Category Archives: Handmade

13 Saturday Apr 2019

Posted by in Challah Covers, Handmade, Judaica, Will's Blog, woven music

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Three “Hatikva” Challah Covers have just come off my loom here at the Woven Judaica division of Ephods and Pomegranates.  They are about 16″ x 20″, handwoven from 100% cotton.

The price is $45.00 each,  in our Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/684668718/hatikva-challah-cover?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1

HC1

“Hatikva” which means “The Hope,” was the song of the early Zionist movement, and is now the national anthem of Israel.  The design of the Challah Cover is “woven music” – the bands represent the first 8 measures of “Hatikva.”  The different colors are different notes, and the width of the bands is the length of the note.  This is an artistic rendition, so there are no lines separating notes or measures but you can see how it works here:

Hatikva Challah Cover

The words that go along with it are:

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart . . .

Kol ode balevav P’nimah – Nefesh Yehudi homiyah . . .

HC2

 

 

Woven Tapestry Wall Hanging

31 Thursday Jan 2019

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Uncategorized, Will's Blog

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I just finished this one-of-a-kind woven tapestry wall hanging, depicting the Jewish Holidays of Purim, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Shabbat, Sukkot, and Chanukkah.  It’s 29″ x 9′, woven from mercerized cotton in an overshot pattern.  It’s going as a gift to my Temple, Mizpah Congregation in Chattanooga.

holidaystapestry

Right to Left:

Purim – purple for Queen Esther
Passover – red for Lamb’s Blood
Rosh Hashanah – gold for Honey
Yom Kippur – white for Forgiveness
Shabbat – blue for Peace
Sukkot – green for Harvest
Chanukkah – orange for Candle Flames

Tallit in Contemporary Slim Line

15 Saturday Sep 2018

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Tallits, Will's Blog

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Slim Tallit FullThe Woven Judaica Line of Ephods and Pomegranates is excited to introduce a new “slim-line” contemporary Tallit woven by Will Melnyk. This prayer scarf measures about 7.5″ x 72″ plus fringes, but can be ordered in smaller custom sizes as well, and is available in many colors. The fabric is 100% mercerized cotton, with available gold or silver metallic yarn available.

We understand that this design will not be chosen by everyone, but it offers a contemporary look especially for Reform or Conservative use.  It is also ideal for travel, and for personal at-home use.

The tallit has been made and worn in many sizes, styles, and designs over the centuries.  Indeed, Torah does not specify the size or shape of the prayer shawl.  What is specified is that there be fringes, called tzitzit, tied to the four corners of the garment:

15:37 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying:

15:38 ‘Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them throughout their generations fringes (tzitzit) in the corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a thread of blue.

15:39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them; and that ye go not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go astray;

15:40 that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto your God.

Numbers 15

It is the tzitzit we are to wrap ourselves in – whatever the size of the four-cornered garment we wrap around us.

The blessing we say when donning the tallit is:

Tzitzit Blessing

Ba-ruch A-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu Me-lech Ha-olam A-sher Ki-de-sha-nu B’mitz-vo-tav V’tzi-va-nu L’hit-a-teif Be-Tzi-tzit.

Blessed are you, Adona our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and instructed us to wrap ourselves in tzitzit (fringes).

Our line of scarf style tallits is available in a range of colors, and stripes can be designed to your wishes.  They include hand-tied tzitzit, and have the option of a machine woven atarah (the “crown” or neckband with the tzitzit blessing.)

 


White or a darker natural shade is recommended for the background, many colors, Slim Tallit Closeincluding metallic, are available for the stripes.

We usually use a zigzag twill pattern, which gives a nice drape, and accents the colors.

This item is special order only, and typically can be made in 3 -5 days.  Shipping from our Etsy Shop is free within the United States, from Monteagle, Tennessee.  The price is $125.00.

In our Etsy Shop now.

If you have questions about this custom order, write to Will at w.william.melnyk@gmail.com

“Mizpah” Tallit

26 Sunday Aug 2018

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Shawls, Tallits, Will's Blog

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I have just finished two copies of my “Mizpah” Tallit, inspired by the Mizpah Covenant between Jacob and Laban in  Genesis 31:49, popularized as a romantic pledge between two people – “The LORD watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.”

The colors represent the map of the hill country of Gilead and the Jabbok River valley where the Mizpah Covenant was made.

This lush tallit as 108″ long plus fringes, and 21″ wide.  It is made from 100% cotton (exclusive of the atarah), and includes the atarah and hand-tied tzit-zit.

There are currently two  available, and they would make a fine Bride and Groom wedding pair.

Price: $250.00

Use links to our Etsy and Amazon Shops on the left.

 

“Hatikva” Challah Covers

16 Monday Jul 2018

Posted by in Challah Covers, Handmade, Judaica, Will's Blog

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Six “Hatikva” Challah Covers have just come off my loom here at the Woven Judaica division of Ephods and Pomegranates.  They are about 16″ x 20″, handwoven from 100% cotton.

The price is $45.00 each,  in our Etsy Shop:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/684668718/hatikva-challah-cover?ref=shop_home_active_1&frs=1

HC1

“Hatikva” which means “The Hope,” was the song of the early Zionist movement, and is now the national anthem of Israel.  The design of the Challah Cover is “woven music” – the bands represent the first 8 measures of “Hatikva.”  The different colors are different notes, and the width of the bands is the length of the note.  This is an artistic rendition, so there are no lines separating notes or measures but you can see how it works here:

Hatikva Challah Cover

The words that go along with it are:

As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart . . .

