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May 26, 1995 - Image 60

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1995-05-26

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

I WIELESS ANTIQUES

Labor Of Love

Louis XV
Empire
Sheraton

Chippendale
Queen Anne
George II

A Farmington Hills couple put their talents and hearts
into a chuppah for their children.

FRANK PROVENZANO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

llan and Betty Weiner
have been married for 31
years. In those three
decades, they have given
birth to and raised four children,
and most recently, a chuppah.
The ornate wedding canopy
has been delivered after an in-
tense and protracted gestation.
It is now formally a member of
the Weiner family.
The chuppah doesn't have a
name, but some day will hold the
names of all of the Weiner rela-

A

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others we could not. It's been a
lot like raising a child."
The origin for the idea of the
chuppah is traced to New Year's
Eve of 1993, when Mrs. Weiner's
son, Daniel, announced his en-
gagement. "I was so over-
whelmed that I just wanted to do
something Jewish, beautiful and
lasting," she said. Of course, any-
thing Mrs. Weiner sets her mind
to usually means that Dr. Wein-
er won't be far behind.
The project officially began last

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exist, the Weiners still hold hands
when they talk about each other.
After 31 years, Mrs. Weiner still
refers, with a breath of infatua-
tion, to her husband's "dreamy
eyes."
Several years ago, their needle-
point partnership began when
they crafted the Torah cover for
their synagogue, B'nai Moshe.
Looking back, it seems as though
it was training for the needlepoint
project of a lifetime.
With more than 25 stitch pat-
terns and a specially con-
structed frame to spread the
canvas, the chuppah un-
derwent a growth process
from infancy through ma-
turity. Initially, it was
placed on a table. But that
soon grew too tedious.
Along the way, a division
of labor became apparent,
with no clear chain of com-
mand. Dr. Weiner handled
the more intricate work
since Mrs. Weiner, who
worked with the aid of a
lighted magnifying glass,
had some difficulty dis-
cerning the smaller pat-
terns. They learned about
"cooperation," Dr. Weiner
said. "You learn about the
E2 mechanics of moving
21 around and giving each
other enough room to
work."
Dr. Weiner estimates
$5,000 has gone into the
L; >
- canvas, yarn, frame and
other costs. But the true
value only can be calculat-
ed in terms of a sentiment
that defies quantifiable
measure.
The Weiners have sacrificed
their time. They haven't gone out
to movies or meetings. They've
abridged their dinners. "It got to
a point where I'd hand my hus-
band his pills and a glass of wa-
ter and say, 'Here's dinner,'" Mrs.
Weiner said.
Working every night from 7
p.m. to as late as 3:30 a.m., ex-
cluding Friday and Saturday, the
Weiners invested what every
child requires from parents —
time and nurturing. Like the
glass-encased, multicolored quilt
handed down from his grand-
parents that hangs on a wall of
their Farmington Hills home, the
newly created canopy is a gener-
ational bond.
The chuppah is, quite simply,
a quilt of love. As Mrs. Weiner
points out: "We want this to be a
legacy for our families." I I

tives who stand beneath it in hon-
or of the traditional Jewish
ceremony of kiddushin (betrothal)
and nissuin (nuptials).
On June 11, the chuppah will
make its inaugural appearance
at the wedding of the Weiners'
second eldest son, Daniel. There-
after, it will await the other un-
married Wieners.
Less than three weeks before
the wedding, the Weiners were
working feverishly to put the fi-
nal stitches in the canvas before
sending it off to be lined and
blocked. It must have seemed as
if they were sending their child
to school. A pall of separation
anxiety might have overcome the
proud parents. After all, they've
toiled for 1 1/2 years to bring the
chuppah to life.
"We've poured a lot of love,
time and expense into it," said Dr.
Weiner, a pediatrician whose
practice is in Farmington Hills.
"Some mistakes we could correct,

January, when Mrs. Weiner vis-
ited Rachel's Needlepoint & Ju-
daic Gifts and selected the
background scene and pattern of
the chuppah.
She didn't have to ask Dr.
Weiner for assistance on the
needlepoint. After all, the Wein-
ers do everything together — in-

It's been a lot like
raising a child."

— Dr. Allan Weiner

eluding oftentimes finishing each
other's spoken thoughts as well
as each other's rows of needle-
point. They've been cooking and
sewing together for as long as
they can remember.
And, while many couples co-

n"

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