A Great Time at the NY International Gift Fair!

My favorite section at NYIGF - Handmade/Designer Maker

The New York International Gift Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in NYC is AWESOME!  It is an incredible, unique opportunity to meet thousands of vendors.  Although I specifically look for handmade Judaica, there are millions of products in the following categories:

• General Gift
• Tabletop & Housewares
• Accent on Design
• Baby & Child
• Handmade Global Design
• At Home Featuring Home Textiles
• Personal Accessories
• Handmade Designer Maker

It's a miracle! No traffic!

I visited the NYIGF on Sunday, January 29, 2012, but first I have to brag about how fast I got to Manhattan.  I left my house at 10:15 am and walked into Javits at 11:05, which was just amazing!  I don’t think that has ever happened before or ever will again.

Although I love this show and will probably never miss it, the number of Judaica artists that come to this show is limited and it is a challenge to find new artists who make things that I love.  I am very appreciative that I get contacted by artists at least once a week, so hopefully I will always be finding new artists to add to the site.  At this show, I discovered three new artists, and I am very excited about showing you their pieces.

There are two different types of vendors that I buy from – one is the artist that primarily makes Judaica.  The other is the artist who makes beautiful jewelry, and in their entire collection, they have only a few pieces of Jewish jewelry. It’s not really easy to spot these artists because they might have 100+ pieces of jewelry on display, and maybe only a handful of Jewish pieces with a Star of David, a Chai, or a Hamsa on them.   When I’m walking up and down the aisles with limited time, there really isn’t time to study every single vendor’s line.  However, some artists have jewelry that is so striking and so beautiful, I stop to look anyway to gawk, and hope that there is something Jewish there.

Jewelry of Zina Kao

This is how I discovered Zina Kao.  The show was over at 6 pm and I was speeding up and down the ‘Personal Accessories’ section  at 5:45 with only minutes to go to discover someone new.  I stopped to look at her beautiful and simple jewelry.  I quickly scanned over everything in her booth in search of something Jewish, but couldn’t find anything.  So I asked her if she had anything Jewish and she said that she did have a small Star of David, but it was not on display.  She had other small symbols like a peace sign, a heart, a cross, a star, so I was able to imagine what a Star of David would look like.  I then proceeded to design 6 pieces of jewelry, based on her other designs, that would have the star on it.  I can’t wait to see these pieces!  One of the necklaces I got is that peace necklace but with a Star of David.

Island Cowgirl jewelry

Another artist I discovered is Island Cowgirl.  I really discovered her a few years ago, but at that time, she only made one necklace with a Star of David on it, and with minimum opening orders, I couldn’t commit to buying 10 of one piece.  So, I was very happy to visit her booth and discover that her Judaica line expanded to other pieces.  She makes very cool jewelry with a modern look on leather.  It is always a challenge finding nice Judaica for boys and men, and her pieces are great for both men and women.

The last artist I discovered is C.J. Arts, who makes the coolest Judaica out of Jerusalem stone.  I’ve wanted to buy from them before, but large pieces like a Passover Seder Plate, and a menorah, and even mezuzzahs, are very heavy and the shipping fee from Israel is prohibitive.  Now they have jewelry in their collection, and I bought 6 pieces that are really amazing (and much less expensive to ship).  They are made out of Jerusalem stone and come with a certificate of authenticity.  All of the pieces I bought have the Shema on them and are great for men and women.  I hope you love them, too!

Jewelry made from Jerusalem stone by C.J. Art

It was great catching up with the artists who are already represented at Jewish Gift Place.  I visited Emily Rosenfeld, who has a few really nice new mezuzahs, many new necklaces for men and women, and new word bracelets.  I saw Gary Rosenthal and his mom, Ann, who has great new mezuzahs and candlesticks and a new Passover Seder Plate.  Cynthia Gale was there with her daughter and Eduardo Milieris was there with his daughter.  Ilan Baskin and his dad were there and they have an incredibly beautiful new Seder Plate that I can’t wait to add to the collection.  Sara Beames has incredible pieces – I need to add more of them to the site.  Michael Bromberg has great new mezuzah pendants.  Michal Golan has many more hamsa necklaces and wall hamsas I need to add to the site.  Ayala Bar’s Spring 2012 collection is gorgeous and Seeka  has dozens of pieces that are strikingly beautiful that I need to add.  I said ‘hello’ to Whitney and Howard of Whitney Howard Designs, Patrick Meyer, and Steven Cooper.  He makes beautiful Hebrew name jewelry, so I want to get those online, as well.  So, there’s lots to do….

I’ll keep you posted when I get these new pieces online.

