torah cover

ceramic tiles (cone 10 reduction, celadon glaze with oxides), textile, copper, ink

full cover 18’ x 1’


Artist’s statement:

I made this Torah cover with the intention of drawing on the diverse traditions and cultures within Judaism. The combination of Sephardic and Ashkenazic histories in my own heritage was something I wanted to illustrate. This accounts for the wide variety of materials and techniques employed. Both hard (metal, pottery) and soft (string, fabric) elements are pieced together to form a whole cover. In this combination reference is made to both the hard (often wood, sometimes with metal) standing cases from the Sephardic tradition and the soft cloth covers of the Ashkenazic. The cover is pieced together from different materials and traditions to form a kind of synthesis.

The slow and simple process of this combination is significant. All of the squares, those made of metal, sewn, and crocheted are hand stitched together, repeating a technique that is centuries old. The physically repetitive action of stitching as well as the repetition of that technique through generations and different histories was something I wanted to address.

The importance of repetition and tradition is not only inherent in the process of construction, but also in the chosen form of the cover. The rings at one end of the cover hook onto the handles of the Torah while the length of the cover wraps around the scrolls spiraling down until it tucks into itself. This cover functions as a tallit would when wrapped around the Torah as a cover. The movement around and around to dress or undress the Torah, like the process of stitching, becomes an expression of repetition. In this way the cover demonstrates how the Torah itself is involved with repetition; repeatedly read and reread.

The central role of the word, reading and rereading the Torah, is universal within Judaism. While specific traditions may vary, the text remains crucial. The role of text is explored in this cover. There are clay tiles hand carved with the Hebrew words for each of the five books. There are also machine sewn cloth squares stamped in English with the first words of each of the five books. I am interested in the juxtaposition of different languages as well as techniques which refer to different eras. The stamped English text is not written by hand. It is still, however, translating and repeating the same text of the Torah. Repetition is not necessarily void of diversity. The difference in language and process still, however, has its origins in the same text. The English stamped on cloth is just a beginning to the same cycle of repetition; reading and rereading. There is not one sentence stamped that is finished. Instead they start and repeat: “In the beginning...,” “Now these are the names...,” “And the...,” “And the...,” “These are the words...” The unfinished sentences make reference to the beginning of something that continues.