One Of A Kind
A local artisan creates customized, spectacularly embellished ketubot to last a lifetime.
Lynne Konstantin
I
Contributing Writer
/
n Paris, France, where Aliza Sosne grew
up, most schoolchildren had Wednesdays
off, and that is when they would attend
extracurricular activities — sports, music, art.
But since Sosne attended a Jewish day school
far from home, she only had Saturday off, for
Shabbat, and had no time to pursue her develop-
ing love of drawing, painting, doodling — pretty
much anything she could get her hands on.
Years later, when she moved to New York City
to attend the Rika Breuer Teachers Seminary in
Washington Heights, her schedule allowed her
to take some art classes and explore her talents,
which evolved into passions.
She found that she was particularly gifted at
calligraphy in both English and Hebrew, and
was thrilled to receive an apprenticeship with
renowned artist Jay Greenspan. A calligrapher,
illuminator, paper cutter and sofer (a Jewish
scribe who can transcribe Torah scrolls and other
religious writings), Greenspan also taught Sosne
a few very practical, yet highly important lessons.
"He gave me more than simply exposure to
his incredible art," Sosne says. "Just by watching
him, I learned how to apply my art to a business,
how to interact with clients and listen to them,
how to understand what they want — even
when they don't know themselves."
When Sosne met and married her husband,
Gabriel, a medical residency brought the couple
to Michigan, where they settled in Oak Park.
When she married, Sosne created her own
ketubah, a Jewish marriage contract whose
origins date back to 80 B.C.E. Since at least the
14th century, it has been traditional to make it
a decorative keepsake to display in the home.
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March 2013
Because Sosne and her husband were married
during Chanukah, she intertwined symbols and
icons of the holiday in her design, including
chanukiah (Chanukah menorah).
While raising her children (four boys and four
girls, ranging in age from 3 to 21), she created
more than 100 ketubot and began a specialty
invitation business, Simcha Calligraphy, out of a
studio space in her home in Oak Park.
In addition to her own
custom designs on gor-
geous papers, most bought
in Michigan to support local
communities, Sosne offers
catalogue invitations with the
added flexibility of includ-
ing both English and Hebrew
typesetting.
While clients would come to
discuss wedding invitations,
they would admire her ketu-
bot, so about two years ago,
she began to offer custom-
designed magically illuminat-
ed ketubot through Simcha Calligraphy.
Combining her years of education in and
knowledge of Judaism and the symbolism within
(peacocks represent fertility, for example, and
pomegranates stand for wisdom and good deeds)
with the skills she learned from Greenspan and
her own innate artistic talents, Sosne will sit
down with each client to create a work of art
that represents each individual couple.
"Sometimes they know exactly what they
want, or what they like, but often they have no
idea," Sosne says. So she coaxes it out with con-
versation. "The first visit can be a lot like
marriage counseling," she says.
She will ask what their backgrounds
are, about their professions, their favorite
colors and shapes, and sometimes will
ask them to print out pictures online that
appeal to them in any way. And Sosne
will work around them, adding symbol-
ism when they want it.
"Wherever Jews were during a period in time
in history, their art tended to mimic their sur-
roundings, so I've done ketubot in the style of
Italian Florentine, rich in color and interlocking
patterns, as well as very simple and primitive
styles," says Sosne. "I'm working on one now
with two trees — one will have J Date etched
inside, because that's how the
couple met, and the tree will
have roots with their grandpar-
ents' names, extending the gener-
ations. But I've also done ketubot
based on gift-wrapping paper, a
big, beautiful watercolor design. I
can work with whatever the cou-
ple wants. It can be as elaborate
a drawing or simple, with the text
more prominent, as they like."
The most important thing
to Sosne, however, is that the
ketubah stand the test of time,
both physically and artistically.
Each ketubah is created on a large piece of
archival-quality cotton paper with gouache and
pigments that will not fade over time.
"People will evolve, and the ketubah can
evolve with them and still be fresh, if it is worked
around them, their lives and what's important to
them," says Sosne. "Whether the marriage lasts
or not, the ketubah will always be there!"
❑
Simcha Calligraphy, (248-761-9932; sim-
cha calligraphy. net).