First ModernTribe Jewish Wedding

ModernTribe has spawned its first marriage! Jill (Editor) and I (Jeremy, Director of Affiliate Programs) are engaged.

After we'd dated for about two years, and several months after Jill knew we should get married, I too realized that. We'd planned a trip to Jill's alma mater, William and Mary, so that seemed like a nice occasion for the proposal.

My alma mater, Miami University, had a tradition that if you kissed under the Upham arch at midnight, you'd get married. I wondered if William and Mary had something similar, so I asked Jill in general terms about campus traditions. She mentioned one, then said there was another but she would not tell me about it. I looked online and confirmed my suspicion: legend has it that if you kiss on the Crim Dell bridge, you'll get married.

Jill had told me she wanted to help pick out the ring after we got engaged, so I thought a little gift would be nice. I chose ModernTribe's hamsa with two golden birds (kawaii!) to represent us. It arrived in the nick of time!


At William and Mary, it was a nervous day (for me!) of walking around the campus. Finally, we made it to the bridge. We took pictures then kissed...and kissed...and kissed...I was mentally all set to propose, but hadn't realized how awkward kneeling would be. After yet more kissing, I thought it'd be less awkward if I took her hand as I knelt. I knelt and my little spiel was unremarkable, but the look on Jill's face was total shock. When I asked her if she'd marry me she said simply "yes" and we went to sit down and recover. She asked, shaking, if I'd known about the tradition and I told her yes. I gave her the hamsa and she loved it.

Now we're planning the wedding for this fall. Wish us luck!

The Best Appropriate Cool Bat Mitzvah Gifts

ModernTribe.com gets phone calls from people who've been invited to a bat mitzvah, maybe aren't Jewish themselves, and want recommendations for a gift for the bat mitzvah girl. The question is, what is an appropriate bat mitzvah gift that she'll really love? This is our little intro to bat mitzvah & guide for the perplexed about what to bring the bat mitzvah girl.

Japanese Blossom Crocheted Kippah by Diaspora Girl

About Bat Mitzvah

Bat mitzvah is a "coming of age" for Jewish girls. At age 12, they are now considered old enough to take on the responsibility to observe the Jewish laws and practice. For example, girls following the Jewish tradition will now fast on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish year) and lead the blessings in the home. In most non-Orthodox communities the girls will participate in public religious ceremony and read from the Torah. This ceremony is what most people refer to as the bat mitzvah and it usually takes place when the girl is 12 or 13.

The ceremony is where the bat mitzvah girl will be called to the bimah (the front or "stage" of the temple) and will perform the blessings and read from the Torah. She may read or even chant the entire Torah portion (from the Five Books of Moses) and Haftara (selections from the books of the Prophets) and may even give a d'var Torah, a philosophical expounding of what she has just read (quite impressive for a young girl, yes?). This is no small task! Girls study for years for a bat mitzvah ceremony.

Tips for Bat Mitzvah Gifts

These days secular gifts are given frequently. But a bat mitzvah is a monumental landmark in the Jewish lifecycle, why not let your gift add to the meaningfulness of the occasion?

(These suggestions are in no particular "rank." With any one of these, you can't go wrong.)

Judaic / Jewish Jewelry
Of course a Jewish Star is always appropriate but she may be getting many of these. Consider jewelry with a different Judaic theme. Pomegranates are a hot design motif now. They symbolize integrity, equity, and justice. It is said there are 613 seeds inside the fruit, the same number of mitzvot (good deeds) Commanded in the Torah. With trees (for the Tree of Life) and birds (for Noah's dove) you can't go wrong because they are loved Judaic and secular symbols. There is also the chai: Hebrew letters cheit and yud means life, and the hamsa: the upside down hand which is a very popular good luck symbol.

Plant a Tree in Israel
Israel was mostly desert and marshland when independence was declared in 1948. Planting trees has been critical to creating inhabitable land. The Jewish National Fund is the charity that heads the effort and planting a tree in the bat mitzvah girl's name is as easy as going to the JNF web site. You can even get a beautiful certificate to give her.