Kol ode balevav P’nimah – Nefesh Yehudi homiyah . . .

HC2

All sales are made through our online Etsy or Amazon shops, but we are happy to take advance reservations.

 

 

You Shall Make Tzitzit

15 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Scarves, Tallits, Will's Blog, woven music

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TS3

The “Tallit Prayer Scarf”

Today tallits come in many sizes, shapes, colors and designs.  This is possible because their are no rules governing what the tallit as a garment should look like.  The only part of the tallit that is prescribed is the tzitzit (tassels or fringes) at the four corners:

Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them that they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and that they shall affix a thread of sky-blue on the fringe of each corner.

This shall be tzitzit [fringes] for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of G‑d to perform them, and you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes after which you are going astray.  

So that you shall remember and perform all My commandments, and you shall be holy to your L‑rd.  (Numbers 15:38 – 40)

I have found that the larger sizes of tallits are a bit, well, large for use in daily prayer at home, or while traveling.  So I created the tallit scarf in the photo above.*  It was woven on my rigid heddle loom, of 100% cotton.  The tzitzit are hand tied.

If there is an interested , we will offer them in our Etsy and Amazon Shops at Ephods and Pomegranates.

Tallit Scarf 2

Blessing for wearing the tzitzit (the tallit):

Blessed are you, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has sanctified us with commandments, and instructed us to wrap ourselves in tzizit.

This shall be tzitzit [fringes] for you . . .  It is said that this is one of the few commandments who purpose is carefully explained in Torah:  and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of G‑d to perform them, and you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes after which you are going astray.  In a very real sense, the commandment to wear tzitzit is equal in importance to all the others put together, because its purpose is to remind us of them all.

There are several different designs of tallits in our Etsy and Amazon shops.  Perhaps this tallit scarf, which I have woven for myself, will become one of them.

* The scarf shown is a woven representation of the climax of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which includes Schiller’s poem “Ode to Joy:

Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter from Elysium,
We enter, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, thy sanctuary!
Your magic binds again
What convention strictly divides;
All people become brothers,
Where your gentle wing abides.

 

 

“Hatikva” Challah Covers

03 Tuesday Jul 2018

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Will's Blog, woven music

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Now on Will’s Loom:  Challah Covers with a Hatikva Theme:

 

I’m combining my “Woven Music” scarf line with my “Woven Judaica” line to produce “Hatikva” Challah Covers.  Hatikva (The Hope) is the national anthem of Israel, but it got its start much earlier in the early days of the Zionism movement. This from the knesset.gov.il website:

The words of Israel’s national anthem were written as a nine-stanza poem by poet Naftali Herz Imber and were first published in 1876 or 1877 (the exact date is unknown). It served as the anthem of the Zionist Movement at the 18th Zionist Congress in 1933. When the State of Israel was established, the first stanza and refrain were adopted as the national anthem. Until 2004, Hatikva was not officially the national anthem when it was rooted in the “Flag and Emblem Law” of 1949 which then became the “Flag, Emblem, and National Anthem Law, 5709-1949.”

Hatikva text in Hebrew:

עוֹד לֹא אָבְדָה תִּקְוָתֵנוּ,
הַתִּקְוָה בַּת שְׁנוֹת אַלְפַּיִם,
לִהְיוֹת עַם חָפְשִׁי בְּאַרְצֵנוּ,
אֶרֶץ צִיּוֹן וִירוּשָׁלַיִם.		 כֹּל עוֹד בַּלֵּבָב פְּנִימָה
נֶפֶשׁ יְהוּדִי הוֹמִיָּה,
וּלְפַאֲתֵי מִזְרָח, קָדִימָה,
עַיִן לְצִיּוֹן צוֹפִיָּה,

Transliteration of Hatikva text:

Kol od balevav penimah,
Nefesh yehudi homiyah,
Ulefa-atei mizrach, kadimah,
Ayin letziyon tsofiyah.		 Od lo avdah tikvateinu
Hatikva bat shnot alpayim,
Lihyot am chofshi be-artzeinu,
Eretz tzion, virushalayim.

Translation of the Hatikva:

As long as in the heart within,
The Jewish soul yearns,
And toward the eastern edges, onward,
An eye gazes toward Zion.		 Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope that is two-thousand years old,
To be a free nation in our land,
The Land of Zion, Jerusalem.

The colors portray the first four bars of Hatikva.  Each different color is a different note. (For art’s sake, where there are two or more of the same note together, they are portrayed in one wider band.) The width of the bands indicates the length of the note.

Watch this site for finished pictures. The Hatikva Challah Covers will be available in our Etsy and Amazon shops, linked from www.ephodsandpomegranates.com

Hatikva Music

The Message of the Rose of Sharon Tallit

02 Monday Apr 2018

Posted by in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Shawls, Tallits, Will's Blog

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I am a rose of Sharon
A lily of the valleys.
Song of Solomon 2.1

The message of the Rose of Sharon Tallit:

The rose, gold, and black recall the colors of the Rose of Sharon found in Israel.

The rose color is for Hesed, G-d’s Steadfast Love.
The Gold color is for Chaim, the Gift of Life.
The Black Color is for the unsearchable Providence of G-d:
On one side, the narrower stripe is Sorrow
On the other side, the wider stripe is Hope.

Life, Love, Sorrow, Hope. This is the lot of the Jewish People. This is the meaning into which we are initiated. May it be a blessing to you.

~ Will Melnyk, Tallit Weaver
EphodsandPomegranates.com

Available for Special Order in Our Etsy Shop