{"id":6943,"date":"2014-08-29T00:08:17","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T07:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=6943"},"modified":"2014-08-28T09:55:56","modified_gmt":"2014-08-28T16:55:56","slug":"hundreds-unite-to-stitch-torah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/08\/29\/hundreds-unite-to-stitch-torah\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds unite to stitch Torah"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sisters Brenda Silver, Susan Rubin and Mimi Wolch are among the hundreds who will contribute to the Torah Stitch by Stitch project.\u00a0(photo by Phillip Silver)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A new Torah scroll is in the making. The brainchild of Temma Gentles, Holy Blossom Temple\u2019s artist-in-residence in Toronto, the project originated from a chance encounter Gentles had with Marilynne Cass a year ago.<\/p>\n

Gentles, an award-winning Judaic textile artist, is the artistic director of Torah Stitch by Stitch (TSBS), while Cass is the project\u2019s executive coordinator.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell in love with the concept and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing this dream turn into a reality,\u201d said Cass about accepting Gentles\u2019 invitation to join the team when the project was just beginning.<\/p>\n

Gentles came up with the idea while on sabbatical in Israel several years ago, when seeking a way to help people engage in the words of Torah. As a textile artist, she envisioned creating a cross-stitched Torah.<\/p>\n

\u201cTemma chose cross-stitch because it\u2019s a universally known craft that has been traditionally taught to young girls around the world for adorning clothing and household items,\u201d said Cass. \u201cIt was also often the way in which girls learned their letters and numbers. While it\u2019s a simple skill to master, it can still produce amazingly beautiful pieces of work. Using cross-stitch for TSBS has been an inspired choice, as it has allowed people from around the world to work together on a single project.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentles designed a new font for Hebrew letters and divided the entire Torah into 1,463 four-verse segments for people to work on. TSBS participants range from men and women in their teens to those well into their 90s, from skilled stitchers to novices.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no skill test to pass,\u201d said Cass. \u201cThe only requirement is that each person commits to following the stitching graph correctly, complete their canvas in a timely manner and treat the work with respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSBS stitchers come from many different religions \u2013 from Judaism to Christianity, Buddhism to Islam. \u201cEven though we\u2019re doing the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), this isn\u2019t an exclusively Jewish project,\u201d said Cass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Torah is the basis of three of the world\u2019s major religions and TSBS has universal appeal,\u201d she added, noting the project includes avowed atheists and the mother superior of a convent. \u201cEveryone is welcome,\u201d said Cass. \u201cIn fact, we\u2019re actively looking for more Muslim stitchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many TSBS stitchers are from the Toronto area, the project has spread throughout Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found out about this project from my sister, Brenda Silver, who met the artist through her synagogue in Toronto,\u201d said Susan Rubin, chief financial officer of a downtown Vancouver junior mining company, who resides on the North Shore. \u201cBoth of my sisters volunteered to do panels, so I decided to sign up for a panel, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rubin paid $18 to cover the kit cost and received the template for the verses, the fabric and the embroidery threads in the mail. \u201cAt first, it was difficult to figure out how to start, but soon I got the hang of it,\u201d she said. \u201cI hadn\u2019t done any cross-stitching for about 40 years, but it\u2019s not that difficult. I worked on the cross-stitching at night, doing an hour here and an hour there. After about six months, it was done. It was very satisfying work and fun to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentles asked Rubin to be more involved in the project and asked whether she would like to be a coach. \u201cI was pleased to take a position,\u201d said Rubin. \u201cI\u2019m one of many volunteers assisting Temma. Some volunteers are helping people with the stitching, while others are helping to compile the finished panels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"image<\/a>
The display for the Torah scroll has been designed by Phillip Silver. (illustration by Phillip Silver)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rubin is helping keep track of the 700 stitchers. \u201cI assign each stitcher a coach, so they have someone to contact if they run into trouble,\u201d she said. \u201cI also follow up with the stitchers who\u2019ve had their panel for over six months and haven\u2019t yet completed it. If someone cannot complete their panel, we try and find out why and offer help or, if need be, find a volunteer to adopt the panel. It\u2019s important that all panels are complete, so the finished project is the entire Torah.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been interesting to hear feedback and personal stories from the volunteers. Even though this is a folk art project, there is a spiritual overtone and the stitchers receive great satisfaction in working with the words of the Torah.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSBS now has nearly 900 participants in 13 countries, with more applications coming in each week.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur ultimate goal is to have all 1,463 panels completed,\u201d said Cass. \u201cWe\u2019re more than halfway there.\u201d The books of Genesis and Exodus have been finished, and stitchers are now working on Leviticus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe expect it to take another year before all the remaining canvases have been assigned,\u201d she added. \u201cMeanwhile, we\u2019re working on the final details for the display format.\u201d<\/p>\n

The display has been designed by Phillip Silver, one of Canada\u2019s foremost stage designers. It will be about 2.5 metres high and nearly 100 metres long. \u201cThe finished work will be museum quality and we hope it will be exhibited in several museums,\u201d said Cass. \u201cThe goal is to allow people to feel as if they\u2019re wrapped in the Torah.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project\u2019s registration form, more information and helpful tips are available at torahstitchbystitch.temmagentles.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sisters Brenda Silver, Susan Rubin and Mimi Wolch are among the hundreds who will contribute to the Torah Stitch by Stitch project.\u00a0(photo by Phillip Silver) A new Torah scroll is in the making. The brainchild of Temma Gentles, Holy Blossom Temple\u2019s artist-in-residence in Toronto, the project originated from a chance encounter Gentles had with Marilynne […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[989],"tags":[1815,1812,1816,1813,1814,1809,1810,1811],"class_list":["post-6943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-visual-arts","tag-brenda-silver","tag-marilynne-cass","tag-mimi-wolch","tag-phillip-silver","tag-susan-rubin","tag-temma-gentles","tag-torah-stitch-by-stitch","tag-tsbs"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}