Levy Ketubah

No Ketubah could be as colorful as the personality of the bride for whom it was created but I did try to make the border pretty vibrant.
The bride has been my close friend for the past eleven years, and it was such a privilege to be able to design her ketubah. Together we spent a couple of summers traveling through Australia and Europe, teaching some Torah along the way (mainly because of me) and sharing some pretty crazy experiences (mainly because of her).

 The ketubah is an updated version of the Lisbon Ketubah, with blues replacing the earth tones of the original Lisbon manuscript. The filagree that surrounds the ketubah is cut with a knife to really make it pop and the border is inspired by illuminations from Rambam's Mishneh Torah (Lisbon,1472).  The bride and groom chose meaningful verses from Shir HaShirim to frame the Ketubah.

Colored pencil, Indian ink and acrylic. (24 x 30 in.)

Paroches-Ark Curtain

Last summer relatives of mine asked if I would be willing to a design a paroches for their shul in Lakewood, New Jersey.  The paroches would be dedicated in the memory of their mother Sima who had recently passed away.  Cousin Sima lived in Mexico and I grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey.  I didn't have many memories of her but I could vividly picture an embroidered tablecloth that was a gift from Sima to my grandmother and was used on Sabbaths and holidays.  The tablecloth was white with thick bright blue, yellow and red threads hand-sewn into the cloth in an intricate floral pattern.   I had never designed a paroches and was excited at the prospect and even more so I loved the idea that I would be creating a piece of embroidery in memory of Cousin Sima.

 

This is a picture of the design of the paroches.  My relatives who ordered the piece wanted the standard "Tree of Life"  in the center but with an explosion of color surrounding it.  It was a different experience creating an artwork, while taking into account how the piece would be translated as an embroidered work.  I loved the challenge and was excited with the results.  Below is a picture of the completed paroches.  I'm still waiting for a more professional picture of it, but until I get one, this will give you an idea of how it came out.

Sinai of New Jersey's Annual Dinner

This is the piece I created for the honorees at Sinai of New Jersey's annual dinner.  The couple that was being honored loves music and so the inner circle cut-out  has a harp along with the words chessed (charity), shira (song) and refuah (healing).

Insights into Birkat Habanim Custom

One of the earliest mentions of the custom to bless the children on Friday night appears in the Siddur Beis Yaakov of Rav Yaakov Emden (Altona, 1745).

He writes, that it is the custom of the people of Israel to bless their children on Friday night after evening prayer services or as they enter their home upon returning from shul. With the onset of Shabbos, shefa, loosely translated as Divine blessing, is abound and by blessing our children we are able to grab hold of that free flowing Divine grace and pass it on to our children which in turn allows for the blessing to multiply manifold times.  Children are the best receptacles of this shefa because they are uncontaminated by sin and therefore serve as purer conduits of the shefa.  However, he adds, one should still bless their older children as well.

When conferring the blessing one should place both hands upon the child's head as Moshe Rabeinu did when he blessed Yehoshua and transferred the mantle of leadership to him.  Blessing with both hands demonstrates a wholeheartedness in your desire to bless the other person.  This is the reason the kohanim bless us with two hands and our Rabbis tell us that angels bless man with two hands on Friday night as well. Although we are provided with the standard text for blessing our children on Friday night, Rav Emden notes one is allowed to add his own personal blessing in whatever language he desires.

Birkhat HaBat

It's been a while since my last post, although I have good reason for my reticence...thank God I gave birth to a baby girl at the end of December.  In honor of her birth I decided to post one of my latest designs, which is an intricate illumination of the Birkhat HaBat.  The fleshy leaves that decorate the blessing are inspired by a page from the Kaufman Haggadah (Spain, late 14th century).  There is a beautiful custom for parents to bless their children on Friday nights before the start of the Friday night Sabbath dinner.  The blessing for girls states:

May God make you like Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah.  May Hashem bless you and safeguard you.  May Hashem illuminate His countenance for you and be gracious to you.  May Hashem turn His countenance to you and establish peace for you.

There is a separate blessing for boys...maybe that will be a future design.

Look out for my next post which will explain the origin of this custom!

A New Illuminated Piece in Honor of Chanukah

With the holiday of Chanukah right around the corner, naturally, when looking for some inspiration from illuminated texts of the past my eye was drawn towards images of the Menorah.  There's a beautiful, very detailed drawing of the Menorah that appears in the King's Bible, written at Solsona (Spain) in 1384. 

The King's Bible belongs to a group of Spanish Bibles known as Mikdashiot (Temples).  The reason these Bibles were called Mikdashiot is because they included artistic drawings of the Temple's utensils.  In the King's Bible three pages are dedicated to the Temple's utensils, each page framed by a a verse from Tanakh.
The verse that frames the piece I replicated is from Numbers 8:4 which states:


This is how the candelabrum was made: of beaten gold, it was of one piece from its base to its flower.  He made the candelabrum in accordance with the form that the Lord showed Moses.
 

This Bible once belonged to a synagogue in Jerusalem and was later taken to Aleppo in Syria.  It is known as the King's Bible because it is the only Hebrew manuscript donated to the British Museum by King George IV in 1823.  The Bible was originally written for Isaac ben Judah of Tolosa.

City of Gold