A Handmade Holiday
Some of the very best gifts out there are the ones
you make yourself — or by local artisans.

JASON COHEN | JE STAFF
rom scrumptious donuts to chocolate menorahs, there are
several ways people can celebrate the eight crazy nights of
Chanukah. Local artists like Jennifer Wankoff, Joy Stember and Rivkah Wal-
ton make Judaica memorabilia, while Federal Donuts and Michel
Cluizel Chocolatrium provide tasty sweets. Several Jewish day
schools also participate in educating children about the holiday.

Wankoff, who teaches at Main Line Art Center, Perkins Center
for the Arts, The Clay Studio and owns Jennifer Wankoff Ceramics
in Roxborough, begins building her holiday inventory in the summer.

She makes dreidels and menorahs using a pottery wheel and
hand-built components that are assembled. They are then hand-
carved, painted, glazed and fired in an electric kiln.

“I enjoy the challenge of making these pieces function — the drei-
dels spin well and have well-marked Hebrew lettering so they function
well in the game of dreidel and are aesthetically pleasing,” Wankoff
said. “Decorating them with layers of glaze is fun for me as well.

“For the menorahs, I like referencing the history of the Chanukah
lamp as a hanging oil lamp object with a high back. I enjoy carving
window designs on the high back and decorating with glaze but have
F also enjoyed the process of designing their function — the candle
holder parts, making press molds to create the candle holder parts.”
Stember, who runs Joy Stember Metal Arts Studio in Abington
said things get crazy around Chanukah.

In August, orders start pouring in for menorahs, dreidels and
other Judaica memorabilia. Everything is handmade, starting out
as sheet metal before being soldered together.

For Stember, building dreidels and menorahs is very time-con-
suming. A dreidel can take between an hour and eight hours; a
menorah, up to two days.

“Each piece is made for the individual,” she said. “Making some-
thing out of metal is much more of a challenge than with clay. You
have to be pretty sure of what you’re doing.”
Menorahs cost about $250 and dreidels cost $90 to $250.

Walton explained she enjoys making menorahs because it “ex-
presses the underlying spiritual meaning through the piece’s form
or function for the ritual for which it is to be used.”
She created a balancing menorah, made of brass and acrylic, which
resembles ancient navigational instruments like astrolabes. The frame
goes increasingly out of balance each of the first four days of the hol-
See Handmade, Page 46
44 NOVEMBER 19, 2015
WINTER HOLIDAY GUIDE
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM