BARACK OBAMA WE WANT MOSHIACH NOW PINBACK BUTTON

This button was designed towards the end of the 2008 campaign season.

We here at Atelier Bagatelle were and remained strong supporters of Barack Obama. However, our cynical nature led us to amazement at the way some supporters seem to worship the Senator. And so we created this Obama / Messiah button.

We were inspired in part by a weblog - Is Obama the Messiah, which has from time to time featured some of the pins from our Obey Obama series. The other source of inspiration came from the Lubavitcher sect of Hasidic Jews.

About Hasidism ( from Wikipedia ) :

The founder of Hasidism, Israel ben Eliezer, also became known under the title of the "Master of the Good Name" (the Ba'al Shem Tov, abbreviated as the Besht). His fame as a healer spread not only among the Jews, but also among the non-Jewish peasants and the Polish nobles. He allegedly could predict the future.

To the common people, the Besht appeared wholly admirable. Characterized by an extraordinary sincerity and simplicity, he sought to meet the spiritual needs of the masses. He taught them that true divine service consisted not only of religious scholarship, but also of a sincere love of God combined with warm faith and belief in the efficacy of prayer; that the ordinary person filled with a sincere belief in God, and whose prayers come from the heart, is more acceptable to God than someone versed in and fully observant of Jewish law who lacks inspiration in his divine service. This democratization of Judaism attracted to the teachings of the Besht not only the common people, but also the scholars whom the rabbinical scholasticism and ascetic Kabbalah failed to satisfy.

The Lubavitcher hasidic sect is centered in Brooklyn, New York. The grand rabbi - or Rebbe - Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who led the sect from 1950 until his death in 1994, was beloved by his followers. He exhorted them to hasten the coming of the Moshiach ( messiah ) by performing more good deeds. Towards the end of his life many of his followers became convinced that the Rebbe was himself Moshiach, and that he would reveal himself at the appropriate time.

Bumperstickers reading " We want Moshiach now! " adorned automobiles. Children in yeshivas would sing songs about the imminent arrival of the messiah. Men carried "moshiach beepers" - pagers ( that was before cell phones were cheap and ubiquitous ) that would signal the ultimate redemption of mankind through Moshiach


The design is based on one of our earlier OBEY OBAMA buttons, which are in turn an hommage to the work of Shepherd Fairey of OBEY GIANT fame. We took the star and changed it two a six pointed Star of David. We kept the lightning bolts, since if Obama is the messiah then surely he will need them to smite his enemies.

Surrounding the star are the words " WE WANT MOSHIACH NOW! " Below the image is OBAMA.

The blue background color is taken from the Israeli flag.

There will be just 60 of these buttons produced. Each will be numbered on the curl - Atelier Bagatelle 2008 - 27 of 60 as an example.