It’s been a busy month, both with a variety of freelance projects and with getting ready for the Art Fair at the 2025 Greater Chicago Jewish Festival, where I’ll be vending one week from today. With luck, I’ll be displaying another new product, so watch for pics of that next week.
I don’t get to see much of the rest of the festival, as a rule, but I’m still really excited about it. So much great music! Where else can you get Israeli pop/rock legend David Broza headlining for only $5? (Fun fact: I went to see David Broza play at the City Winery in Chicago at the end of January 2020 – shortly before Covid.)
Tonight also begins the holiday of Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, which is both an agricultural pilgrimage festival specified in the Torah and, somewhat confusingly, the anniversary of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai. There is a traditional Jewish practice of staying up all night (or, at least, late, which for me will mean being out til 9pm) to study Torah on Shavuot, as well as of enjoying dairy products. So get out there and enjoy some cheesecake with your Torah study!
With Passover behind us, next week begins the month of Iyyar, and that means we’re already on the next set of holidays and observances, known in Jewish day school circles (and elsewhere) as “the Yoms”:
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day (27th of Nisan, this year falling on April 24, yesterday)
Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day (4th of Iyyar, this year falling on April 30)
Yom HaAtzma’ut, Israel’s Independence Day (5th of Iyyar, this year falling on May 1)
So, on the topic of your community’s upcoming Yom HaAtzma’ut celebration, I’m going to showcase yet another item I never would have guessed would become a cornerstone of my Etsy shop… custom printed temporary tattoos in Hebrew.
In 2022, I had already been creating tattoo designs in Hebrew for several years, mostly as custom work, and I posted a couple of successful designs in my Etsy shop as digital downloads only. Then in 2023, after fielding multiple requests, I started offering a Custom Hebrew Tattoo Design as a digital product, where I would translate your desired phrase and supply it in your choice of typeface, and that was that for a while.
Hakarat HaTov (Gratitude)Modah Ani Lefanecha
Then one week, I had two different buyers say “Gee I thought I would receive a temporary decal, how am I supposed to get this on my body?” I’m like “er, with needles and ink, I assumed?” but then I thought, well, is this something I can offer?
So I looked into it, and it turns out you can buy laser-printable tattoo paper on Amazon. I bought a couple different brands to test out, but they all seem to be essentially the same: a sheet of paper that you print on, and a sheet of plastic-backed adhesive film that you peel off and apply to the decal paper.
Tips and tricks for creating the decals:
Important note: your desired image has to be mirrored, meaning flipped horizontally, before you print it! I’ve wasted many sheets by forgetting this crucial step.
I cut the sheets in half before I print them. This makes it easier to print small batches without wasting any space, but it also makes the adhesive sheet easier to apply without skewing or flopping around.
Print-it-yourself tattoo paper doesn’t come out exactly like the temp tattoo decals you can buy at Party City or whatnot. You can see the clear film of the adhesive around the edge of the printing. It’s best to trim the decal with scissors fairly close to the design before you apply it. After application, you can dip a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and gently “erase” the edges; this is also good maintenance once it begins to look dingy around the edges after a few days.
Directions for application (this is what I send to buyers with my decal orders):
Peel off the clear backing.
Place the tattoo image face down on your skin in the desired position.
Moisten the backing paper of the tattoo with a wet cloth or sponge until it is fully saturated.
Apply gentle pressure for 30 seconds.
Slide the backing paper off slowly.
Rub the finished tattoo with your finger to improve adhesion to the skin.
Your tattoo may last up to a week with normal bathing. To remove sooner, wipe with rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball or tissue. Don’t scrub it off, it isn’t necessary and just irritates your skin. (obligatory Jewish mom warning)
Besides the custom Hebrew temporary tattoos, I have added a number of stock phrases for sale as either digital downloads or temp tattoo decals, since they are commonly requested:
Am Yisrael Chai (the nation of Israel lives) – available as a straight line of text or some more decorative layouts
Eitz chayim hi (it is a tree of life – a well-known phrase referring to the Torah)
One of the interesting things about this venture is that I get as many Christian customers as Jewish ones. Most people don’t identify themselves outright as one or the other, and I don’t make my assumptions based on their names (although sometimes the names are pretty unambiguous!), but rather by the wording they use and the phrases they ask for. If you ask for “tikkun olam”, “zachor” or “l’dor va-dor” – pretty obviously Jewish or Jewish-adjacent. If you ask for “family”, “freedom”, “light the darkness”, or “never forget” – 99% likely Jewish. If you ask for “shepherd”, “redeemed”, or “daughter of the king” – Christian. I’ve also had a number of buyers identify themselves to me as Christians but fellow travelers supporting Israel or finding meaning in Hebrew texts, and I’m all for that. Either way, friends, I will do my best to help you out!
