News of the TikkunTree has spread over the past few weeks. Most recently, we’ve made a new friend, Bev, whose support for the TikkunTree Project has been so very encouraging. Bev recently featured us in her blog, and her eloquence is well worth quoting in full:
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Last week when I posted about knitting a Jewish design and commented on my angst in creating my very first pattern, I was really grateful for all the supportive comments and emails – both about creating knits with a Jewish theme and about putting my own designs out there. Thank you guys, it really matters to have a support system and I am glad that the blogosphere has done that for us.
One person also commented and let me in on a new creative project that she and some other knitters were engaged in, and I want to post about it in an effort to get the word out. It is called the Tikkun Tree project and it will be an art installation of a tree made up of leaves, peace doves, and candles produced through knitting, crochet, and other fiber arts. The purpose is to highlight and encourage community thought about peace between Palestinians and Israelis. It is not meant for only Jewish, Muslim, or Christian participants. Submissions are encouraged and welcomed from anyone who identifies (or doesn’t) as anything, who has an interest in expressions of support for peace and community building in this engagement.
In case you are not familiar with the word “tikkun,” it is a Hebrew word that is often translated as “healing” or “repair”. It is heard commonly in a phrase, tikkun olam, which is a Jewish imperative to repair the things in the world that are broken or need healing. It is meant to be thought of on a cosmic scale, that is, if things were right in the world, there wouldn’t be hunger or war or things that seem fundamentally wrong. In the case of this project, it seems fundamentally wrong that we, as humans, cannot share land and are willing to destroy our lives over it. I’m going to participate. For me, it seems like a mitzvah, a righteous act, and I plan to knit at least eight leaves, one for each night of Hanukkah. For those of you in the Philadelphia area, this is also a local project, organized through a member of Rodeph Shalom.
I encourage you all to read more about it here. The project site describes the recommended yarns and specs for submissions, as well as more of the methodology and aims for the installation. There are also some patterns offered if you’d prefer not to think up your own. For more information or to ask questions, please use the contact links on the site or email tikkuntree (at) yahoo (dot) com.
As a result of Bev’s enthusiasm, we’ve been received many visits, and Bev has led us to Ravelry’s Jewish Fiberaholics group, where the TikkunTree Project has been introduced as a Hanukkah KAL (knitalong).
Thank you, Bev!
The TikkunTree Project 