Jewish Ritual Textile Art

I have been thinking about all of the items that can be created from fabric to celebrate Judaism's rituals.  I am surprised at how many items there are.  So far, this is my list:

• Ark curtain (see last post)
• Torah cover
• Tallit
• Kippah or yarmulke
• Challah cover
• Chuppah

Here are photos of 3 torah covers that I have made.  They are made from silk dupioni and each of them tells a story.  The beauty of using silk is that it glistens under the lights illuminating the ark.  

The torah covers or mantles enrobe the scrolls covered with the hand scribed hebrew words on parchment paper.  What gives me goosebumps is that every year on the same day of the Jewish calendar, no matter where in the world you are located, we are all reading the same portion of the torah in the same language of Hebrew.    (As an aside, the Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar.  The current year is 5771 and it starts with Rosh Hashanah which takes place in September or October.)