Crafts of our mothers

The fabric of Jewish life

By Arlene Stolnitz

My grandmother, Manya Warchovsky, emigrated from Odessa, Russia close to the turn of the 20th century. By the time she arrived in America, presumably single and traveling with her sister Raya, Manya was renamed “Minnie White” by immigration officers. Obviously, the officials couldn’t understand her broken attempts to pronounce her name in English!

Manya, aka Minnie, proficient in needlework like so many others of her time, was able to find work in the sweatshops of the garment industry in Philadelphia where she lived. I clearly remember her dining room table. It was piled high with articles of clothing she brought from the factory to work on at home. It was called “piecework” or “homework,” and the industry was largely dominated by female workers who were “paid by the piece.” Much has been written about this period of time, and I would recommend the writings of Anzia Yezierska and Lore Segal to learn more. (Perhaps a theme for another series?)

In my readings in The Women’s Commentary, I learned that archeological and biblical evidence shows that in the ancient Near East women excelled in all aspects of weaving, spinning and sewing.

Excavated graves of women and girls of the time period contain equipment such as bobbins and loom weights indicating that, typically, they performed tasks in the production of textiles. A relief dated back to 1000 B.C.E. shows a woman sitting on a stool as she spins. Biblical passages tell us that women were responsible for producing materials for the Tent of Meeting. This included activities such as dyeing, weaving and embroidering. Women were also involved in preparing priest’s clothing as well as the more traditional tasks of taking care of household needs like “clothing, cloaks that served as blankets, bags to transport grains and waterproof coverings of goats’ hair.”

But now we fast forward to modern times — the 21stcentury. During the time period between the late 1800s and through the early 20th century, nearly two million Jews from eastern Europe immigrated to the U.S. By 1915, five hundred congregations had sprouted up on the Lower East Side of New York City. Jewish women (and men), many of whom who were skilled in sewing and tailoring, tasks they had learned in “The Old Country,” found work in the decoration of these synagogues. They worked on Torah curtains and valances, binders and prayer shawl bags. These synagogue decorations were usually elaborately embellished with appliques of metallic thread and embroidered with beading, satin and fringe. Women typically did the embroidery while men operated the sewing machines for the finishing. In the ’20s, the cost for one of these curtains was about $75 to $100.

Items such as challah and matzah covers, seder and hand washing towels, and a host of other items were popular crafts among Jewish women who enjoyed creating decorative household items. Many of these creations were included in the exhibit “The Jewish Heritage in American Folk Art” of the 1980s.

Looking through the catalogue that was published for the exhibit, I came across many photos I found to be quite beautiful. One in particular shows a gorgeous quilt made of satin with velvet appliques. It shows an American flag combined with the Star of David, symbolic of the patriotism and religious feeling of the artist. It is part of the collection of the Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York.

Of special interest to me are a set of hand-embroidered Passover artifacts: a seder towel and matzah cover. They were designed by Baruch Zvi Ring, of paper-cut fame, whom I have written about in earlier articles. Traditionally designed and embroidered by women, these two items were sketched by Rabbi Ring in 1904 and later embroidered by his daughter, Ida (who in later years became my mother-in-law!). Both are embroidered in brilliant crimson thread with motifs of flowers, birds and other symbols of nature. Along the bottom of the matzah cover, embroidered by Ida Ring Stolnitz, is the designer’s original name: “Rabbi Baruch Tzvi Ringyanski.”

It’s quite a story, and as I reflect on it, I marvel at how far we have come from these simple beginnings. The needle trades of newly arrived immigrants became the source for the development of “New York City’s Garment District” which eventually led to the growth of New York City’s economy and business history.

Arlene Stolnitz, the “Jewish Music” contributor to Federation papers for the past eight years, has started a new series focusing on Judaic Folk Art. It will appear in Federation newspapers on an irregular basis. Stolnitz, a native of Rochester, New York, is a retired educator and lives in Venice, Florida.