Manchester Synagogue's New Torah Covers Fashioned By Special Artisans

MANCHESTER, CT — A local synagogue is showing off a special set of ritual items fashioned by a special group.

Beth Sholom B'nai Israel, a Jewish congregation serving Manchester, Vernon and other neighboring towns, recently commissioned a new set of covers for its Torah scrolls to be custom designed and woven by the artisans at Hartford Artisans Weaving Center.

The Torah is the collection of the first five books of the Hebrew scriptures — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah scroll is covered and stored in a Holy ark inside the temple.

HAWC teaches weaving to people who are blind or visually impaired, and anyone 55 and older.

Ana Cuevas, of Hartford, who was born blind, and Susan Stoppelman, of Manchester, two of HAWC's 35 artisan weavers, created four densely colored textiles, using a pattern that refers to a ratio found often in nature.

"It's the mathematical Fibonacci sequence, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding ones," Stoppelman said of the pattern during a phone interview with Patch. Stoppelman cited the numbers 1, 3, 5 and 8 for the sequence used in the torah covers.

She also called the entire process "special."

The new covers were dedicated Oct. 7 at the service celebrating the holiday of Simchat Torah, when the annual cycle of Torah reading is completed and started again.

On Oct. 19, artisans, volunteers, and staff members from HAWC will go to Beth Sholom B'nai Israelto view the covers in the ark, discuss the project with congregants, and learn about the significance of the scrolls for the congregation.