 The history of the project is outlined at the Temble
B'Nai Israel's website. The Torah Cover was supposed to reflect the memory of six million Jews that perished in
the Holocaust and convey the message of survival, resurrection and continuance. Issues related to death in the Jewish
tradition are handled in the most minimalistic ways, and my design reflected that. Few white lines, tzitzit (knotted
fringes on the bottom) draw parallels with a tallit, a traditional prayer shawl, used in daily and holiday services.
A tallit is often given as a gift by a father to a son, a father-in-law to a son-in-law, or a teacher to a student,
and represents the idea of continuance, passing of a baton from generation to generation. The famous quote from the
Torah, selected by the congregation, completes the design. I hand embroidered it using stitches for textured, bold lines.
The main challenge of this project was to reclaim yellow color (the choice that belonged to the congregation), the
color of Jewish Stars that the Jews had to attach to their clothes during the Holocaust and to make it a color
of life again. The selection of the material was very important too. I preferred textured cotton, its rough
surface created a feeling of depth. I had to die the material and getting the color right was critical. The
Torah Cover had to radiate warmth, be of a color of the Sun, the color of life but be neither bright nor pure.
The material had to be sophisticated yet very modest. As it often happens in the design process, nearly half of
the fabric I purchased was used on dying samples before I got the color right.
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