Shlomo, my husband, wasn't aware of it. Today, we regret deeply what was, but what's done is done.

All along, I wanted to know more about Judaism, read many books, and often asked Shlomo about the Jewish education he received. He usually patiently answered all my questions."

I Received a Clear Message at the Western Wall – There Is Only One Hashem

And then the turning point came. "When our daughter Naomi was nine, we traveled to Israel again. At the Western Wall, I received a clear message – there is only one Hashem and the Jews received the truth through the Torah. Then I knew with certainty that I wanted to be Jewish."

Upon returning to England, in a non-Jewish area, Hannah Helen joined the nearest synagogue, which was Reform. "I began keeping kosher, observing Shabbat, and lighting candles. We also affixed mezuzahs at home. Around this time, Shlomo started teaching Naomi and me Hebrew regularly, including homework. We even traveled to New York to learn about Shlomo's childhood, and I was captivated to see his family’s grocery store, the yeshivas he attended, and the synagogue where he prayed with his father."

But Hannah Helen wanted the real thing. She desired an Orthodox conversion, knowing it wouldn't happen easily in England. "The circumstances for conversion there were impossible. London's cost of living is very high, as is the conversion, and the process is lengthy and exhausting. I knew in my heart I wanted to settle in Israel because I fell in love with it from the start, so I decided to make aliyah and undergo conversion here."

Why did you want to convert, with all the challenges? What was lacking for you?

"It wasn't a matter of lacking; this desire was ingrained in my soul. I truly believe my soul is Jewish. People don't understand when I say I converted, but I felt it was truly my life mission to be Jewish, and probably because of that, I met Shlomo."

When Helen retired from teaching in 2006, she moved to Israel alone and received Israeli citizenship. Shlomo stayed in England as he was still working as a teacher. She rented a small studio apartment in Nachlaot, Jerusalem. In the mornings, she studied at an ulpan, and in the afternoons, she studied for conversion at the 'Or-e' Institute. Her conversion process was quite rapid, as the rabbis knew her history and deep knowledge of Judaism. "When I stood before the court in Jerusalem, I was told I was ready to go to the mikvah. I entered as Helen Patricia Rosenberg and exited as Hannah-Helen bat Avraham and Sarah, a name affirming my soul was present at Mount Sinai. Shortly thereafter, Shlomo and I married under a chuppah in Jerusalem."

Western Wall

Visits to the Western Wall Inspired an Exhibition

While living alone in Jerusalem, in a tiny room near the 'Mahane Yehuda' market, the streets served as her studio. Hannah Helen began wandering all over the city with her sketchbook, enchanted by the vibrant life around – Mahane Yehuda market, Torah scroll dedications, Melaveh Malka, the old city. This essentially birthed her exhibition.

In her new exhibition, 'At the Wall,' Hannah Helen offers viewers a taste of her visits to the Western Wall. She visited in summer and winter, rain and snow. She was at the Wall for the priestly blessings during the three pilgrimage festivals and attended bar mitzvah celebrations there.

Much like her childhood, Hannah Helen often visited the Wall to observe people. Similar to the city's streets, the diversity of visitors at the Wall is immense – religious Jews, secular Jews, soldiers, Arabs, and tourists fill the large plaza before the Western Wall. Each with personal reasons for being there, each with their unique motions and expressions – for Hannah Helen, the figures in her work almost never stand still. Nor does the wind, as seen in the various poses of umbrellas and prayer shawls.

In her paintings, Hannah Helen used many bright colors or a very limited palette, depending on the weather. One can truly feel the heat and heaviness in 'Sun at the Wall' and the cold rising from winter paintings. She places many figures in a painting, or few, again depending on the weather. In the summer scene, there's an array of characters. In the winter scene, there are only locals. Her perspective is from a woman's viewpoint – men in the distance, women close up. There is a wedge-like gap between the stones of the Wall, a partition separating women from men. They are there together, yet apart.

As an environmental activist, her paintings reflect Hannah Helen's deep concern over ecological damage – harm to nature, air pollution, and waste. "The Torah teaches us not to cut down fruit trees; it teaches that trees are important. We are not interested in war – we want to cultivate things," she says.

The exhibition is opening soon; will Shlomo come to support?

"The good news is Shlomo arrived just this week and made aliyah officially. He received an immigrant certificate, absorption basket, and all necessary accommodations. This is very exciting. We sold our house in England and now can finally live together in the apartment we bought in Be'er Sheva. Hashem is certainly helping me fulfill my dreams, and I pray for blessed and fruitful years of shared life as Jews in Israel."