This article appeared in the Dec. 30, 2004 Jewish Advocate.

Local craftspeople can fill holiday gift gap and beyond

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Chanukah is over, but end-of-the-year acknowledgements are still in order for your Jewish and non-Jewish friends, mailman, building superintendent, paper deliverer, favorite waitress and others. Because these and other holidays and occasions continue on, there is always time to support the efforts of hardworking, locally-based Jewish craftspeople.

At Celebrate Newton!, a crafts festival held Nov. 14 at Newton South High School to support the 21 schools in the city, Judaic and secular jewelry, art and pottery were on display, as well as quilted challah and mezuzot covers, tallitot, spice boxes, handpainted Judaic silk items and Jewish rubber stamps. Local author and Newton native Cynthia Polansky also signed copies of her first novel, “Far Above Rubies,” a Holocaust story.

Sara Coen, who operates Joy Ink, displayed her customized cards, stationery and invitations for all occasions. A Providence native with a master’s in education degree from Harvard, she taught at the Schechter and Oak Hill Middle Schools in Newton before having her two children. She experiments with three-dimensional and shimmery effects in her work. “During the Chanukah season I sell a lot of nontraditional cards,” she explains. One features tiny, colorful dreidels in a vellum envelope, on a deep periwinkle blue card; three-dimensional dreidels cascade out of a tiny white envelope in another. Coen, active in Hadassah, co-chaired their Ruach Spring Craft Fair and the Ruach Spring Ticketed Art Auction, both of which raised funds for women's cancer research at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. “I lost my own mom to breast cancer a few months ago, so I try to find a way to donate a portion of my card and invitation sales to this cause,” she says.

Coen has exhibited at the Nov. 20 Wellesley Marketplace and at private homes. Her work can also be seen at Serenade Chocolates in Brookline Village and at Christine's Day Spa in Newton Centre.

Other gift ideas offered at Celebrate Newton! included the “Wish Boxes” of book artist Diane Jaquith, a Newton Schools art teacher. For Chanukah, she created a limited edition of eight stacking boxes. Artist Iris Sonnenschein, who has been active at Temple Beth Avodah with her family over the past decade, exhibited her custom-quilted tallitot and challah covers. “My goal is to design covers that not only accessorize the table, but also evoke the joy of Shabbat, or the serenity of the day,” she says.

An Israeli native who emigrated to the US at the age of five, Sonnenschein works with b'nai mitzvot children and their parents, and includes what is spiritually significant to them. This year, she added fabric mezuzot to her Judaica offerings. “They are whimsical, decorated with wire and glass beads, and are great fun to create.”

She also created three panels for Havurat Shalom. “Knowing my work

brings people to a place of peace and "kavanah" as they gather in prayer

is incredibly fulfilling.”

Arlene Bandes, a Newton art teacher who retired this past spring, owns Zum Gali Gali Rubber Stamps. Along with family members Dean and Charles Bandes and guest artists, she produces stamps for holidays, Shabbat and other occasions, some with Jerusalem images and many with Hebrew and English phrases. Hundreds of non-Judaic stamps depicting animals, buildings, people, sports, flowers, and design elements are in the mix as well, she says, noting that “stamps add a little whimsy to everything from handmade cards to scrapbooks and clothing, and make excellent gifts for adults and children!”

A little over a year ago, Sheila Horowitz and her sister started Treasured Memories Unique Gift Baskets following the death of their beloved father. The fruit and other memorial baskets they received made them recognize a need for a Jewish bereavement basket to aid Jews through their mourning and grief period. They contacted Steven Robbins, owner of Maxie's Delicatessen in Cobb’s Corner, Stoughton, who displayed their baskets at his store.

“Our elegantly, decorated sympathy baskets are tailor-made and fit

comfortably into any budget,” Horowitz says. “They reflect the heartfelt thoughtfulness you wish to communicate to the bereaved family.” The baskets can serve as a keepsake to the family in mourning. According to Horowitz, they often include a Yahrzeit candle, a 15-year calendar with the Yahrzeit date, a copy of the mourner’s Kaddish, a soothing and relaxing classical cassette tape, a writing journal with “Chai” embossed on it to remind mourners of the life of the deceased and that life continues, and a frame with an inspirational message from the Jewish Prayer book. A tape from the funeral service, including eulogies from family and friends, is another option.

Eventually, the sisters branched out and designed baskets for all occasions, such as one for the end of the school year, filled with a variety of Jewish school items, for a child's Jewish schoolteacher. “We do out-of-town guest baskets and favors for weddings, Bar and Bat Mitzvah centerpieces and favors, and baskets with gift items for Jewish and other holidays,” says Horowitz.

For information on the works of Sara Coen, please email SaraCoen3@aol.com or visit www.joyinkcards.com. Diane Jaquith can be reached by calling 617-244-2256 or emailing didij@aol.com. Iris Sonnenschein’s crafts can be seen at www.irisquilts.com, or email iris@irisquilts.com. To reach Zum Gali Gali Rubber Stamps, visit zumgaligali.com, call 617-965-1268 or email zumgali@zumgaligali.com. For information on Treasured Memories Unique Gift Baskets, please call 781-344-2343.