Eliezer Ben Hamu’s digital artistry brings ancient Kohanim to your screen

Photos: Itzik Blinitzky

HE became one of the biggest creators of 3D animation in Israel, creating simulators for Israel’s defense industries and even for the militaries of other countries. Until he began to dream of the protection of the Beis Hamikdash instead. Today, Reb Eliezer Ben Hamu’s photos and video images have become the face of the past and the hope for the future

If not for his desire to promote the study of everything related to the Beis Hamikdash, chances are Eliezer Ben Hamu would never have agreed to a media interview. This 52-year-old graphics and video whiz has been a dedicated mechanech for over three decades, and he’d still prefer to stay under the radar. He’s even had no problem giving the rights of his photos to other publications as long as it encourages people to learn. Yet despite his self-effacing nature, his 3D photos and video images have become the visualized face of the Beis Hamikdash for so many, and chances are you’re familiar with them too.

Ben Hamu, an Ashdod native, began teaching within the Chinuch Atzmai network more than 30 years ago as part of an arrangement with the IDF, where young men can teach in outlying areas or other qualifying schools in lieu of army service.

Ben Hamu was always looking for outlets with which to inspire his young charges. At first it was his music (he plays professionally in various public venues), and once he taught himself the rudiments of the specialized field of computer animation, especially 3D animation, it was a new frontier.

Over a period of a year and a half, he developed a fresh method for creating three-dimensional images. And then, when he met with someone who had developed a similar method, he realized that their pooled knowledge could create a superior product.

“This first partner of mine worked in a studio in Tel Aviv,” Ben Hamu relates. “I reduced my school work hours to the afternoons, where I taught computers and three-dimensional techniques, and my mornings were dedicated to developing the 3D work.”

Soon their work caught the eye of Israel’s military establishment. “We began doing imaging work for companies that sell products to both Israel’s defense industries and to the militaries of other countries,” he says. “These included air force simulators used by helicopter pilots and simulators for tanks and submarines.”

Around that time, he began to dabble in comics as well. Readers might recognize the classic Count of Coucy historical fiction series by Marcus Lehman, recently revamped and reprinted in comic form with stunning 3D images by Eliezer Ben Hamu.