Mannah from heaven????

Okay, I might be mixing up my books of the Bible, but when an artist discovers me before I discover him or her I consider it a gift... especially when the person's work includes the fruit of the week- the Pomegranate!

Such was the case on Thursday morning when I received a message (on my Facebook... how'd she do that????) from Rony Weiss regarding her work as an Embroidery Artist.

Regarding this particular work, Rony says the following:

“I am to my beloved, and my beloved is mine” – The Song of Songs (Shir Hashirim) 6 (3).

The beautiful verse taken from the Song of Songs scroll is a promise of love and faithfulness and suits loving couples of all ages.

According to the Kabala, the Jewish secretive faith, the acronyms of each word in this verse form the word ‘Elul’ which is the month of repentance and forgiveness and symbolize the renewal of Promise and faithfulness between the people of Israel and God.

The verse is decorated as a magnificent jewel, embroidered with silk thread and interlaced with pearls and crystal beads.

Thank you Rony...you made my Shabbes a bit more peaceful!!! Shabbat Shalom to you all!

Yummmy Challah

Barbara Cohen is a fiber and quilt artist whose work appears on the cover of the book The Mitzvah of Healing.
Barbara's challah covers are fluid and full of color. While a few weeks ago I posted shabbat tablecloths, I prefer a beautiful challah cover to be the centerpiece of my table. I think if it was one of Barbara's you all would too!



Need a challah recipe? Check here.
Have a challah recipe? Why not post it in the comments for all to see!

Table this for later

An acquaintance of mine recently asked where to find a nice tablecloth for her mom's shabbat table. The defining word was "nice." There are many tablecloths out there but most are so obviously mass produced. But DrMom, the super surfer looked and looked until she found these beauties from Marlena Schwartzman. Marlena paints on silk and makes tablecloths, challah covers and tallitot. The pictures do not give her work justice. Here are some photos of the details of her work.
Further into my search I found the Arcadia Company. While not a Jewish company (their first items were Christmas textiles) they make beautiful table runners. Unfortunately, their photos are not very good.

How about making your own... you could find a pattern here and get results that look like this

This may put a run on ebay but when I searched for "judaica" and "tablecloth" I found some beautiful pieces- both new and old- for sale. You may want to look that way as well.

Art and Remembrance

I was introduced to the art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz last year by my cousin Corinna Mensoff an artist in her own right.

Mrs. Krinitz is a holocaust survivor who frequently shared her history (and her good cooking) with her beloved daughters but she did not begin illustrating the ordeal until 1977 when she was 50 years old. Mrs. Krinitz turned what was one of the ugliest times in history into a thing of beauty by creating a series of 36 pictures of her life and experiences while in Poland. This exhibit is traveling around the country and currently is in California and will soon be in my area in Atlanta.

Here is one of the linen and thread pieces created by Esther followed by her description.

My Childhood Home

"My childhood home in the village of Mniszek, near the city of Rachow (today Annapol), Poland. I am carrying water up the hill to our house; my sister, Mania, waits for me. My brother Ruven is standing with the wagon. My father and my sister, Chana, are in front of the house, along with my mother, who holds my youngest sister, Leah."

While there are deluded people in the world and especially the mid-east who deny the Holocaust, Yad Vashem reports that it's website receives 20,000 visitors from Muslim countries, including Iran annually. Given that, they are initiating a Farsi version of the website this Saturday on the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Crowning glory

The piece of fabric which lies behind the neck when wearing a tallit is an atarah, which strictly translates to crown. While I admire people who attempt to make an entire tallit, a more manageable endeavor would be to make an atarah for a premade tallit.
Here are some beautiful examples of atarot designed by Lisa Sambol, a graduate of M.I.T. who now creates such things in Israel. How lucky we are that Lisa is channeling her energies and intelligence in this direction!














While I was surfing the almighty web on this topic, I found there was an interesting discussion in 2000 on a website whether one should wear a decorative atarah or not. There were those who found them flashy and distracting and those who said they were family heirlooms. I find them rather beautiful. But for those of us who are not silversmiths who want to make our own atarot, I recommend looking at a couple of websites The Magic Needle and the California Stitchery. If you make something, why not send me a pic?
And to end today's posting, a couple more of Lisa's atarot- ala Agam