PS: It is commonly known, or at least asserted, that Jewish law prohibits tattooing. The halachic status is actually a bit complex, so I urge you to consult your local rabbi if you have questions. I’m not giving or denying permission to anyone, I’m just creating artwork for people to use as they see fit. However, as far as I know there are no Jewish religious restrictions on the use of temporary tattoo decals, so order away on these!
PPS: Boston friends, as you read this I’m getting on an airplane to attend a bar mitzvah in Cambridge for Parshat Shmini… either I’ll see you there, or please let me know where else I can see you!
This weekend we made it through the beginning of Pesach, a.k.a. Passover, complete with 2 seders and a requisite (in our house) viewing of The Prince of Egypt. I could and probably should write a whole post on the topic of The Prince of Egypt, the star-studded 1998 animated masterpiece of DreamWorks SKG – otherwise known as Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen, i.e., the Jew Crew. For now, suffice it to say that it’s pretty easy to distinguish Old Testament stories being retold by Christians from Hebrew Bible stories being retold by Jews, and this one scores high on the authenticity scale.
Anyway, Passover. While I was hoping to have some newer product listings to share by now, I’m bringing you a Passover card from the backlist (created in 2023) since I don’t think I ever wrote about it here.
This exuberant pastel design makes use of one of the best-known passages in the Passover Seder: Ilu hotzianu mi-Mitzrayim, Dayenu! If God had merely brought us out of Egypt, that would have been enough for us.
Inside reads “Wishing you a joyful Passover” in English and “Chag kasher v’sameach” (the traditional Passover greeting) in Hebrew.
Passover is a week away? Already?? It always seems to come as a surprise, but not if you’ve been paying attention to the subtle calendar clues in our tradition.
The two months leading up to Passover include four special Shabbats that include additional maftir Torah readings from a second Torah scroll:
Shabbat Shekalim, the Shabbat immediately prior to (or falling on) Rosh Chodesh Adar; the maftir reading, Exodus 30:11-16, describes the half-shekel census taken in the wilderness.
Shabbat Zakhor, the Shabbat before Purim; the maftir reading, Deuteronomy 25:17-19, commands us to remember (zakhor) the treachery of Amalek and to simultaneously blot out his name from our memory, as we will shortly do on Purim.
Shabbat Parah, one to two weeks prior to Rosh Chodesh Nisan; the maftir reading, Numbers 19:1-22, fondly known as the “Holy Cow” Parshah, discusses the arcane ritual of the red heifer (parah adumah).
Shabbat HaChodesh, the Shabbat immediately prior to (or falling on) Rosh Chodesh Nisan; the maftir reading, Exodus 12:1-20, starts with the line “This month (ha-chodesh ha-zeh) shall be for you the beginning of the months, it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.” This is when you know you have only 2+ weeks left until Passover and it’s time to start screaming… er, cleaning. This was a week ago yesterday. (Yesterday was plain old Parshat Vayikra, the first parshah in the book of Leviticus.)
This coming Shabbat, the one that falls immediately prior to Passover, isn’t one of those four, but it still gets a special haftarah portion and hence a special name: Shabbat HaGadol, literally “The Great Shabbat”, or as my Tremont St. Shul crowd liked to say, “The Big Shabbos”. It’s not super common for Shabbat HaGadol to literally fall on the eve of Passover, but anytime you have a Saturday night first seder, you’ve got yourself a Shabbat HaGadol double header.
The Haftarah for Shabbat HaGadol is Malachi 3:4-24, and the day takes its name from verse 23: “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome (ha-gadol), fearful day of the Lord”. I was commissioned some years ago to create a piece from this haftarah as a bat mitzvah gift. The actual eponymous verse didn’t grab me, and it took a little digging to find a passage that would be both uplifting and memorable, but I settled on verses 16-17:
Thus have those who revere the Lord been speaking one to another. The Lord has heard and noted it, and a scroll of remembrance has been written before Him concerning those who revere the Lord and esteem His name. They shall be to me, said the Lord of Hosts, on the day that I am preparing, a treasured possession; I will be tender toward them as a parent is tender to a child who serves him. —Malachi 3:16-17
Interestingly, this week’s Torah portion is Tzav, the second parshah in the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). The designated haftarah portion officially paired with Tzav is from the book of Jeremiah (7:21-8:3, 9:22-23). However, because Tzav so frequently falls out on one of the aforementioned five special Shabbats, the “standard” haftarah is very rarely read. It was read in 2022, but it won’t be read again until 2043! I have an art piece for this as well:
Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise glory in their wisdom; and let not the strong glory in their strength; let not the wealthy glory in their wealth. But only in this should they glory: in knowing and understanding Me, that I am the Lord who does kindness, justice and righteousness in the land, for in these I delight, says the Lord. —Jeremiah 9:23-24
Let’s not forget to bring that energy into this week, as well.
I am so excited to announce a completely new product: frosted glass stones with inspirational Hebrew words on them. I’m calling them Hebrew Blessing Stones.
Each stone is uniquely shaped and features three styles of text printed in white or black ink – the Hebrew word plus the English transliteration and translation. The translucent stones are about 1.25 inches in diameter. Order a set of all 10, or mix and match different quantities.