Auschwitz Woman Stripped Naked and About to be Gassed Kills SS Guard

De-classified report documenting atrocities at Auschwitz

Incident #48
Informant remembers that in ‘Nov 43 there occurred the celebrated incident when a notorious S.S. SCHARTFUEHLER, SCHILLINGER, one of the worst murderers and henchmen in BIRKENHAU, was shot dead with his own revolver by a French Jewish actress who had already been stripped naked and was about to be gassed.  Incidentally, informant states that men in the KWARANTENENLAGER were able to witness the almost daily spectacle of open lorry loads of naked women who were being carried from the adjacent FRAUENLAGER for liquidation in the gas chambers.

In May 31, 1945, a 33 year-old Polish man told British intelligence about a  Jewish woman’s final act of resistance in the undressing room of crematorium II in Birkenau, the antechamber to the gas chamber.  In November 1943, the woman, stripped naked and about to be sent to the gas chambers, realized the danger she was in.  She seized the pistol of the SS soldier, Josef Schillinger, and shot him dead.  She shot another SS soldier, Wilhelm Emmerich.  The SS suppressed the mutiny and killed all the women.

The woman is believed to be a French actress named Franceska Mann, although this hasn’t been positively verified.  This brave act of resistance was discovered by The Archive Muckrakers,  who obtained a copy of a rarely viewed 10 page report, which was found in a U.S. Army intelligence file and was declassified in 2010.  There is a slightly more detailed description of this account at the Auschwitz-Birkenau website.

Yesterday , January 27, was Holocaust Remembrance Day.  It was on this day in 1945 that Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet forces. My husband’s uncle, who died last year, was a Holocaust survivor.   The number 128103 was tattooed on his left arm by the Nazis.  He participated in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising and was imprisoned at three concentration camps – Madjanek, Auschwitz.  He was liberated from Buchenwald.

This April 19, 2012, when I light a candle for Yom Hashoah, I will also be thinking about Franceska Mann, a brave tragic actress, and the millions of innocent people lost and the millions of descendents who were never to be.

The NY International Gift Fair This Weekend!

The NY International Gift Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center

It’s my favorite time of year!  The  New York International Gift Fair and the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market of American Craft back-to-back!  This Sunday, January 28, 2012, I will be making my bi-annual trip to the NYIGF at the humongous (but not big enough at 625,000 sf- they’re looking to expand) Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan.

It was at this show, 5 years ago, that Jewish Gift Place really crystallized.  Prior to attending this show, I really didn’t have much of a clue how to connect with people who made and sold Judaica.  After many Google searches, I hooked up with one vendor who made jewelry and Judaica that I liked, but I found it really difficult to find products to sell that I loved.  I didn’t even know that gift fairs even existed for buyers only.  Somehow, I found out about the NY International Gift Fair.  Coincidentally, I discovered the NYIGF the week it was in town in January 2007.  It all seemed very rushed to me.  I found out about it, it was in town for another few days, then it wouldn’t be back again until August.  I didn’t think I was at the point in developing my website and business to run out and start buying products to sell, but my husband said, “GO!”  So I went.  And I was awed.

Besides never being in such a massive space as Jacob Javits before, and never being at a convention before, I had never seen so many high quality craftspeople in one space.  Prior to this trip, I had been to many arts & crafts fairs with maybe 50 vendors.  I’m just guessing, but I think there were over 800 handmade crafts vendors, and that’s not including all the other gift categories that were going on at the same time.  Maybe in total there are 3000+ vendors  – probably even more.

The first time there was overwhelming.  This show attracts buyers from all over the  world. People stay in hotels when they come here because it can take days to get through the show.  But with 3 little boys at home, I had to cover a lot of territory in one day.

After seeing hundreds of vendors (although there were probably less than 50 that sold Judaica), I finally made my first big bold decision and the very first vendor I bought from was Gary Rosenthal.  I picked out candlesticks and a menorah and a few mezuzahs.  I bought pieces from Michal Golan and Michael Bromberg.  I bought pieces from Cynthia Gale.  These artists formed the core of what Jewish Gift Place has come to represent – beautiful, unique, handmade Judaica.

I didn’t know that day that I was going to sell handmade pieces only.  I did buy some other pieces, like pot holders that look like matzah, and some other things like that.  I never tried to sell those pot holders because I quickly decided that I didn’t want to sell cheesy Judaica – just fine, handmade, quality Judaica.

So, there you have my sentimental journey back in time.  I haven’t missed a gift show since 2007. This will be my 11th trip there.  It’s awesome and I love this show!  This is where I get to say ‘hello’ to the artists again, and get a big nice greeting from Gary Rosenthal, Steven Bronstein of Blackthorne Forge, and Michael Golan (Michal’s husband), and Emily Rosenfeld, Joy Stember, Michael Bromberg, the glamorous Cynthia Gale, the one and only Eduardo Milieris, Patrick Meyer, Ilan Baskin, Susan Fullenbaum, Jan Lanier of Silk Bijoux, Beatriz Kelemen of K4 Glassart, and Sara Beames.  I get to check out the new pieces they’ve made and I get to discover new artists, which is always exciting.