A favorite Jewish Recipe
If you are Jewish or can request your Jewish friend's recipe for her magnificent kugel (noodle pudding) or latkes (potato pancakes), consider giving the bat mitzvah girl the recipe along with the necessary serving or cooking gear.

A Biography of a Jewish Woman
Is she a reader? A hardback book about a Jewish woman would be a nice gift. Golda Meir, the first and so far only woman Prime Minister of Israel; Rose Schneiderman, advocate for the rights of working women in the U.S.; Henrietta Szold, American who set up medical units in Palestine and helped resettle thousands of Eastern European Jewish children fleeing Hitler; Zivia Lubetkin, a leader of the Warsaw Ghetto revolt; Ida Kaminska, international star of the Yiddish Theater; Yael Arad, Israeli silver medalist in women's judo in the 1992 Olympics; and Gertrude Stein, American writer who became a catalyst in the development of 20th century modern art and literature. Looking for books on other Jewish subjects? Try Next Book, it's the place on the web to find quality Jewish book reviews.

Shabbat Candlesticks
It is the woman's role to light the Shabbat candles and lead the blessing over the candles that mark the start of every Jewish holiday. A pair of candlesticks that fit her taste and style would make a wonderful gift. A family can have more than one set of candlesticks so you don't have to worry about duplicating someone else's gift. Just make sure it's a pair of the same height.

A donation to a charity, meaningful to the the Bat Mitzvah girl, in her name
For all Jewish lifecycle events, a donation is appropriate. Giving tzedakah (charity) is central to the Jewish faith and the Commandment to bring justice to the world. It's best to choose an organization that fits the girl's interest. Does she love reading? Consider First Book which gives books to children learning to read from low income homes. Does she love dogs, traveling, wants to be a doctor? For practically any interest, there is a charity that fits. Research charities at Charity Navigator.

Public Prayer Items: Tallis, Yad, and Tallit Clips, Head Covering or Kippah
A bat mitzvah girl may get her first tallis (prayer shawl) to wear during her first Aliyah (calling up to the Torah). A well made tallis is made of wool or silk and would be a special gift from a parent, grandparent or close family friend. Like the candlesticks, a person can have more than one tallis, so if you've found the perfect one for her, don't worry about her receiving more than one. If the tallis seems a bit much, consider tallit clips, jewelry that clips onto two sides of the shawl and keeps it on the wearer. If you are going to buy her a kippah or yarlmulke which is a headcovering worn to remind oneself of the presence of G-d, in our opinion, there is only one place to buy a cool kippa for girls: Diaspora Girl hand crocheted kippahs.

Art
Hamsas to hang on the wall, papercuts, and other Jewish inspired art make great gifts.

Money/Bonds in increments of 18
If you want to let the bat mitzvah girl choose something for herself (or save for college), money may be the answer. You can give cash, checks, or savings bonds and make it more meaningful by giving in increments of 18. 18 is the number associated with the word chai, Hebrew for life. Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a corresponding number and the letters cheit(8) and yud(10) = 18.

P. S. -- Bring your gift to the party -- not to the ceremony Saturday morning.

Links To Learn More About Bat Mitzvah

Judaism 101
Wikipedia

Shop for Bat Mitzvah Gifts:

at ModernTribe.com

Reach Out Touch Me: Jewelry Design from Israel Gets Physical

By Ziva Haller Rubenstein of Designist Dream

Shopping is a sensual experience for me in that I like to touch things on view or on sale. More than just look or pull off the rack, actually playing with the fabric or material gives me a better sense of the object - how it will wear, drape, endure, draw attention or compete with other things on my shelves. So maybe now you can understand why seeing these bracelets by Israeli Jewelry Designer Dana Hakim Berkovich behind a glass at the Designed in Israel 08 exhibition was so upsetting for me.



