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For enthusiastic learner, quilting alef-bet wasn’t sew hard.
By Stacey Palevsky
Published by "J", the Jewish news weekly of Northern CA. Volume 114, Number 13-March 26, 2010, www.jweekly.com.
The alef-bet has never looked so good. Thanks to the handiwork of congregant Barbara Carpenter, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been stitched onto quilts of many colors and now hang in the sanctuary of Congregation Beth Chaim’s new building in Danville.
Barbara Carpenter “It is a gift from my heart,” said Carpenter, who spent nearly every free moment over six months working on the quilts. “Anything I can do to contribute I want to contribute. The more I put into my spiritual community, the more I get out of it.”
The project was inspired by Carpenter’s growing interest in having an adult bat mitzvah. But she didn’t know much Hebrew. How could she possibly study for such a simcha? She approached Rabbi Dan Goldblatt and explained her predicament. He gave her Lawrence Kushner’s book “The Book of Letters,” which looks at each Hebrew letter’s form and function to interpret its meaning and symbolism.
“I started to read it and meditate on each letter — it was very moving,” Carpenter recalled.
But the reading was not enough. She wanted to do something that would cement the letters and their meaning in her mind.
“I’m a kinesthetic learner, and I learn best by doing,” she said. “So I decided to make a quilt for each letter so that I could really learn the letter. It made sense for me to do something I love as I’m learning.”
Carpenter, a longtime high school teacher, learned to sew before she could read. She had her own hand-crank sewing machine when she was 5 years old.
For the quilt project, before she began working on any one piece Carpenter would reread a chapter, meditate on the letter and imagine the colors that would best illustrate the meaning. Then she’d go to the fabric store to get the right fabric. By the end, she had purchased 66 yards of material. 
The letter bet is stitched onto a quilt of green and brown patchwork because “bet,” or “beit,” which means house in Hebrew, provides shelter from the wilderness. Green and brown are the colors of the forest, and the forest provides the materials to build a home.
The letter vav is stitched onto a rainbow quilt. Vav is the sound of “one and another,” symbolizing human connection and unity. Thus, a rainbow-colored quilt represents the diversity of humanity, and that we are all connected in some way.
“I spent just about every free moment working on this because it was so fun,” Carpenter said. “That I didn’t consider procrastinating, that I tackled the project from the heart and that I did it because I was spiritually motivated makes the completion of the project feel so good.”
The stories of the Hebrew letters — Carpenter’s labor of love — are printed on note cards that hang next to each quilt.
“I now know the alef-bet; I know it very well,” said Carpenter, who begins studying for her bat mitzvah next month. “I’m excited to start to learn Hebrew now because I have a foundation.”
For enthusiastic learner, quilting alef-bet wasn’t sew hard.
By Stacey PalevskyPublished by "J", the Jewish news weekly of Northern CA. Volume 114, Number 13-March 26, 2010, www.jweekly.com.
The alef-bet has never looked so good. Thanks to the handiwork of congregant Barbara Carpenter, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been stitched onto quilts of many colors and now hang in the sanctuary of Congregation Beth Chaim’s new building in Danville.
Barbara Carpenter “It is a gift from my heart,” said Carpenter, who spent nearly every free moment over six months working on the quilts. “Anything I can do to contribute I want to contribute. The more I put into my spiritual community, the more I get out of it.”
The project was inspired by Carpenter’s growing interest in having an adult bat mitzvah. But she didn’t know much Hebrew. How could she possibly study for such a simcha? She approached Rabbi Dan Goldblatt and explained her predicament. He gave her Lawrence Kushner’s book “The Book of Letters,” which looks at each Hebrew letter’s form and function to interpret its meaning and symbolism.
“I started to read it and meditate on each letter — it was very moving,” Carpenter recalled. But the reading was not enough. She wanted to do something that would cement the letters and their meaning in her mind. “I’m a kinesthetic learner, and I learn best by doing,” she said. “So I decided to make a quilt for each letter so that I could really learn the letter. It made sense for me to do something I love as I’m learning.” Carpenter, a longtime high school teacher, learned to sew before she could read. She had her own hand-crank sewing machine when she was 5 years old.
For the quilt project, before she began working on any one piece Carpenter would reread a chapter, meditate on the letter and imagine the colors that would best illustrate the meaning. Then she’d go to the fabric store to get the right fabric. By the end, she had purchased 66 yards of material.
The letter bet is stitched onto a quilt of green and brown patchwork because “bet,” or “beit,” which means house in Hebrew, provides shelter from the wilderness. Green and brown are the colors of the forest, and the forest provides the materials to build a home.
The letter vav is stitched onto a rainbow quilt. Vav is the sound of “one and another,” symbolizing human connection and unity. Thus, a rainbow-colored quilt represents the diversity of humanity, and that we are all connected in some way.“I spent just about every free moment working on this because it was so fun,” Carpenter said. “That I didn’t consider procrastinating, that I tackled the project from the heart and that I did it because I was spiritually motivated makes the completion of the project feel so good.” The stories of the Hebrew letters — Carpenter’s labor of love — are printed on note cards that hang next to each quilt. “I now know the alef-bet; I know it very well,” said Carpenter, who begins studying for her bat mitzvah next month. “I’m excited to start to learn Hebrew now because I have a foundation.”