Ner Tamid NecklaceNovember 2014 Alabaster, 18 karat yellow gold This special piece was commissioned by Congregation Etz Hayim in Arlington VA to commemorate the rabbi's 15 year anniversary at the shul. The major stipulation in the request was that I use any leftover stone I had from sculpting the alabaster flame of the ner tamid that I had the honor of making for the synagogue in 2010. I also had leftover silver from that project, but the rabbi is a dear friend of mine

For the secret detail

Each hamsa has a letter of the Hebrew alphabet engraved on its palm

the character for gold could mean any precious metal and was also frequently used to mean money

I wanted to strip the concept down to its simplest representation

in our culture this is considered to be the work of God

Even detached from the Zionist movement

This pendant is a statement for any wearer—the 24mm x 48mm piece contains ⅓ of an ounce of gold

this makes two consecutive years of small wabi-sabi vessels

and took them straight to the kitchen

crossing them against each other

which reads "You have tried us

and because—I remind you that neither of us are particularly subtle—both corals and kidneys are filters