Peace And Blessings To All Who Come

When we lived in Leicestershire, I found this lovely Rernnie Mackintosh tile in an Oxfam shop. It used to hang just inside the front door of the Manse there. Now it hangs in our porch – so it is visible to all visitors even before they get inside the house.

On Monday, my SIL Marion wanted to check out the local CS for a specific item, so we went into Ferndown to the five shops we have. Sadly she didn’t find what she was looking for, but this caught my eye. I didn’t know what it said, but I loved the embroidery. On the back it says Emanuel and I know that means God With Us. The assistant thought it might be to do with the loaves and fishes.

I bought it for £2.50 and took it home to show Bob. He told me [clever bloke] that it says Bruchim HaBa'im – which translates as “Blessings to all who come” – it is a traditional Israeli Welcome sign. The wall hanging designs in raw silk are appliquéd and attached with embroidery.  The fringes are made from glass and metal beads.  The mounting rod is made from brass pipe with brass finials. And further research showed us that Emanuel is the name of the artist who made it! Yair Emanuel, is a graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, and he lives and works in Jerusalem. You can buy these hangings on the Internet – for around £50. I already knew about Bezalel – he is one of my craft-teacher heroes, from Exodus 35, where Moses says -

“See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills – to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. And he has given both him and Oholiab the ability to teach others. He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers – all of them skilled workers and designers”

My hanging is a little bit faded- its previous owner must have put it somewhere where the sun shone on it. But I love the fish and the pomegranates and the stitching details. And I love the ‘blessings’ greeting too. It seems a very appropriate sign for our new home.