Trees of Life 3

Featured in the Jewish Exponent

2011-06-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

My article appeared in The Jewish Exponent: June 02, 2011

The drafting table where I have been perched, creating ketubot for the past 37 years, has proven to be a ringside seat for detecting trends in the Jewish community. In honor of June, which was once peak wedding month and still is a popular time to exchange vows, here are some of my ethno-sociological observations:

May and June were popular wedding months when brides and grooms were younger, scheduling celebrations around their academic schedules. Now, average American Jewish brides and grooms are, unless they are ultra-Orthodox, way beyond their academic years.
They schedule weddings around work schedules; pretty much any three-day weekend is now prime time for weddings. As Jews have migrated to the Sunbelt, with large Jewish populations in Florida, California and Arizona, winter weddings have become increasingly popular.
A big part of my work involves names. The bride's and groom's names in English as well as Hebrew, along with the same for their fathers and mothers, are all included, six per ketubah order. A generation of Irvings and Harriets (Yitzchak and Chana) or Mildreds and Mannys (Malka and Mendel) are fading from the scene, giving way to the next generation, baby-boomer parents.
Now it's Linda, Debbi and Barbara, known in Hebrew as Leah, Devorah and Baila, along with their husbands, (or just as likely, ex-husbands) Mark, Barry and Alan -- that would be Moshe, Baruch and Avraham -- proudly escorting their children to today's chupahs. They're Ashley, Lindsay and Elana, marrying Ian, Josh and Ari.
These names reflect dominant Jewish American trends, but I am also seeing brides and grooms from recent immigrant groups with names far less familiar. Iranian Jewish names frequently appear for couples from southern California. Their Hebrew names are classic, but when I encounter parents' Farsi names like Parviz and Shahnaz, I am perplexed: Which is the mother and which the father?
Recalling how hard so many American Jews worked to achieve Soviet Jewish emigration, I find the Russian names appearing on the information sheets especially touching.
Yelena, daughter of Svetlana and Igor, marrying Eugene, son of Galina and Vladimir, all very foreign, but the Hebrew looks just the same as for any other Jews: Leah bat Sara v'Yisrael, Gershon ben Gitel v' Velvel. Had they not left the USSR, what is the likelihood that now, 20 years later, they'd still be part of the Jewish people?
Sometimes the names are transliterations of Asian languages, which I then need to write in Hebrew -- hard to do if I can't pronounce them! One common Chinese last name, Pei, is easy to pronounce, but transliterates as peh.heh, the Hebrew word for mouth. Oy.
Another surprise is how much technology has crept into what is still an essentially handcrafted product. If the spellings are especially challenging or the handwriting illegible, my ace in the hole is to Google in two last names, and a Wedding Channel Registry usually pops up, along with the wedding date and location. (Sometimes there are links to a wedding website, which I have been known to check out, just for fun.)
And if the rabbi wants to read the ketubah in advance, to avoid any last-minute crisis, I simply snap a digital photo and shoot him or her off a jpg.
Expanding the marriage pool, we now have brides marrying brides and grooms marrying grooms. That stack of ketubot I printed with commitment ceremony wording? Progressive in its time, it is now obsolete. Bride /brides and groom/grooms are using the same wedding language as any other couple.
Marrying on Shabbat is clearly prohibited. The gray area is a before sundown start time for a Saturday night wedding, not at all uncommon in Reform circles. But Saturday afternoon Jewish weddings? This summer, an afternoon bride confirmed her wedding was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. When I looked up the Hebrew date, it was Yom Kippur, the 10th of Tishri. I'm still curious about a couple who marries on Yom Kippur but buys a ketubah. It is indeed a new world.
Last spring, I created a ketubah for our son Zach and his bride, Becca. There I was, on the ketubah as mother, a full generation after creating my first ketubah, when I was the bride. Zach's ketubah was followed by those of Zach's nursery school buddies Josh and Bension, both marrying this summer. I am thrilled to be a witness, as well as a participant, in Jewish continuity.

Wedding Trees Tambourine

2010-03-21T17:21:00.001-07:00

I recently created a tambourine using the Trees of Life 3 image.

You can listen to a lovely recording of a niggun (melody) for the text featured on the tambourine.

(Thanks, Nomi and Anna!)

