Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant is the largest church in Abu Ghosh, an Arab village not far from Jerusalem.  Six hundred of us, singers of several choirs from around Israel, came to this church for our annual festival. The Vocal Music Hebrew Songs festival was held in a sacred place, filled with majesty, reverence and beauty.

In this large church with its high ceiling, we sang the day after Shavuot the festival of the receiving of the Torah. That day is also known in Hebrew as Isru Hag, the Binding of the Festival that comes at the end of three major Jewish pilgrimage festivals. read more

This is our Passover Plate. Since we are vegetarian we do not have a Zro’a, the traditional roasted bone to put on the plate. In the United States people may put beet, or an avocado seed instead.

I decided to paint a bone on the plate . This Seder plate that we use was made by my late father, who was a craftsman and artist and so I added my drawn bone to my father’s art.

Leaving the southern city of Eilat from a small airport

I was amazed to see beautiful steel-and-stone Judaica items for sale.

They were not in a gallery and the items probably need to be displayed in a proper space – but I found them lovely.

See for yourself.

All signed by “Ben-Dov Gallery.”

***
Sharona Langerman is a photographer and artist living in Kiryat Motzkin Israel