Jewish Institute for Lifelong Learning & Innovation

I have shared with you how I connect the making of pottery with my spiritual tradition. Pottery making brings me joy, and Judaism is my spiritual path, the guiding principle for the way I live.

The last step in creating a lasting clay vessel is firing. Firing is done in two stages: bisque and glaze firing. After the piece is trimmed and everything was added or carved, the vessel is left to air dry completely before being bisque-fired.

After pulling up walls and shaping, it is time to take away the excess clay and to add underglazes, handles, beaks, spouts, or carve designs onto the form. This step of taking away the excess clay is called (by some people) trimming or turning (for others).

After wedging, centering, and opening, the next step to create a clay vessel is pulling up the walls. I make sure there is enough water on the walls but none pooling on the bottom of the vessel. I hold a sponge with my right hand and with it I press…

The next step in creating something out of clay is opening. After wedging the clay and centering it on the wheel, a potter will make space in the middle of the mount of clay in order to continue creating the form that exists only in the potter’s mind.

There is a passage in the book of the prophet Jeremiah (18: 1-5) that compares the relationship of clay in the hands of a potter with the relationship between the people of Israel and God.

I am a potter. Many years ago, when I left Rabbinical School, I realized I needed to learn something as an adult, to have a firsthand understanding of how the process of learning a new skill works

For a long time my greatest pleasure was to make hallah (I prefer this spelling) for shabbat. I started my dough on Thursday evening, left it to rise overnight in the fridge, shaped and let it rise again, and then baked it, filling my home with the smell of warm…

I have a friend whose family went to Brazil from Germany before WWI, and were an influential part of the Jewish German-Brazilian community in Sao Paulo. My friend was a third-generation rabbi, and he talked fondly about his father and grandfather.

Sunday, January 14, 2024 marks 100 days in which there are still Israelis being held as hostages by Hamas. Our hearts go out to the families of the people who are being held captive and are going through daily (sometimes hourly) torture.