Trees of Life 3: Gold and Silver

2009-10-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

Trees of Life has been wonderfully popular - the embossed gold or silver trees evoke a sheltering woodland canopy, a pairing of strength, an image of two family trees uniting, and Torah, our Tree of Life.

You can see the text options below, as well as details about presentation. Mazel tov!

You can also view the texts in PDF form.

Here are the texts as a slide show:

Aramaic with no English

2009-10-21T07:31:00.000-07:00

This is a newly offered option, due to increased demand. The regel kuf is omitted, to be added prior to the ceremony.

View a PDF here. (If it prints out too large, adjust the settings at the upper right.)

Aramaic with Egalitarian English

2009-10-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

View a PDF here.

Conservative with Egalitarian English

2009-10-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

In this new edition, I have added the MUCH requested complete Egalitarian English to accompany the Lieberman Clause/Conservative text.

View as a PDf here. (If it prints too large, adjust the googledoc setting on the upper right.)

Egalitarian Hebrew and English I

2009-10-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is my best-selling ketubah text.

View as a PDF here. (If it prints too large, adjust the googledoc setting on the upper right.)

Trees of Life 3: Egalitarian II - Hebrew and English, INTERFAITH FRIENDLY

2009-10-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

This text uses language which is celebratory and affirming while being less theological and legal. It is appropriate for secular couples, or for a non-Jewish bride or groom who is sharing and joining in Jewish life in a variety of ways, so common in our 21st Century Jewish community.

View as a PDF here. (If it prints too large, adjust the size, upper right controls on GoogleDocs.)

2009-10-21T07:10:00.001-07:00

The ketubah is shipped flat in a portfolio which doubles as a display case at the wedding, meaning the ketubah does not need to be matted before the ceremony. In this picture, it is standing. The cover can be pulled around to the back if the ketubah is placed an an easel. After the wedding, when the ketubah is framed, the case can be used to store oversize documents.

For many years, I was privileged to support Danny Siegel in his exceptional tsedakah work. Danny retired awhile back and, remarkably, closed Ziv, his organization. People with whom he worked were so inspired by his approach - highlighting and supporting the quietly genenrous souls who reach out and make so much difference in the world - that they reorganized into The Good People Fund.

Each month I send them a check based the number of orders I've received, which has added up to over the years to more than $10,000.00. I am very grateful for all the brides and grooms who have made this possible, and for the Judaica stores which take great care of them!

Here is the Good People Fund's mission, and why I am so happy to sponsor them:

Our Mission:
Many people work quietly and diligently, often below the radar screen and with shoe-string budgets, to better our world in untold numbers of ways. It is to these people, small entities or individuals whose efforts don’t benefit from glossy brochures or promotions, or help from adequate staff or large organizational structures, that we direct our attention. Their success is our mission — by making them and their work visible and viable to others who will provide needed funding through tzedakah that is given in a cost-effective and meaningful way. One might call those that do this work social entrepreneurs or tzadikim (the righteous ones). We choose to call them simply good people.

There are still some texts of Trees of Life 1 and Trees of Life 2 available:

In Trees of Life 1, I still have Women's Egalitarian Hebrew and English. I guess I was a little ahead of my time - but do spread the word.

In Trees of Life 2, I still have the Anniversary Text in both gold and silver.

In Trees of Life 2, I also still have the Lieberman text with abbreviated English, in both silver and gold.

And a little about me:

I have been a Judaica artist for over 35 years, when I created a ketubah for my husband David and me.

Born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, and a happy camper at Herzl Camp, I attended Brandeis University and Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion. I illustrated Michael Strassfeld's classic, The Jewish Holidays, as well serving as Art Editor and illustrator for Kol Haneshamah, The Reconstructionist Prayerbook Series. I was the coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Jewish Symbols, a reference book treasured by many Judaica artists.

In addition to creating ketubot, I am an active environmelalist - I use recycled materials as much as possible, especially when shipping orders. I am also active in Microfinance and the environment.

I have lived in Mt. Airy (a vibrant, diverse neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA) where we raised our children Zach and Nomi. I am looking forward to creating the ketubah for my son's upcoming wedding to Becca Rosen. The photograph above was taken by Becca's mother Jo Rosen, right after our children announced their engagement at our Seder last spring!