our mission
Today I want to share my current vision for our new business and website, "Creative Jewish Living". I say "current vision" because this is just a beginning: my vision will certainly evolve as others involve themselves in this venture.
~Combining the "Marketplace of Ideas" with a Marketplace of beautiful Judaica
∑ A place for creative Jewish people to gift and sell their Judaic products
∑ A place to share ideas, questions, feelings, wisdom, teachings, recipes, rituals, art, information about gatherings and communities, stories, books, magazines, articles, etc. about creative Judaism
∑ An on-line Magazine filled with all of the above
Where did this idea come from?
∑ Funding a creative Jewish learning and sharing site by selling Judaica to each other and to our readers allows us to be completely free from denominational and other types of biased funding. Receiving such funding would also require us putting together a staff of fund-raisers, a board of directors, etc-- in other words, producing a top-heavy non-profit organization rather than a flexible entrepreneurial entity.
∑ Artists and creative thinkers are often the same people-- we can learn from each other and help each other make a solid living
∑ Bringing beautiful and interesting Judaica into the home provides concrete ways for one to bring to life one's growing awareness and appreciation for creative Jewish living
~Blending Modern with Traditional Judaism
Thousands of years of Judaism have gifted us with a deep, grounded, developed, and layered religion. Delving into traditional Judaism is akin to mining a mountain of gold. Modern Judaism, on the other hand, has the potential to be more colorful, innovative, multi-cultural, multi-disciplinary, and in tune with the world around us. I believe we can and should have both, blended together in our actively creative Jewish communities, families, homes, circles, and lives.
~Bringing Jewish art into the modern art world
A wonderful Judaic concept, Hiddur Mitzvah, teaches us that we are commanded to beautify our sacred places, events, and ritual items. For hundreds of years it has been a Jewish tradition to create Judaic artistry that reflects the art of that particular time and place. In many Jewish communities, the best artists have dedicated their talents to Hiddur Mitzvah. Today, the political and artistic climates have drawn many talented Jewish artists away from Jewish themes and Judaica. Jewish art can be seen in Jewish museums, but rarely in contemporary galleries and museums.
The results are that many discerning Jewish art collectors spend their money on art and artists that are not Jewish while Jewish art fails to consistently attract top artists. Imagine if Jewish art was the most amazing, beautiful art you had ever seen… you could participate in Jewish traditions such as owning a ketubah, learning Hebrew through prayers and teachings, owning dozens of Passover Haggadahs and prayer/song books, and teaching your children and friends the wisdom of the Torah stories, while supporting talented artists and beautifying your home with art that inspires and touches you deeply.
~Building community
Following a growing internet trend, our dream is to facilitate the creation of virtual communities around the theme of creative Jewish living. Our vision is that like-minded people will find each other on our site and perhaps be inspired to meet each other in the "real world".
-
nishima's story
Alon and I met in May of 1992 as we were both graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. We had each been exploring Judaism, movement, and the arts as places to go deeply into spirit; we recognized ourselves in each other. We were married in 1995 at our Conservative synagogue, where we had become the only regulars in our early 20s. Rabbi Stone taught us a profound Judaism one-on-two,, from the bima, and through weekly classes. He helped us create a traditional egalitarian Jewish wedding which we shared with our diverse guests through our first Guide to the Jewish Wedding. We then journeyed to Israel for a 6 week honeymoon in the Holy Land, which we explored end to end.
For the first ten years of our relationship, Alon and I supported each other’s early artistic development. We gave each other the courage to traverse a path that was not clearly set before us but which diverged from the expected professional paths of the gifted children of medical doctors. I attended art school at the traditional Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and then set up an art studio while Alon walked by my side: he watched over me as I painted Israeli landscapes surrounded by foreign strangers; he talked with me late into the night as I struggled with big artistic questions; he carried my heavy art supplies; he photographed and framed my artwork; he hung shows for me and built all my websites. Meanwhile Alon was also busy with his own work as a writer, making and writing and telling movies and stories. I collaborated on and edited each screenplay and story, and even illustrated his first children’s book. I spent time on his film sets, helping with the actors and lending my good spirit to his projects. We always enjoyed working together.
Our Jewish lives continued to grow in Venice, California after our wedding (and later in Asheville, North Carolina). We joined two other Conservative synagogues and became lay leaders. We chanted Torah and Haftorahs, led and organized services, learned and taught new melodies (esp. loving Carlebach), created alternative Jewish spaces and programs such as meditations, yoga, study groups, dance, and art, and led programs for adults, kids and families which often included Alon’s beloved stories. We attended two Aleph Kallahs (Jewish renewal gatherings) together where we studied music, prayer, art, Mussar, and other wonderful and profound Jewish teachings. We led many Jewish Renewal-style gatherings outside the synagogue, including an arts and movement workshop for Shavuot, Passover and Tu B’Shevat seders, and many havurah and Rosh Chodesh gatherings. Our Jewish observance is traditional but not orthodox. We mostly attend Conservative services but we have spent some time in Reform, Renewal, and Orthodox settings. We are devoted to egalitarian and liberal philosophy and beliefs. We are essentially artists who focus on creative reflection and deep understandings of our tradition. We have each flirted with the idea of rabbinical school over the years, but find we are much more excited by creative expression of Judaism through the arts.
