The array of timbrels designed by Betsy Platkin Teutsch supports the work of Kolot: The Center for Jewish Women's and Gender Studies. Kolot recovers the voices and traditions of our past to create a more inclusive future. We are proud that the artist credits Kolot with inspiring her to design this unique tambourine collection.
The tambourine is revealed in Torah as an important women’s ritual object. The most familiar example is Miriam leading the women in song by the Red Sea, accompanied by their timbrels. We know that the Israelites left Egypt in haste (hence we eat matzoh for eight days a year!), but when the sea parted, the women evidently all had timbrels in their hand luggage. In the book of Judges, Jephtha’s ill-fated daughter also greeted her father’s return from military victory, dancing with her timbrel. For these reasons, we imagine that in ancient Israel, a woman's timbrel was as important to her as Shabbat candlesticks are today.
New ritual objects are being reintroduced into Jewish life and practice in an effort to recover neglected women’s traditions, invent Jewish expressions for important moments in Jewish women’s lives, and make Jewish women’s presence more prominent in our past, present, and future. Miriam’s Cups and Miriam’s timbrels increasingly adorn Jewish shelves and find their places on the Seder table. The tambourine is beautiful on a wall or on a stand but is also an instrument that should be taken down for celebration at Passover, as a Purim grogger, at Rosh Hodesh celebrations, baby namings, b’not mitzvah parties, and for other acknowledgments of miracles in our day. We hope that someday every Jewish home will have one.
|
6-in. timbrels |
Price |
8-in. timbrels |
Price |
10-in. timbrels/ 12-in. hand drum |
Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moon Maiden #806 | $50 | Women at the Sea #208 | $65 | L’chaim (wedding) #910 | $75 |
| Healing Prayer #506 | $50 | Women at Study #308 | $65 | Hallelujah Rainbow #410 * | $75 |
| Queen Esther #606 | $50 | Thanks for the Chair #108 | $65 | Shalshelet hand drum | $75 |
| $30 |
* Also available in 8-in. size for $65 while supplies last.
** NEW from Betsy Platkin Teutsch: Kavanah Cards – 22 double-sided, full-color miniatures featuring evocative focal words for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, along with English translation. This new product can be viewed at www.kavanahcards.com. Price benefiting Kolot: $30 + shipping
To order tambourines or Kavanah Cards, please click here for a printable order form. Credit-card purchases may be made by phoning Ruth, (215) 576-0800, ext. 149.
back to top
