Havdalah spice container

1997

Collaboration with David Hunt (metal artist) and Janis Rapoport (poet)

This is a very personal piece. When Paul and I were married this year, we began the ceremony with Havdalah and we both wore myrtle.  For us havdalah not only separated Shabbat from the week; it separated our previous lives from our new life together.  The myrtle we wore now resides in our spice container.

 In this piece the spice container creates a physical distinction between Shabbat — with its elegant fabrics and warm, lively colours — and the rest of the week — represented by cool colours, humble cloth, the working materials and processes of textiles (knitting, sewing, knotting, interfacing, mending), and the repetitive feeling of frayed edges.  The vertical woven elements mark the seven days of the week; the background grid represents the regularity of chronos. 

 Two branches of myrtle are traditionally used to welcome Shabbat; on the right, the visual “whiff” of the single sprig in the spice container sustains us through the week, becoming more palpable as we move towards Shabbat.  The work is intended to remain visible (and fragrant) throughout the week; the container itself detaches easily from the grid to perform the ritual and replenish the spices.

 Janis Rapoport’s poem, “Havdalah”, commissioned for this artwork, compresses into its seven lines many elements of this ceremony. Glass beads underline letters forming the word “separate”.

When a third star embroiders the canopy of sky

we look for what is written in the shadow of our hands

and know our voices must begin dividing day

from night with prayer.  This is the hour small pitchers of joy

spill red onto the earth while goblets brim with wine.  We gather

the last of the drops, dot the dome of our eyes.

And a braid of sacred fire opens the fragrant dark.