5/29/2004 10:51:04 AM

Strings together cultures

Blythe Wachter Leader-Telegram Staff

Staff photo by Shane Opatz Nichole Ray, left, wanted to thank members of Temple Sholom Synagogue in Eau Claire, led by Rabbi Yosi Gordon, center, and President Helaine Minkus, right, for their kindness to her family. She recently presented the congregation with a Torah mantle decorated with Lakota beadwork. Probably no other synagogue in the country — or maybe the world — can claim what Temple Sholom in Eau Claire received this month: a Torah mantle embellished with Lakota beadwork. This ornate gift came from Nichole Ray of Eau Claire, a Lakota woman married to a Jewish man. The Lakota people acknowledge generosity publicly, said Ray, who had pulled her long dark hair back with a beaded barrette. She wanted to honor the Jewish congregation for its “generosity and friendship toward my family,” in a way befitting both cultures. Following her mother-in-law’s suggestion, she made a gift. The congregation needed a new cover for one of its Torah scrolls, which contain Judaism’s central teachings, “so that’s what I did.” The Torah contains the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Books of Moses. A special scribe, using quill pens and ink on a parchment scroll, handwrites the Torah in Hebrew. Ray’s gift is especially significant because her father-in-law, Rabbi Eric Ray of New York, is a renowned Torah scribe and expert on calligraphy styles who has examined the synagogue’s scrolls. While he has visited many synagogues to repair Torah scrolls, he never has seen a mantle with a Lakota beaded design. The Rays became acquainted with the synagogue because they had to depend on the kindness of strangers — Temple Sholom members. Two years ago Eric Ray visited his son, Ken, and daughter-in-law, Nichole, and their children during the anniversary of his mother’s death. He needed to get together a minyan, or 10 Jewish men to say prayers for the memorial service. “I wanted to make sure he could do that,” Nichole Ray said. But she and her husband, who has a software business, had not lived long in Eau Claire. They didn’t know anyone else who was Jewish. Ray, 39, a student majoring in American Indian studies and political science, discovered the Jewish student organization at UW-Eau Claire was inactive. Help arrived in the form of Helaine Minkus and Beverly Soll, who both work at the university and belong to the synagogue. They found enough individuals to conduct the service. Some members later invited the Ray family to dinner. “For me, it was everything that I thought a community should be. They opened their hearts and their homes,” said Ray, whose family attends synagogue events as time permits. Ray, who strings together beadwork on a loom, learned the craft from other Indian women while living in Los Angeles. “If it doesn’t move, we bead it.” She and her family — which includes Samantha, 11, and 8-year-old twins Adam and Alex — wear beaded pieces when dancing at powwows. She finds her beadwork appreciated as much at the synagogue as at the powwows. In making the mantle, Ray reflected both the Lakota and Jewish cultures. She incorporated blue and white, colors found in the Israeli flag and Hanukkah celebrations. Her father-in-law did the Hebrew calligraphy; he chose the phrase “tree of life,” which is what the Torah is. Ray used a white satin appliqué for the words. She also designed four paths symbolizing the four directions to show people follow different ways in life but all arrive at the same point, she said. For Minkus, president of Temple Sholom and an associate professor of anthropology at UW-Eau Claire, the mantle weaves parts of her life together. She said she has been involved academically with Indians for years. Before a recent dedication service for the mantle attended by about 30 people, she took the Torah scroll from the ark, a cabinet with beautiful stained-glass windows. She noted some synagogues would not be open to such a gift because the Torah is sacred. The Torah is the most precious object in Jewish life. While the mantle could be plain, “it makes us feel better to see it beautiful,” Minkus said. Ray’s gift helped her realize Jewish and Lakota cultures share a common attitude of gratitude and a belief that all life is sacred, she said. At the service, Temple Sholom Rabbi Yosi Gordon observed, “A gift given from the heart is remembered and appreciated.” Wachter can be reached at 830-5828, (800) 236-7077 or blythe.wachter@ecpc.com.

Reprinted with permission, from the Leader-Telegram Online Features , 5/29/2004.