Voi Ce S

Chanuka
r 119

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Festiv
OfLi

A Chanuka
State Of Mind

Helen Mintz Belitsky

I

n165 BCE, the Temple in
Jerusalem was rededicated by
a small band of guerrilla fight-
ers, the Maccabees, who forced
the Syrian army out of Jerusalem
A little boy spins dreidels in the light of a chanukia.
and restored the Temple, which
had been defiled.
answering curious questioners, grow-
hand-stitched
Throughout history, syna-
ing more involved in the why of her
silk Torah cov-
gogues, heirs of the Temple in
tradition
and the meaning of the let-
ers are dedi-
Jerusalem, have been central to
ters she was embroidering.
cated this
Jewish community life. "Even tiny
The project also was special
winter at Ohr
synagogues in houses or in non-
because it was intergenerational.
Kodesh Con-
descript buildings — congre-
Weller
involved her teenaged
gregation in
gants always tried to make
daughter, Anat, who worked on
Two youngsters spin a large dreidel to capture the pile of gelt. Chevy
them beautiful," Samuel Gruber
the rays of the sun, sewing swatch-
Chase, Md.,
writes in Synagogues, his new
es of orange on a silk back-
the congrega-
book on synagogue art and
ground.
tion will see a
dren choose the colors and the fab-
architecture.
"Now I can go to the synagogue
unified
design
created
from
tiny
rics for a bar or bat mitzvah tallit
"Religious experience is more com-
and
look up and know I had a part
pieces of fabric stitched together by
and weave the fibers that will envel-
monly absorbed through the senses
in the Torah covers," she says.
25 volunteers from the congregation.
op them in prayer.
than through the intellect," says Dr.
Another member, Barbara Garlock,
Inspired by the idea of a communi-
The revival of handcrafted ritual
Abram Kanof in Jewish Ceremonial
brought her teen daughter, who was
art has drawn Jews seeking a spiri- ty project, member Julia Weller suc-
and Religious Observance.
comfortable
mingling with the adults
ceeded in selling the idea to the
tual center in a world where the
The rabbis understood the sensu-
at the first embroidery session.
executive committee.
power of ritual and ceremony is
al aspects of religious observance,
"A little piece of me [and my
Project director and artist Shirley
often absent.
and to that end established a
daughter] now lives in the syna-
Waxman of Potomac, Md.,
Three decades ago, Ruth Hefter sat
whole category of mitzvot called
gogue," Garlock says.
assured potential volunteers that
at a table-sized loom at the Jewish
hiddur mitzvah, which literally
The lights of Chanuka remind us
they
had
to
make
only
one
com-
Community Center in Wilkes-Barre,
translates to "the beautification of
of how the Maccabees made the
mitment: to attend two embroidery-
Pa. The room was a modern setting
physical objects used when per-
Temple
pure, worthy of becoming
training
sessions.
for an ancient craft where Hefter and
forming good deeds," to express
once
more
the center of ritual and
At the first session, each volun-
seven other women learned to
that very human impulse.
prayer. Yet the Torah also reminds
teer was given a letter, a packet of
weave tallitot for their sons and
Today, through the revival of hand-
us that God dwells in the sanctu-
thread and told to choose his or
grandsons, who were soon to cele-
crafted ritual art, artists and lay peo-
ary
only if the people themselves
her
own
stitch.
Waxman
made
the
brate their b'nai mitzvah. After taking
ple are rededicating themselves to
remain holy.
kits, dyed the fabric, cut the multi-
turns weaving several rows of their
Jewish tradition by discovering the
Art is one path towards that
colored
pieces
that
the
members
own tallitot, the boys tied knots into
connection between spirituality and
kind of spiritual renewal and
helped sew, supervised attaching
fringes, transforming the fabric into a
the work of their hands.
rededication. 111
the
pieces
to
a
larger
fabric
and
ritual garment of remembrance.
Many people, some of who have
did the final finishing.
The Wilkes-Barre project anticipated
never sewn a stitch, use their hands
Helen Belitsky is a Maryland-
Weller carried her precious small
two current trends: Jews seeking to
based writer. She wrote this arti-
in art projects that bind them inextri-
bag of embroidered letters with her
rededicate themselves to ritual as well
cle for the on-line magazine Jew-
cably to the rituals for which they .
everywhere over the past year. She
as to finding spiritual fulfillment in art.
ish Family & Life!
have been created. Parents and chil-
worked on planes and trains,
www.jewishfamily.com .
When eight new, hand-painted and

12/3

1999

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