Torah Cover

During pauses in the reading of the Torah scrolls, the scrolls rest on the lecturn and are covered with this cover.

(Description beneath image)

High Holiday Torah Cover (1998). 100% cotton. Pieced patchwork, machine quilting and embroidered lettering. Dimensions: 27"x27"

This design features a sixteen-pointed mariner's star motif. I avoided using any fabrics with red or orange colors on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur, because the color red evokes the idea of sin. In fact, after the High Priest had made atonement on Yom Kippur for the sins of the community, the red thread hung on the doorposts turned white, as a sign that God had accepted his prayers. Here, the green, blue and brown rays of the star stand out against the silvery-green background, and are bordered with strips of colored fabric that echo the colors in the star. The Hebrew lettering around the inside border uses the beginning of a particularly beautiful piyyut, or prayer-poem, called "Netaneh Tokef," which is a central part of the liturgy for both Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur. "Netaneh Tokef" describes the Day of Judgement from the heavenly perspective, and is believed to have been written in the eleventh century by Rabbi Kalonymus ben Meshullam of Mainz. The cotton fabric on the reverse features autumn colors and motifs, because the Jewish High Holidays mark the beginning of a three-week period of celebration that begins with the waning of summer, and concludes with the onset of autumn and cold weather. The entire cover is quilted to outline the points of the star and to highlight the design around the border.

Please contact us to discuss colors, size, and style for your own one-of-a-kind Torah Cover.

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