sarah in nyc

If you know anything about my work making Jewish ritual objects you know that I love Jewish texts and incorporating them into my work. I was delighted while I was away to get an email from a potential new client who also loved Jewish texts. She had purchased this lovely tallit made out of hand dyed burnout silk/rayon velvet with a pretty but simple atara. My potential client felt that there wasn't quite enough to make this piece feel not just like a gorgeous scarf but to make it feel more like a tallit. Lisa came over a couple of nights ago. We discussed a few different options about how to proceed. Clearly, I loved the idea of text on the atara. I am a little nervous about removing the current atara from the delicate burnout velvet. It's a beautiful fabric but is a little delicate and persnickety. Every needle hole will remain in the fabric. I am also worried about damaging the velvet while removing the atara. I thought that perhaps I could paint the text onto a...

This was our table yesterday. We were joined by our machutanim-  My son-in- law's family. I am so happy that they were able to join us from near and far. We ate the foods one is expected to eat onThanksgiving, turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberries in many forms, and pies. The stand out dessert this year was a pear and pecan pie.   Instead of laying pecans over a corn syrup based custard I made the custard part of the pie out of cooked pear puree thickened with tapioca flour and eggs. Perhaps someone else had thought of this amazing flavor combination before I did, but once you taste it, there is no going back to corn syrup. As soon as I finished serving the turkey I tossed the carcass, the gravy and all of the vegetables used in cooking the turkey into the crock pot and that is Shabbat dinner. The challot are left over from last week. I feel like I am left over from last week as well.

Our first Friday night in Israel we attended Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Zion . It is was probably one of the most moving services I have attended in the past many years. Services there mix Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions and adds old-time Zionist songs about the land of Israel to Kabbalat Shabbat. When we were there we saw people who were clearly secular, and others who were clearly Orthodox all together in one space--davening. It was so good that we went back to Jerusalem for our last Shabbat so we could attend again. We spent out Florence Shabbat here at the very grand Great Synagogue. The nusach used is Italian both the melodies and the text of the siddur itself are its own mix of Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions. It's an orthodox synagogue. I was behind the mechitza.  I loved seeing how some of the women wore dresses and covered their hair, some wore pants and didn't cover their hair. I  had at first assumed that the pants wearing ladies we...

talking about the trip. I have been going through my photos and there are some things that I really wanted to share. I will try and see if I can organize some of this into coherent bits. One big category of great stuff I saw was needlework. The visitor's center in the city of Akko in Israel had an exhibit of these wonderful needle painted works done on old textiles. The pieces were up on the walls, but with no explanatory notes. I love how the old linens are transformed by the new embroidery. I can tell you nothing about the artist who made these wonderful pieces. In the shuk just a few steps away you could buy these shoes covered with traditional Arab embroidery. If I had normal feel that could fit into normal shoes I would have bought myself a pair in a heartbeat. One of my favorite things in Rome were the ecclesiastical supply stores, particularly the ones where it was possible to buy priestly robes. ...