"Biblical Women" Torah Mantle

Wool, silk, ribbons
Calligraphy and machine appliqué
71 x 36 x 20 cm. (28" x 14" x 8")
Commissioned by the Sisterhood of Temple Shaarei Beth El, Oakville, ON

In the film, Half the Kingdom, Rabbi Elyse Goldstein relates a contemporary midrash: if Judaism is like a tree, when the strong winds of feminist change blow on it, it will become up-rooted and die. If, however, Judaism is like the reeds and grasses, it will be able to sway and adapt to changes.

Lines of fine red ribbon running horizontally amid a few impressionistic grasses represent the winds of feminism. Into these are incorpor-ated, in roughly chronological order, the names of 24 Biblical women, with Sarah ("the priest-ess", according to Savinah Teubal's book) at the centre front where the breastplate sits.

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