Happy New Year!

I'm back in the studio and one of the things I'm working on is another Passover set with an Elijah and a Miriam cup. I wanted to use something different on the Miriam cup this time and came across these lampwork beads from an Etsy Israeli Artist named Meital Plotnik:

Distant Seas

Their color is absolutely luscious, bringing in the azure blue of the sea and the wonderfully feminine deep pink, their shape referencing, at least for me, a timbrel (tambourine).

The shape of the new Miriam's cup is a bit different than the previous, so it will be interesting to put it all together and see the effect. I still need to go out and find a chain. I'm hoping to find one which will be a bit easier to connect.

I've other multimedia ideas rolling around in my head, so stay tuned to the blog!

I know it's not even Chanukah yet -- but I believe in starting early, so I've been working on Passover these past few weeks.

Mostly, I've been intrigued by the new tradition of including a Miriam's Cup in the Seder ritual. The following is taken from a website dedicated to this new addition: "New rituals include the addition of "Miriam's cup," filled with water to symbolize Miriam's miraculous well (learn more about the origin of Miriam's cup and the Legend of Miriam's Well). The well was given by G-d in honor of Miriam, the prophetess, and nurtured the Israelites throughout their journey in the desert."

When creating Jewish ritual art I always look at the representational derivation of objects and try to incorporate the functionality of the item with its significance. Designing a matched yet unmatched set of cups for Elijah and Miriam presented a new challenge which required some research.

Miriam was the eldest sister to Moses and Aaron. She is reputed to have prophesied, before Moses's birth, her parents would give birth to the person who would bring about the Jewish people's redemption. She was also the one who watched over Moses in the bulrushes, seeing him rescued by Pharoah's daughter. During the Exodus, Miriam led the women of Israel with timbrels (tambourines) to sing and dance in celebration after Pharaoh's men were drowned in the sea. 

My final design, incorporated the concept of Miriam's well, the idea of women wearing jewelry, and a reference to timbrels in this ritual cup.

Miriam's Cup

I purchased some delicate chain and was lucky enough to find charms which looked like stylized timbrels. When the pottery part was finished, I threaded the chain through the holes, adding the charms along the way. Unfortunately, the chain I purchased, although beautiful and delicate, was too delicate for the jump rings I had. So, I improvised and used cotton thread to tie the ends together. Since the cup shouldn't receive hard use, I think this will suffice.

Then I had to consider how to make a complementary Elijah's Cup. Rather than simply making a traditional wine cup, I wanted a cup embodying the Prophet himself, so I did some research. What caught me was how Elijah was "taken" up to the heavens by a fiery chariot, drawn by fiery horses. I decided the rim of my Elijah's cup should represent the joining of this fire opening up to the heavens.

Elijah's Cup

To emphasize the form, I glazed the pieces with a clear glaze to show off the simplicity of the white stoneware underneath. Altogether, I think the sum of the parts has a wonderful impact and should stand out on any Passover table:

Elijah's and Miriam's Cups Set

My recent labor of love, the Representational Seder Set is done and it is, if I may say so with the greatest of humility, wonderful! I know this is true because my husband, Avi, says so!



Here are the pieces and a bit of the thought behind them. The photo precedes the explanations for the pieces.:



Charoset - Charoset symbolizes the mortar with which the Israelites bonded bricks when they were enslaved in Ancient Egypt. The word Charoset comes from the Hebrew word cheres which means clay. In the representational set, the charoset is held the bowl with bricks impressed on the outside.

Karpas – There is a green, leafy vegetable (usually celery or parsley/lettuce) called karpas which reminds the participants that Passover corresponds with Spring and the harvest, which, in ancient times was a cause for celebration by itself. A more contemporary interpretation links karpas with the biblical description of the Hebrew slaves marking their doorposts at the time of the first Passover. A bunch of hyssop was to be dipped in the blood of the paschal lamb and used to strike the lintel and the doorposts (Exodus 12:22) so that the tenth plague (death of the firstborn) would not be visited upon their households. In the representational set, karpas is symbolized by a container mimicking the wood of the doors and the crossbeam of the lintel over that door.


 
Maror and Chazeret – The word maror comes from the Hebrew word mar, which means bitter. The seder plate usually contains two places for maror (bitter herbs), representing the bitterness of slavery. There are two places, called maror and chazeret, since the commandment (Numbers 9:11) to eat the paschal lamb "with unleavened bread and bitter herbs" uses the plural ("bitter herbs"). In the representational set, the maror and chazeret are linked by the use of a yoke and rope, symbolizing the years of slavery our people endured.


 
Zeroa – The zeroa (roasted shank bone) represents God's mighty arm when he freed the jews from slavery in Egypt. The zeroa is also symbolic of the Paschal lamb offered as the Passover sacrifice in the Jerusalem Temple. The platform altar is the representational piece in this set.

Baytzah – The seder also uses a hard-boiled egg called a baytzah which represents the second offerings given at the temple in Jerusalem on Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. The roasted egg is symbolic of the festival sacrifice made in biblical times. On Passover, an additional sacrifice (the Paschal lamb) was offered as well. In the representational set, the nest holds the baytzah (egg).



Salt Water – During the course of the Seder, the karpas is dipped in salt water to represent tears. The set includes a tear-shaped bowl with colors mimicking the different depths of the Red Sea.

As we approach the end of this year's High Holiday cycle with the celebration of Shemini Atzeret and Simchas Torah, I've turned my creative eye to Passover. I've recently sold the Seder Set in my shop, leaving an open spot for a new design.

I've always liked the deconstructed Seder Sets and have decided to turn in that direction and create a Representational Seder Set, with pieces designed to inspire discussion of the symbolic foods on the Passover table.

I began by throwing a tall, straight sided cylinder, which I cut into 4 sections of equal size. This avoided the uncertainty of getting a matching set by throwing each piece separately. The  bottoms of these would be cut from a slab. But a couple of them would be treated to texturing on a couple of different texture boards before their bottoms were added.

The Charoset dish, representing the mortar with which our ancestors built structures as slaves in ancient Egypt, is textured with a brick pattern. The other has a wood pattern for the Karpas, or the greens, which has several different interpretive symbols. The one I have chosen is a lesser known one, it's representation as the plant material used to mark the doorposts of each Jewish home to protect its inhabitants from the final plague -- the killing of the firstborn.

The easiest way to texture the exteriors of these open cylinders was to roll them over texture boards using a rolling pin on their inside. The bricks were easy. However, for the wood, I cut the top of one of the sections off so I could roll the bottom one way and the top portion the other, then reattaching the pieces once the textures had been rolled on. This gives the appearance of a door with the lintel on top.

The Baytzah (egg) just has a slab base, with a surrounding nest created by pressing clay through a garlic press and attaching sections of it with a bit of slip. The Zeroah (bone) will sit on a slab "altar" with curved "legs" to elevate it.

The greatest representational challenge was the Maror and Chazeret, both bitter herbs -- two types, since the text speaks of bitter herbS, After much thinking and even more discussion, I decided to link the two cylinders on a single base, adding a yoke to the front of one. Once the piece has been fired, I'll loop a small rope from the yoke, around the two bowls.

I'll also be making a bowl for the salt water in the shape of a tear. However, I need to first finish up the underglazing of the pieces that have already been made.

I haven't taken photos yet. But, rest assured, they'll be forthcoming soon.

It's nice to have a friend who makes wonderful doodles. Especially when he leaves them at your house, they inspire you, and then you get permission from him to use one of them as a centerpiece on your new deconstructed Seder set for Passover.

Thanks David!