Commissioned by Temple Har Zion in River Forest, Illinois. Selections from ten tapestries on the story of receiving and accepting the covenant at Sinai were woven in 2019. 18″ x 6″, Linen Yarn.
The intention of the series, “Mount Sinai on Route 43 – From the Shore of the Sea to the Mishkan in Our Hearts,” is that it will both memorialize the dramatic episode and profound commitment on a mountain in a Middle Eastern desert 3500 years ago and encourage the ongoing process of becoming who we aspire to be.
As a color motif, I chose a deep purple-blue to represent t’khelet. God commanded us to use this blue hue, mentioned forty-nine times in the Torah, on one thread in the tzitzit attached to the corners of our garments (Numbers 15:37-39). T’khelet is woven into all ten tapestries, symbolizing specific objects or concepts. Thus, t’khelet connects the story elements – from the first tapestry depicting the Israelites’ celebration by the Sea of Reeds to the last symbolizing the internalization of the commandments in our hearts.
The series is hung in the foyer, surrounding the doors into the sanctuary which opens to a centered view of the ark. The two red tapestries are the fifth and sixth, both framing the door.
Berit Engen began weaving as a child in Norway and now practices this ancient craft in the centuries-old tradition of expounding on Jewish texts. Her ongoing project, “WEFT and DRASH – A Thousand Jewish Tapestries,” begun in 2007, consists of to date of about 650 pieces. She compares her small-scale, linen-yarn tapestries to Japanese Haiku: formally constrained by a miniature size, imagistic and focused, yet allusive. Her work has been shown in solo and group shows, including exhibitions at the Spertus Institute, Chicago (2012–2013); the Janice Charach, Gallery, Detroit (2018 and 2022); Oak Park Public Library, Oak Park, IL (2020); and the Bernard Heller Museum, New York (2024). It is part of the permanent collection of the Chicago History Museum, and it has been featured in Lilith magazine (2014). She was a selected participant to the Covenant Foundation-sponsored Midwest Jewish Art Lab (2015). A ten-piece commission on the Sinai story is permanently installed in Temple Har Zion in River Forest, IL (2020) and has been part of the Chicago Architectural Center’s annual Open House Chicago. She is co-editor of Out of the Narrows: The Artists’ Haggadah (2021) and a co-founder of the Jewish Artists Collective Chicago (JACC).
Berit Engen lives and works in Oak Park, Illinois, USA