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April 1, 2005/Adar II 21 5765, Volume 57, No. 31
King David grads give bejeweled gift
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
The 22 eighth-graders in The King David School's 2005 graduating class recently purchased a kosher Megillah scroll from Brooklyn, N.Y., as a gift for their school.
Internationally recognized sculptor and artist Jennifer Forman Weinstein of Paradise designed a box for the scroll and gifted it to the school.
Weinstein, who has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey show for her sculptures of pregnant women, decorated an alder wood box, built by Jimmy Garcia of Advantage II Construction, with acrylic paint, sand and 2,750 Swarovski crystals.
She decorated each side of the box with a different theme. On one panel is a Tree of Life with 22 leaves, representing each of the 22 students.
Another panel is a Hawaiian lei composed of Stars of David linked together with golden topaz crystals. Each student put his or her initials in a Star of David and also signed that panel.
The third panel is a rainbow sky, embedded in crystal. "Megillat Esther" is written in the sky. The 12 crystal stars in the sky represent the 12 tribes of Israel.
The fourth panel is Queen Esther's crown, with 22 crystals in 22 flowers, using the colors in the stained-glass windows of the school's sanctuary.
On the top of the box is a handle of hand-painted ceramic rose embellished in crystal.
The box, titled "I Spy the Chai," is intended as an interactive piece for children, Weinstein said. Eighteen images of the Hebrew letter Chai, made from different color crystals, are hidden on the box.
The eighth-graders dedicated the Megillah in memory of Sarah Stevens, a former classmate who died in 2002, said Esther J. Feuerberg, head of school. "While they're graduating ... they hope her memory would be alive."
The box will be on display in an acrylic case in the school's sanctuary, Weinstein said. "Every year the Megillah will be taken out by class after class ... and be read for generations to come."
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