POMEGRANATE CHALLENGE: No Specific Verse

Ellen Manson

This challah cover (above) is 20 inches square, large enough to cover two challahs for the Shabbat blessing. It was made of 100 percent cotton fabric front and back. There is piping in a contrasting color just inside the binding. Where the pomegranates are located I used the trapunto technique. Trapunto means that the fruit is stuffed and stands out in relief from the background, giving a very lush appearance. It was created in honor of the birth of my first grandchild, Sofiah Ben Baruch, born on October 26, 2003 in Jerusalem, Israel. Pomegranates contain many seeds, so are considered a symbol of fertility. I thought that a pomegranate challah cover would be appropriate for my son to use during the meal after her naming ceremony.

Patricia Padva

My challenge project is an art quilt that is 17.5 inches square. It is machine pieced, hand and machine embroidered with hand beading on the center of the pomegranate.

I designed my project to illustrate my personal responses, as a Jewish meditation teacher, to [several verses]. My design is based on how I Within the Kotel (Western Wall) the Temple still exists in its inner form. In order to visualize the inner Temple, I created a hamsa with a pomegranate resting upon it. The hamsa symbolizes the protective hand of HaShem.

To me, the pomegranate represents both the pomegranate figures upon the capitals of the Temple pillars, and its seeds which are a metaphor for the acceptance of our merits (no matter how few).

The placement of the hamsa and pomegranate within a gateof the Kotel represents our need to create a temple within our soul and the heart ... where we can appropriate balance chesed (loving-kindness) and gevurah (discipline).

 
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Posted on April 29, 2004.