04 Thursday Jul 2019
Posted in Glyn's Blog, Will's Blog
Our move from Monteagle to Chattanooga, Tennessee is now just about complete. The spacious new studio is set up and in operation, and sales have resumed.
03 Sunday Feb 2019
Posted in Community, Judaica, Weaving Classes, Will's Blog, woven tapestry
Tags
handweaving, Jewish, Judaica, Liturgical Arts, tapestry, weaving
“Machanooga” is the Jewish Sunday School School in Chattanooga, presently located at my Temple, Mizah Congregation. This January/February Glyn and I have been teaching 6 of the students to weave, on rigid heddle looms. The Project, “Colors of Eretz Israel,” has a square woven by each student, representing Israel wildflowers.
The squares woven by the students (4th and 5th grade) are, clockwise from top left: Anemone, Bryony, Cornflower, Cyclamen, Aloe, and Mandrake. They were woven on Kromnski Harp rigid heddle looms. The center panel is a field of Galilee wildflowers, woven by Glyn om here Schacht 8-shaft loom. The blue strip is the River Jordan, woven by Will on his Schacht 4-shaft loom. Next Sunday the kids will help put on the finishing touches, and present the tapestry as a gift to Machanooga! You can see more pictures on our Facebook page, here: https://www.facebook.com/Ephods-Pomegranates-134191704087456/
31 Thursday Jan 2019
Posted in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Uncategorized, Will's Blog
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.
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
26 Sunday Aug 2018
Posted in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Shawls, Tallits, Will's Blog
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.
06 Monday Aug 2018
Posted in Challah Covers, Judaica, Will's Blog
Tags
a, Challah Cover, handweaving, Jewish, Judaica, rosh hashanah, weaving
Our “Apples & Honey” Challah Covers are now for sale in our Etsy and Amazon Shops (see links at left.)
100% cotton, 16×20 inches. $45.00.
15 Sunday Jul 2018
Posted in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Scarves, Tallits, Will's Blog, woven music
Tags
handweaving, Jewish, Judaica, Liturgical Arts, poem, Tallit, tzitzit, weaving
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.
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.
07 Saturday Jul 2018
Posted in Will's Blog
Tags
Challah Cover, handweaving, Hatikva, Jewish, Judaica, weaving
The “Hatikva” Challah Covers warp is now on Will’s loom.
This is an artistic rendition of the “woven music” concept, so there are no bar lines, or visual lines separating two of the same notes. You can see that some of the wider bands represent more than one note. (The final note is a half note, rather than a quarter note and rest as shown.)
Ko– lod ba-lei-vav p’ni — mah, ne-fesh ye- hu-di ho – mi – ya
As long as within our hearts the Jewish soul sings . . .
These covers are made from washable 100% mercerized cotton, and are approximately 16″ x 20″
The sell for $40.00, and will be available in limited supply exclusively in the Ephods and Pomegranates Etsy Store when completed.
03 Tuesday Jul 2018
Posted in Handmade, Judaica, Will's Blog, woven music
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
09 Wednesday May 2018
Posted in Handmade, Scarves, Will's Blog, woven music
Tags
“How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place,” from the Brahms Requiem, soprano line . . . by Will.
This is what the sound of Brahms looks like.
31 Saturday Mar 2018
Posted in Handmade, Judaica, Liturgical and Prayer, Shawls, Tallits, Will's Blog
Tags
Jewish, Judaica, Liturgical Arts, Tallits, weaving, Woven Judaica
Two new Tallits are now in our Etsy Shop. These are about 20″ x 84″, handwoven from mercerized cotton. We include a package of tzitzit strings from Israel, and instructions for tying your own tzitzits, which is the best tradition.
The stripes have an overshot woven pattern, which gives them a beautiful, lacy look.
Visit our Etsy Shop at Ephods and Pomegranates Etsy.
“Capernaum” Tallit $225.00
“Capernaum” Tallit $225.00
“Siloam” Tallit $225.00
“Siloam” Tallit $225.00
Tztitzit Strings from Israel Included
Ephods & Pomegranates 