In 2003, after ten years of working alone but wanting to work together, we decided to take the plunge and build Artketubah.com as a team. We bought a large giclee printer, built a sophisticated website, and developed an extended affiliate network. We divided up the tasks as we set up an office that could create personalized, one-of-a-kind, limited edition ketubahs with my artwork. In 2006, our Nishima Kaplan Ketubah business was strong enough to support our family but we felt called by our muses to grow together in new ways. We melded our ideas and envisioned a family of sites under the umbrella (or tree) Creative Jewish Living. The vision is large enough to grow with us as we design new ritual and fine art; as we write to explore our faith and our hearts with stories, blogs, journals, poetry, and musings; as we teach our growing children Hebrew and Judaism through games, projects and stories. The vision also includes reaching out to other creative Jewish folk to build a community centered on artists, writers, ritual leaders, teachers, rabbis, and lay people engaged with the tradition. We imagine that our way of being Jewish is shared by many and deserves a show-stopping presence on the web. We look forward to meeting new people and learning from each other.
Meanwhile we are balancing our work life with raising a family of three girls. We chose to live in Asheville because the small town environment is more conducive to a quiet, peaceful, non-materialistic life. Our hearts are yearning for Israel as well. More and more we can imagine ourselves making aliyah and living amongst spiritual seekers in the Holy Land. We hope to make bridges between Israel and the U.S., between English and Hebrew, to help connect creative Jews living in these two large Jewish centers.
As we connect with new people, with new places and language (Israel and Hebrew), with new art forms, with new stories and ideas, we find ourselves challenged by the pace at which we are growing and changing. We have a broad vision but we do not know how it will organically develop. This can be terribly frightening. However, I am comforted and grounded in our journey by these words sent to me by Janine Sopp, our new artist companion:
welcome to being an artist, with more questions than answers, more love than hate, more feelings than thoughts; finding the balance and direction is just the way life is. you ARE in the flow. that's the crazy thing! it's just bumpy and often with a "limited sight distance". so keep your feet on the ground and dreams in the air. enjoy the ride and know there are friends out here doing much the same.
We look forward to the ride, to meeting these friends, and to supporting each other on our shared journey of Creative Jewish Living!
-
alon's tale
In 1992, Nishima and Alon were living down the street from each other on 42nd street, just off the University of Pennsylvania campus. Although they had friends in common and had heard about each other, no one thought of putting them together in the same room. Instead, Alon spent the year studying mystical Jewish and Christian traditions with a former Greek-Orthodox monk by day and rolling around with his Aikido dojo by night. Nishima finished her degrees in Russian studies and at the Wharton business school but felt truly alive only during the 8 weekly hours of art and yoga classes and during her immersion in Judaism conducted by her housemates and friends. Despite their excitement about their studies, friends and the occasional romantic interest, it was a lonely year for both of them.
Fortunately, Fate intervened in the form of a Lebanese Palestinian friend who decided to put Nishima and Alon together in the same room. The occasion was a party at her downtown apartment. The result was not favorable for a future life together. Nishima thought Alon was a pompous jerk (he was.) Alon thought, “Boy, Nishima is just the kind of girl my friends and I are always saying we want to meet. Too bad we never meet anyone like her.” (Okay, he was pompous, jerky and dumb.)
With graduation nearing, Fate decided to give the two reluctant Lovers another push. Like a romantic comedy from the early 90s (before they got really bad), Nishima and Alon found themselves together on the Walnut Street Walk (a five mile pub crawl from the Delaware River to West Philly). Midway through the crawl, Nishima began to think, “Hey, he’s kind of a cute pompous jerk.” And Alon thought, “I wonder if a girl like that could ever like a kind of cute, pompous jerk like me?”
Six weeks later, Nishima was on a plane to Israel and Alon was moping around Philly writing love-sick letters and wondering how he could survive the seven weeks until she came home. Yet the next year conspired to keep them apart: Nishima at Stanford working on a master’s degree in Russian studies and Alon directing a feature film he had written. When Spring came, Nishima quit Russian studies, moved back to Philly and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Alon drifted into writing screenplays and learned how to program websites. Nishima converted to Judaism and Alon learned how to chant Haftorahs. They married on a joyous, muggy Summer afternoon on June 11th, 1995 and danced the night away with the Lebanese friend who had brought them together in the first place.
Nishima and Alon moved to L.A. where they taught Hebrew school, made art, sold screenplays and immersed themselves in Jewish life. One day, Nishima’s best friend from college, Denise, asked her to create a very special wedding present: “Make me a ketubah,” Denise said. Nishima did and it was beautiful. The year was 1998 and Alon put the photo of Denise’s ketubah on the website he had built for Nishima.
A couple contacted Nishima and asked if she could make them a ketubah as well. That ketubah was followed by another and then another. Soon, Nishima was getting requests for more ketubahs than she could handle. Alon built her a new site, ArtKetubah.com, and they began creating limited edition gyclees of Nishima’s most popular designs.
Over time, Alon realized that he was spending more time helping Nishima with her business than he was screenwriting. He loved working on her ketubahs (and frankly, could not bear the thought of driving through smog to yet another meeting with studio execs at Disney or Fox). On a much-needed vacation to Vancouver, while their daughter slept outside the Vancouver Aquarium, Nishima and Alon decided to take the plunge and make ketubahs full-time.
Like the Beverly Hillbillies in reverse, they packed up their stuff, waved goodbye to Beverly Hills and drove across country to Appalachia. They set up shop in a big, hundred-year old Arts & Crafts house in the artist-rich city of Asheville and set about reinventing Ketubahs, Chuppahs and Judaica.
Looking back, it all makes sense: the study of early Judeo-Christian mysticism, the burgeoning love of Judaism, the trips to Israel, the devotion to fine art, the storytelling, the coding, the reinvention of the traditional ketubah design as Modern Art and the reinvention of traditional Judaica websites as online communities. The choices of Philly and L.A. to immerse themselves in the American centers of rich, Jewish life and the choice of Asheville to immerse themselves in the American center of handcrafted art.
{mos_fb_discuss:4}
|