I’m starting with 10 different messages in this assortment:
Shalom – Peace (deep blue)
Emunah – Faith (light blue)
Menuchat HaNefesh – Peace of Mind (aqua)
Refuah – Healing (green)
Brachah – Blessing (purple)
Tzedek – Justice (amethyst)
Ahavah – Love (red)
Hakarat HaTov – Gratitude (purple)
Neshamah – Soul (white)
Zachor – Remember (black)
All have white text except Neshamah/Soul, which features black text on a white frosted glass stone.
What you give your attention to is what you get more of, and each of these inspirational stones will speak to you differently. Carry a stone with you as a focus for personal reflection and intention throughout the day, or place it in your favorite meditation spot as a beautiful reminder.
My manufacturing partner for these stones is Lifeforce Glass in Winchester, Massachusetts—not far from my old stomping grounds in Cambridge/Somerville. When I encountered these folks, I immediately knew exactly what I was going to create with their help. If you need your own custom assortment, definitely call on them! Ask for Josh and tell him I sent you.
I’m already thinking ahead to the next set of 10, so if there’s another sentiment you would like to carry with you, let me know your suggestions! (I am also thinking of offering a set of 10 Sefirot/Chakra Stones, but we’ll see how this set goes first.)
And, if you’ve read this far, you may be interested to know that I am officially confirmed to appear in the Art Fair at the 2025 Greater Chicago Jewish Festival. It’ll be taking place in just over 2 months – Sunday, June 8, 11am to 5pm – at the Cook County Forest Preserve at Oakton St. in Morton Grove, IL. I look forward to displaying my Blessing Stones and hopefully some other new items as well, in addition to all the old favorites. Mark your calendars and stay tuned!
When I started my Etsy Judaica shop as an unemployed newlywed in 2014, I had no idea that “miniature books” would eventually be an entire category in my product line. But in 2017, I got a message from a past buyer: “Do you have a set of Tanya or the Talmud in 1:12 scale please? Any other Judaica?”
I didn’t, but I love Jewish books and I have always loved miniatures, so I figured, why not me?
It took a couple years for me to work out the specifics, but I ended up creating over 80 pieces of 12+ different books for her, including multiple sets of Talmud volumes, a set of Midrash Rabbah, a JPS Tanakh, an Etz Hayim Humash (see also: Eitz Chayim Chumash), Passover haggadahs, the Five Megillot, B’Kol Echad benchers, and, yes, a five-volume set of Tanya (not yet posted for general sale, but if you’re looking for one, hit me up).
A library of Judaica in the palm of my hand.
Miniature books shown with a U.S. quarter for scale.
Cutting the foamcore blocks for the centers.
Paper covers awaiting their book blocks.
Miniature Haggadahs.
Sets of miniature books packaged for shipping.
Yes, I bought a dollhouse bookcase to stage the books in.
Rabbi Mork from Ork (the Orker Rav) studying Tractate Brachot.
Today and tomorrow begins the Hebrew month of Adar, of which the Talmud (Ta’anit 29a) says, “When Adar enters, joy increases.” The primary reason for this joyfulness is that it contains the holiday of Purim, when the Jews of Persia in the 5th century B.C.E. were almost destroyed by an evil prime minister manipulating a feckless king (nope, not resonant at all), but were saved by the hand of God working through a courageous young Jewish woman. For more about Adar and Purim, I commend you to one of my favorite websites, Jewish Heritage Online Magazine, a rich repository of insights on Jewish cultural themes.
For myself, I have two Purim-related art projects to share with you.
Some weeks ago, I got served a Facebook ad for Noteworthy Scents. The premise is that you can take their “3-minute quiz” and “Our AI will personalize your perfume kit”. So for $25 you get tiny sample vials of their top 4 fragrance picks hand- (er, machine-) selected for you, plus a $25 voucher toward any full-size purchase.
Now, I am pretty clear on what I like in fragrance. Most of my adult life I’ve had a strong leaning toward “masculine” scents – cologne, deodorant, body wash. Anything green, woody, mineral, aromatic; fig, sandalwood, leather, tobacco, salt, moss. My longtime favorite is Banana Republic’s Cordovan, and the body wash I buy for myself on repeat is the Goodfellow & Co Sea Salt & Moss at Target. Nevertheless, I succumbed to the impulse to find out if maybe something out there is even more perfect and resonant for me. (This writeup is not sponsored in any way, I’m just interested in writing about it.)
I created this anti-MAGA hat on Zazzle over 5 years ago, on July 4, 2019. After the 2024 election, it’s time to brush it off and debut it again.
The reference, of course, is to Langston Hughes’ classic poem, “Let America Be America Again” (1935), which I commend to all of you to read in its entirety, preferably out loud.
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be. Let it be the pioneer on the plain Seeking a home where he himself is free. (America never was America to me.)
Erica Schultz Yakovetz 