Wednesday, September 12, 2007

An Unexpected Repair Job

When I signed on for a second year to chair the Temple Micah High Holy Days, I never imagined that my duties included taking in sewing! But today there was an urgent job to be done.

After my haircut today, I stopped by Temple Micah just to make sure everything was in order for the myriad of moves and tasks that would be initiated to get ready for the beginning of Rosh Hashanah tomorrow night.

Our assistant rabbi Toby (as she was repairing the hem of her pants with Scotch tape) approached me about a sewing project that seemed pretty critical. It seems the elasticized band that keeps the Torah from unrolling had gotten stretched to the point where it was too big and wasn’t doing its job. It made the Torah, which is large and cumbersome at best, difficult to take in an out of its cabinet. She had heard I knew how to sew.

I brought the stretched velvet band home with me and tackled the repair job at 10:30 after choir rehearsal tonight. GASP – I had very little navy blue thread left.



Not to worry. Remember those appliqued napkins I made recently using invisible thread? I had a whole spool of that left.

Hopefully the re-made velvet band with its silver clasp will now fit properly. That Torah is going to get a lot of use over the next couple of weeks, so it was none too soon!

And now I need to get some sleep before my job as chair-person goes full tilt tomorrow!

8 Comments:

Blogger Kristin said...

You never cease to amaze. I cannot image how hectic your life would be if you hadn't retired.

6:55 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Kristin -- Yeah, I don't know how I did this job last year when I was working full-time!

7:45 AM  
Blogger Mother of Invention said...

They are lucky to have you, who can do things like this easily! I'm the one with the masking tape on her hem!

7:46 PM  
Blogger bulletholes said...

I like the sound of invisible thread....

1:09 PM  
Blogger Richard said...

Hmmm ... don't those lions violate the edict against graven images?

8:53 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

MOI -- Masking tape can actually work wonders on hems. In college I had a roommate who was 4'10". She had to hem every pair of pants she ever bought. She did it all with Scotch tape, which even survived washing and drying.

Steve -- Invisible thread is so COOL. Sounds like something out of a Harry Potter book, yes?

Richard -- We are NOT worshipping the lions. They are simply adorning the velvet Torah band. But, come to think of it, there is no other such image in the sanctuary to my knowledge. Good question. I'll put it forth in our hour-long "ask the rabbi" session on Yom Kippur.

9:02 PM  
Blogger Richard said...

I know you are not worshipping them, I simply thought the edict against graven images applied to images of anything in heaven or earth.

I know Moses had fashioned a serpent and this was later destroyed by Hezekiah as part of an iconoclastic reform.

5:01 PM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Richard -- Those early Jews were always getting in trouble for worshipping idols. The Golden Calf is the most flagrant violation of that commandment. Although I guess you could argue that they hadn't yet received the 10 Commandments when they made it. I am curious to ask the rabbis about the lions.

9:32 PM  

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