This photo of the Barbie Minyan is from the workshop of Jen Taylor Friedman, artist and soferet - scribe. I've shown other Tefillin Barbies of hers in this post. In addition to making Tefillin Barbies and her other scribe related commissions, she is in the process of writing a Torah scroll, the only woman doing so at this time.
I've also written about the dilemma Jewish women often face when they take on the mitzvah of tefillin (You can find that post here.) Jen Friedman is trying to support women who wish to take on this mitzvah by starting a women's tefillin gemach - a place where women who wish to take on this mitzvah but cannot afford a set of tefillin can obtain one. So if you have any tefillin around that you're not using, go to her website, www.geniza.net to contact her.
2 comments:
One of my favorite photos in jews/america/a representation by brenner is the photo of a minyan of JTS women, all wearing tefillin. A dear friend of mine, a woman who is now a cantor, looks out from that photo with a gaze that is both serene and challenging. There are so many powerful photos in that book.
I'm enjoying your online omer count. It inspires me to keep my own online meditations going.
Are you referring to Frederic Brenner's "Jews/America: A Representation"? Sounds like a good one to get.
I remember looking through the book of Annie Lebowitz's "Women" collection when I came across a photo of my rabbi at the time, Dorothy Richmond, holding a Torah while wearing her tefillin. I also had that reaction of serene yet challenging.
Thanks for reading....
Marilyn
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