Bezalel’s Heirs

Abstract

This chapter explores the dynamics of crafting communities among Jewish American women, with a particular focus on the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework—a North American organization founded in 1977. For the women of the Pomegranate Guild and other people in the study, the power of making things takes on extra meaning when it is done in groups, so much so that one participant called stitching together “magic.” The chapter also includes a study of a Pennsylvania synagogue knitting circle, and comparisons with Christian crafting groups such as the Prayer Shawl Ministry.