At the last Javits show I was at in August 2011, I thought it would be fun to take a very short video of each artist saying, “Hello” so you could ‘meet’ them.  Check it out!  Also, don’t miss the interviews with the artists.

Check back next week and I’ll tell you about the show and the new pieces of Judaica that you can expect to see on the website in the next few months.  And then, before I know it, I’ll be off to the Philadelphia Buyer’s Market of American Craft on February 18, 2012.  What I especially love about that show is that, unlike NYIGF, EVERYTHING there is handmade.  That show is unbelievable!

Review of The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman is a compelling, gripping, chilling, absolutely awesome book.  It is one of the best books I’ve ever read.  It is the story of four women, Yael, Revka, Shirah, and Aziza, and the harrowing  paths that brought them to Masada and how their lives intersect.  These women are the dovekeepers at Masada in charge of the hundreds of doves that help sustain life at Masada.

Through detailed description, Alice Hoffman wrote about the months and years of routine daily life at Masada – weaving, baking, making coins, planting, babies being born, and holidays being celebrated – which stood in stark contrast to the fear, desperation, and suffering of the people on Masada.

The only account of Masada was recorded by the early Roman-Jewish historian, Josephus.  After the fall of Jerusalem in the first century CE, 960 Jews fled to Masada, a mountain fortress built by King Herod between 37 and 31 BCE as a refuge for himself.  This magnificent fortress had storage rooms, cisterns, bathhouses, aqueducts, and spectacular mosaics lining the floors and walls of his palace.

For two years, the Jews held out on Masada.  In 73 CE, with Masada being the last Jewish stronghold, Roman governor Flavius Silva and thousands of Roman soldiers with the Tenth Legion, along with thousands of Jewish prisoners of war who were tortured and forced to bring destruction to their own people, formed a seige of Masada.  A wall was built around Masada, and then a ramp was built to reach the fortress.  A battering ram broke down the walls surrounding the fortress, but the Romans were met with a hollow victory.

On the day prior to the breach of the wall, the leader of the Jewish stronghold of Masada, Eleazar ben Ya’ir (the soulmate of Shirah in the novel), declared that his people would not be taken as slaves – beaten and killed by the Romans.  All personal belongings, food, treasures, and remains, were burnt to leave nothing behind. Ten of the Jewish warriors were chosen to end the lives of all on Masada in a mass suicide.  The ten warriors drew lots to choose who among them would kill the rest, with the last warrior killing himself.

According to Josephus, two women and five children survived, and it is they who told the story of Masada -  the story of the Jewish people who were determined to be free in their own land.

Below is an excerpt from Alice Hoffman’s novel, which brings history to life:

The second wall had been breached.  That rough edifice we had built until our hands were ravaged and bleeding, until there was no longer a single tree standing in the field, had cracked under their battering ram, the dirt spilling out, the pliant limbs of the almond trees splitting, turning to dust.  Our people had done all they could to fight the tide of what was to come, the soldiers that would climb through, the bloodshed and the torture and the murder on the day of our greatest feast.  Eleazar came into the plaza.  We were brought there by the sound of the ram’s horn, used to call us to prayer…

“We resolved not to follow the Romans and to follow God alone.  Now the time has come for us to prove our faith.  We cannot disgrace ourselves in the eyes of our Lord, or submit to slavery.  If we fall into Roman hands, it is the end of everything, not only our lives but the life of Zion.  We had the privilege to be the last stronghold, and as God has favored us so, let us return the favor and die nobly as free men…

By daybreak, our enemy will be upon us, and we can hold them back no longer, but we are free to choose to die with honor, in the arms of those we love.  We cannot defeat the Romans in battle here on this earth, but we can deny them a victory…

Let our story bear witness that we perished out of choice, a choice we made at the beginning, to choose death rather than slavery.”

You will be absolutely riveted by this book.  My trip to Israel this summer, with a day trip to Masada of course, will be even more powerful, after reading this book.  I was given The Dovekeepers by Lana right around the holidays.   I can’t remember the last time I read a novel.  It might be before Joshua was born.  That might have been the last time I thought I had time to read a book purely for pleasure.  Maybe I thought I didn’t have the time but somehow I found the time to finish this 500 page book in less than 2 weeks – when the boys were getting a haircut, waiting for a prescription to be filled, during Joshua’s Bar Mitzvah lessons on Tuesdays, waiting for a doctor, before bed, and lots of times and places that I didn’t think I had time.

Now I’m hooked on reading again.  I’m about 2/3 of the way through The Help by Kathryn Stockett, another amazing book that I’ll write about another time.

If you’ve read The Dovekeepers, let me know what you think.