First off, what immediately attracted me was their texture. The woven braids on the cuffs and bracelets seemed so intricate and layered that my fingers literally started walking across them atop the glass just itching to cop a feel. Then, reading the artist's statement, I realized they were made of cardboard - egg crate cardboard to be more specific! That's right, not what you first think of when you hear of textural jewelry or think of coveted bracelets. Berkovich cuts diamond shapes into the cardboard and when rounding them into the bracelet shapes generates a 3D effect - what I thought originally was a woven pattern. Berkovich's overall technique aims to recycle used materials into beautiful accessories and challenges users to rethink the beautiful and the possible in what we casually throw away.



A little ways away in the same glass case, Israeli jewelry designer, Yael Friedman, also got my fingers itching. A delicate pewter-metal blend gold Hanukiyah or Chanukah Menorah presented the neatest little DIY project that just couldn't go wrong. A one-dimensional page of metal provided cut outs of semi-circles - each with laser cut decorations - that can be slotted together to form a fully functioning eight-plus-one candle holder. The details gave some light and delicacy to the metal material and the adornment was reminiscent of jewelry techniques. And the idea of being able to mail someone a flat DIY Menorah in time for the holidays? Opens a whole new world of holiday card options. Now if I could only get my hands on these items...

~Crossposted from Designist Dream~

It's a Big Jewish Tent

Despite being the president of a Jewish group in the D.C. area for two years, I didn't know a lot about the online Jewish community. When I became ModernTribe's Director of Affiliate Programs, I started exploring Jewish sites I'd never looked at before. There were groups of all different stripes: educational, cultural, LGBT, musical, pro-Palestinian, literary, Hillels, social justice, and more.

With such a diversity of interests and views, some Jews are bound to disagree with others and traditional stances. For example, the engrossing documentary Trembling Before G-d reveals the difficult position of Hasidic and Orthodox Jewish homosexuals trying "to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality." Watching the movie, I was struck by how much easier it would have been for them to change their denomination to one that accepted them, but I have to think that losing that connection to the Jewish community they were a part of was too great a price to pay.

So one of the questions we asked ourselves is how to respond to questions such as "Why do you affiliate with groups that conflict with traditional Jewish beliefs?" Our response so far is that ModernTribe is open to an affiliation with any group that builds Jewish community, regardless of what stripe of Judaism, political beliefs, or other philosophy they adhere to. Our Jewish gifts are designed for younger, progressive Jews, so we felt our visitors would generally be open-minded. And isn't questioning and arguing about what it means to be Jewish the essence of Judaism?

Fair Trade Judaica

Jeremy pointed me to Fair Trade Judaica and I'm excited about it for a couple of reasons. First, they have links to Fair Trade coops which are producing Judaica and Kosher foods. They list a coop in South Africa who is producing Zen minimalist Judaica. Check it out:


And they found Fair Trade chocolate gelt! (Don't be surprised if you see all this stuff on ModernTribe soon.)

Ilana Schatz and David Lingren, the creators of fairtradejudaica.org, educate site visitors about the Fair Trade movement, but the biggest service of the website is that they outline how Fair Trade fits with Jewish values. They go into more depth and explanation on their site -- which I recommend you visit. But basically, they assert as Jews:

• We are obligated to work for economic justice.
• We are obligated that workers are treated justly.
• We are obligated to be responsible consumers.

And all these things are supported when we support Fair Trade. They continue with information about Jewish organizations involved with Fair Trade -- and add to that list the inspiration for two of my previous posts: Progressive Jewish Alliance's Anti-Sweat Shop Campaign.

(See It's Not Easy to Be Sweat Shop Free and Celebrate Fair Trade Month with Kosher Kippot.)

Anat Safran Creates Bags That Make You Smarter

And whet your appetite! I am loving these Pita Bags that Ziva wrote about here.


