Many people have asked: Where will the Torah be when it is finished?
A: When Torah Stitch By Stitch was launched in June I was not at all sure we would ever achieve a completed scroll. The primary goal of the project still remains: “to engage with words of Torah” on a personal level.
By early September there were 300 stitchers in 9 countries; a month later we are 420 stitchers in 12 countries . . . and it now seems very likely that people will sign up for all of the 1463 portions. The panels already completed are beautiful, and the anecdotes people are sharing about their portion and stitching experience are profoundly moving.
Everyone who works on or contributes to the project will be acknowledged, at least in a digital catalogue. Already the data base and image archive are substantial, and that is growing each day as people submit their process photos, anecdotes, acknowledge those to whom they dedicate their stitching, etc. Application for funding for a documentary film is in process.
As to the exhibition and final disposition of the project: that depends on many factors. We have created a design for assembling the pieces so that all sections are visible and all components disassemble into manageable parts for shipping. We also have a wish list of museums to approach.
Take a look at the website of “Quilt of Belonging” and you will have a sense of how things may evolve in terms of documentation and exhibition.
Three very capable women have joined me as volunteers to tend to both the day-to-day tasks, as well as longer term needs such as: developing a business plan, applying for charitable status, forming a Board of Directors, applying for grants. Ultimately the extent to which we can take Torah Stitch By Stitch into the world of museums and publications will depend on successful fundraising.
We will keep you posted and seek your ongoing support.
While stitching and contemplating the meaning of the aleph bet as each letter is formed and created, I also consider the threads themselves. How they must be separated into single strands first to be rejoined in order that they may lie as flat as possible. I even use my thumb nail to nudge the strands into better alignment from time to time. After all, the goal is to cover all the fabric beneath the crosses as smoothly and evenly as possible.
Take great care, I tell myself, to put that needle precisely through a hole without splitting any fibres. Consider all the while, the route and direction of the stitching always aiming to be as close as possible to the next letter in a word, never carrying a thread more than two squares. It is a very meditative process and I do feel that I am doing a mitzvah by writing a part of the Torah! I want more!!