Coordinating TICK's Seven Species Parochet with Their Aron Kodesh

Synagogue: TICK - Tpheris Israel Chevra Kadisha Congregation

Location: St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Challenge: Coordinating the parochet to their new Lavi Aron Kodesh.

Commission: 1 parochet and 1 bima cover for the High Holidays.

1 parochet and 1 bima cover for Year-Round.

Dr. Craig R. of TICK approached me with an interesting request:

“We just ordered a beautiful Aron Kodesh from Kibutz Lavi and would love to buy a parochet that matches it!”

(Photos of the Aron Kodesh that Dr. R. e-mailed me):

Wow! The Aron Kodesh is very large and highly detailed.

What initially struck me about it and the shul’s interior in general?

- I counted 7 sets of Arches, some right side up, some upside down. (Can you find more?)

- I noticed that the right side was engraved with 4 of the Shivat HaMinim (Seven Species), while the left side was engraved with the remaining 3.

This was my original proposal to the shul- not too interesting, eh?

- I spotted the modern blue/turquoise stained glass windows and similar mechitzah.

- I noticed the laser-cut metallic swirls on the top part of the Aron.

This was my original proposal to the shul (see image to the right)- not too interesting, eh?

(Note: When embarking on new parochet design projects, I always try to get on the same page as my customer. We discuss his/her ideas and vision for the parochet in great detail either via e-mail or phone calls. When the custom is 100% certain I’ve understood their concept, I create a very basic render (see image on the right) just to help everyone visualize the direction my design will take.)

Don’t worry. Once they confirmed the direction we wanted the parochet to take, the ensuing mock-ups were much more striking:

(High Holiday Parochet on the left and Year Round Parochet on the right).

This is the ‘deeper meaning’ behind the design, as I explained it in an e-mail to the TICK parochet committee:

“Good afternoon!
I really appreciate shuls who understanding what an impact a custom parochet can make in a custom Aron Kodesh, especially a unique Lavi Aron such as yours.
So here is my proposal for your Year-Round Parochet.Much thought has been put into this rendering to have it reach the desired effect.
I absolutely wanted to allude to every aspect of your Aron Kodesh, including the stained-glass windows, in the parochet itself.
Let's take a look at the top part of the parochet- the inner border coordinates with the silver colored laser-cut swirly band at the very top of the Aron Kodesh. The top 'triangles' are filled with the same Shivas HaMinim as the top 'triangles' on your Aron. Both 'pillars' reflect the bountiful Shivat HaMinim on either side of your Aron, and the inner gate is made up of an outlined border which echo the four Greek-inspired pillars engraved on the Aron. I made sure to add a generous amount of blue and turquoise highlights to your parochet, to mirror the gorgeous blue/turquoise stained glass windows on either side of the Aron.
The passuk "Shifchi KaMayim" conjures images of an overflowing Kineret irrigating the fertile ground of the Land of Israel, which in turn allows the Shivas HaMinim to sprout forth. The elegant flow of the passuk is also reminiscent of the graceful lines of the Ner Tamid. (Would you still like to see another passuk incorporated here?)
It took me a very long time to come up with this design that flows so seamlessly with your Aron. I've also attached a previous sketch which I abandoned along the way- perhaps you'd like me to incorporate some design element from there in your parochet.”

After a bit more back and forth, the designs were perfect and confirmed and I got to work.

And boy, did I work! By that point, Rosh Hashana was around the corner and I absolutely wanted TICK to enjoy their High Holiday parochet and bima cover on during the ‘Yomim Noroim’ (10 Days of Awe from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur).

Thanks to the endless dedication of my embroidery and sewing team, and a few weeks of working overtime, plus a few kind Jews who agreed to transport the parochet and cover from Bnei Brak to Crown Heights and from Crown Heights to St. Louis (it was too late to ship with DHL or UPS), everything arrived at TICK safe and sound!

The Rebbetzin, Mrs. Chana Winter, wrote me the following after praying with the white set during the Yomim Noroim:

“Hi! Just wanted you to know how magnificent the Yom Tov paroches is and how much it enhanced our davening.”

B”H, after sending the shul the High Holiday parochet and bima cover for Rosh Hashana 5780 I began working on the Year-Round set, which I wanted to outdo the Holiday set.

For the Year-Round parochet and bima cover, we upgraded the embroidery to manually-embroidered(!!!) 3D gradients and added on colorful Swarovski crystals to coordinate with each fruit and leaf.

B”H- here are the breathtaking results!

parochet in aron kodesh by chana gamliel

I must thank the parochet committee over at TICK for being such wonderful, communicative customers! They made sure to answer all my e-mails within 24 hours and expressed all their questions and concerns in an elegant and respectful manner.

What a pleasure it was enhancing their shul!