The Tel Aviv designer of the Pita Bags, Anat Safran, makes other handbags she calls Infobag, "the bag that makes you smarter." How? They are made from recycled encyclopedia pages. Brilliant. Are any of you old enough to have grown up with a set of World Books in your living room? I am! Those gold-gilded pages had the most magnificent illustrations. Wikipedia has made the paper version of the encyclopedia null and void but think of all the great bags Anat can make!

Welcome Ziva Haller of DesignistDream.com

Ziva Haller is an Art Historian living near and working in Jerusalem and the publisher of DesignistDream (say it slowly), a blog about Israeli design. Ziva will be cross-posting on ModernTribe's blog where we seek to discover modern design for Judaica and in the Jewish world.

A stint at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem brought great meaning for Ziva: a feeling of contributing to the Jewish state. She soon decided to make Israel her permanent residence.

Here are Ziva's insights into Israeli design today.

What is most striking about Israeli design today?
Two things: first, how the tradition of arts and crafts as learned in Europe strongly influenced Israel's first national artists and aesthetic - Boris Schatz, Zeev Raban, EM Lilien and the Bezalel Academy of Art; second, how influential and pioneering certain Israeli designers are now in the field of design - Arik Levy, Ron Arad and Ilan Dei for example. How and where the two meet are what I'm trying to figure out in my blog as I discover new centers for design and creativity in Israel and meet more and more designers and their works.

What forces do you think are spurring the innovation and modern design boom in Israel?
I do think that modern design production and appreciation is really taking off locally. More and more online and boutique shops are cropping up and it's amazing to see how far Israeli designers are reaching these days. When I was putting together my Hanukkah Gift Guide I was amazed to see Israeli design products on specialty children's clothing and accessory sites, museum stores, haute design centers like DWR, and then Target too. Israel is even building its first Design Center which will include a museum and library/ materials resource in Holon. Designed by Ron Arad - which is a super feat in itself to have him back here - it points to the fact that Israeli design is now worthy of its own shrine to its process and product. I think globalization is really a catalyst for access to and interest in Israeli designers. I think for Israeli art and design students especially - where creativity and ingenuity are just booming it seems - having access to global companies, designers, studios, etc is a natural extension of where they expect to go after graduating.

Do you see any obstacles that Israeli designers are going to need to overcome before Israel can truly become the new Italy?
For sure Israel's image abroad is one obstacle. It's hard to get past the conflict of Israel to learn more about the everyday lives here - what we admire, want in our homes, want to look at, wear, etc. Also I think the language barrier prevents many from simply accessing many designers online. Google searches for designers in English are often limited. Many only seem to create websites for their work in Hebrew and that's a big oversight in my opinion.

What are some of your future plans for DesignistDream?
More posts per day for a rotating glance at home decor, design items, art and fashion. More interviews with designers are also on the horizon. I am thinking about compiling shopping guides for Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for top designs in fashion, furniture and housewares - and tour guides for visitors to our fine country - where to see great works, where to buy them, special events, etc.. Finally, I am planning a grand redesign of the site which I'm really excited about, so stay tuned for that too.

You can read more from Ziva at DesignistDream.com.

A Modern-Twist on a Jewish Star for Your Table

Greetings from the NYIGF (New York International Gift Fair) one of the biggest gift trade shows in the world. This is where I do much of my Judaica shopping for ModernTribe. All of the major Judaica manufacturers and reps come to this show. There is also a large number of Israeli artisans who come via the Israeli Export Coop.

One of the most important aspects of my "job" is finding cool Jewish gifts and stuff that isn't marketed as being Judiac or Jewish. My best find in this department today is from Modern-Twist. They manufacture silicone placemats and coasters which can simply be wiped down and never require laundering or ironing (and the coolest ever wine stem tags). A bunch of this line we will be stocking for sale at ModernTribe.com.

Check out these designs -- perfect for your holidays and beautiful and subtle enough for every day.A set of four coasters will sell for $20. Placements are $17 each. Coming soon!