I forget what I was looking for, but I recently followed a whole long rabbit trail that led me to the subject of Jewish needlepoint crafts. Not being a religious person myself, I had no idea that Jewish needlepoint was "a thing." I was dimly aware of Christian needlepoint, in the form of Footprints embroidery projects and an endless parade of cross stitched crosses. But the Jewish needlework scene takes it to a whole new level.
For one thing, there are several websites which specialize in Jewish needlepoint projects. Whereas Christian needlepoint projects are typically found on all-purpose needlework sites under the "Religious" category. (Not a lot of Jewish religious things in that category, by the way. And not a single Muslim or Buddhist item. I guess in the crafting world "Religious" just means "Christian.")
Sites like JudaicaNeedlepoint.com offer not only Jewish themed needlepoint kits, they also offer needlepoint projects for religious items like a challah cover for the Sabbath table, Tefillin bags, and more.
What I love about this is how useful the objects are. It seems like Christian needlepoint projects are pretty much limited to "things to frame and hang on your wall." (Or to give to your great-grand-niece for her ninth birthday, not that I'm bitter.) But there is a whole world of functional Jewish needlepoint projects. Of course there are plenty of decorative items as well, most of them in Hebrew.
For the Jewish needlework artist, there is even a national Jewish needlework guild. The Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework was formed in 1977 by a group of Jewish needlepoint artists in New York. I love that the crafting world has been able to make room for religions other than the bland gold-plated Christianity that so often seems to dominate crafting, and I love that a whole cottage industry has sprung up around the craft.
Image of embroidered challah cover courtesy Flickr/Carly & Art
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