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Stitch By Stitch

Torah project enlists stitchers to
create a cross-stitched scroll.

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L

a.

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Nancy Handelman and Judy Goodman compare their embroidery panels.

Barbara Lewis

Contributing Writer

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24 September 4 • 2014

T

wo Metro Detroit Jewish
women are putting their
needle skills to work as part of
an international effort to embroider the
Torah word for word.
Judy Goodman of Bloomfield
Hills and Nancy Handelman of West
Bloomfield each have volunteered to
stitch four verses of the Torah as part of
the Torah Stitch by Stitch project.
The project grew from a verse near
the end of the Torah (Deuteronomy
31:19), where God gives Moses what is
often seen as the last of 613 command-
ments: "Now write down this rule of life
and teach it to the Israelites .. :' Many
interpret this to mean everyone should
write a Torah scroll.
Toronto-based textile artist Temma
Gentles decided to "write" a Torah
scroll the way she communicates best:
in stitchery.
With Torah Stitch by Stitch, Gentles
is hoping to find 1,463 volunteers,
each of whom will produce four verses
of the Torah in counted cross-stitch
embroidery. So far, she has recruited
825 stitchers, including Goodman and
Handelman.
"A friend in Florida told me about the
project, so I signed up:' said Goodman,
an ophthalmologist and member
of Temple Beth El in Bloomfield
Township.
Goodman, 61, enjoys embroidery

and knitting. She recently made a sam-
pler for her grandson and a quilt for her
in-laws' 50th anniversary. In January,
she received her Torah Stitch by Stitch
kit, with a 14-inch-square embroidery
cloth, floss, a gridded pattern showing
the verses and instructions. She recently
finished her panel, with the words from
Exodus 8: 11-14.
Goodman often brings her projects
to meetings and social events, where
friends can see what she's working on.
"When I saw Judy stitching, my
hands started to itch:' said Nancy
Handelman of West Bloomfield. She
likes all needle arts, but especially
counted cross stitch, where stitchers
follow a pattern on a paper grid.
When Handelman received her kit,
Exodus 39:10-13, in June, she was
thrilled to discover that it was her
daughter's bat mitzvah portion.
"It's so inspiring to be part of a big
project like this," said Handelman,
who often reads Torah at Adat Shalom
Synagogue in Farmington Hills. She
says when she is working on her panel
she feels she is engaged in holy work.
"It's a very sacred thing," she said. "I
feel very inspired. It feels like I'm doing
the mitzvah [commandment] of writ-
ing a Torah:'
Gentles says the idea for Torah Stitch
by Stitch began to take shape in 2011.
A former high school literature teacher,
she had achieved a reputation for creat-
ing Torah covers, ark mantles and other
pieces of Judaic textile art. She created

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