I remember the first time I visited a Reform temple, I couldn’t believe my eyes! There were women and men actually sitting next to each other during the service.
I was shocked. Something was wrong with this picture. The “actors and the audience” were all in the wrong places and seats.
One of thing I love to do is play in my mind with Hebrew words. When I hear or read a word in Hebrew, if it clicked, the engine in my brain starts working. I know that each word in Hebrew comes from three letters of the Alphabet, they are called the root letters and from there words, verbs, adverbs etc. form. I’m often wondering, what’s the root of the word? How else do we use it? What are the verbs, nouns made from it? If I changed the order of the letters, will it have a new meaning? Is there any connection between those words? What’s the...
Happy Tu Bi’Shvat, Tu B’Shvat is the new year for the trees. We celebrate it on the fifteenth day of the month of Shvat, which is the 11th month in the Jewish calendar. Tu indicates the day of the month in Shvat. Each letter in Hebrew has a numeric value. Alef = 1 Bet= 2 etc. Logically Tu should be the letter Yod= 10 and the letter Heh=5 Yod and Heh together is one of G-d’s name, therefore we use the letters Tet and Vav, The numerical value of 9 and 6, adding up to 15 This holiday isn’t mentioned...
“The Thread That Connects Us”! © Pardes Designs Sharona Lomberg: Artist, Designer, Owner of Pardes Designs As an Israeli Yemenite girl seeing Tallitot (plural for Tallit) was something I just took for granted. It was when I started painting Judaica on silk that my curiosity got the better of me. I realized that the garment I saw and took for granted all those years was beautiful, meaningful and offered more than meets the eye. I was amazed to find out that the word Tallit טלית is not mentioned in the Bible even once! The commandment (Mitzvah) does not tell us to wear Tallit. It does ask us to attach Tzizit (fringes) to the four...
Welcome to the URJ Biennial United Reform Judaism in Cooooooold Chicago When you can't have a a glass of wine, have a cup of hot coffee. And that's what we did. ©Pardes Designs On a cold cold week in Dec. with Chicago’s gray and rainy skies, my daughter and I spent a week with over 5000 people: rabbis, cantors, lay people and congregants, along with many talented artists at the UJR Biennial, which is the Union for Reform Judaism There were over 130 creative artists who exhibited their creations. Many flew from Israel specifically for this event. I think me and the...
