Challah For Parashat Vayishlah
The Weeping Willow.
Every week, Julie Seltzer, artist and Torah scribe, bakes a challah depicting an aspect of the week's Torah portion.
And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beit-El under the oak; and it was called Allon-bakhut--The "Weeping" Tree.
(Genesis 35:8)
וַתָּמָת דְּברָה מֵינֶקֶת רִבְקָה, וַתִּקָּבֵר מִתַּחַת לְבֵית-אֵל תַּחַת הָאַלּוֹן; וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ, אַלּוֹן בָּכוּת
The first time we hear of Deborah is at her death. The tree is named for her, or rather, for those that weep for her. The type of tree depicted here (Weeping Willow) reflects its Hebrew name.
Julie Seltzer is a scribe, baker, and artist. She began creating challah art at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut, where she lived until recently. Julie now resides in the Bay Area, where she is writing a torah scroll at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
