Toras Chessed
Location: South Africa
Challenge: Create two luxurious Torah mantels that would convey a message of Jewish hope, love and loyalty.
Adam O., of Sandton, South Africa, contacted me with a request for a custom abstract applique-embroidered Torah mantel in shades of blue and grey. Attached to his e-mail were several Torah mantels from my online collection that struck his fancy. The holy words, “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (in Hebrew) and a beautiful logo with the word “Hope” were also attached. Mr. O. requested that I prepare a few mock-ups of these designs in blue/grey with this verse and logo stylishly designed on the back of the Torah mantel mock-up.
After a bit of back and forth, Mr. O. confirmed not only the final mock-up for production, but he requested a white/grey/beige version as well, and shared the touching true story behind his Torahs:
With this beautiful message of brotherly love and love of Torah in mind, I went luxury-fabric shopping for just the perfect brocade and satin materials. B”H it only took me three trips to several shops for me to locate just the perfect combination of textures, sheens and hues. And in an unexpected ‘Hashgacha Pratit’ moment, I discovered the man who had hand-painted Mr. O’s ‘Eitz Chaim’ rollers- he offered to paint the wooden rings about the Torah mantels to match the cherry and chocolate laquers used for the ‘Atzei Chayim’!
As you can see, the results are breath-taking:
Blue Torah Mantel
Many shades of blue, sapphire, grey and silver appliques make this Torah mantel incredible.
Mr. O. was in for a pleasant surprise when, along with his Torah mantels, I shipped him 40 professionally laid-out pamphlets explaining the story behind the Torahs. The guests at the Hachnassat Sefer Torah were delighted to learn about the acts of chessed behind the Torahs! The children in the crowd were also spoiled with 15 custom ‘Synagogue Fun’ workbooks to teach them about prayer, synagogue services and the Beit HaMikdash.
Maxine P., personal assistant to Rabbi Perez ,director of World Mizrachi, thanked me in the following way:
“Dear Channah,
What you made was stunning and the card with the story only added to the event. The Sefer Torah event was a one off for us but we shall certainly bear you in mind if we do something again like that or if we hear of anyone needing parochets, Torah mantels or bima covers.
All the best,
Maxine”