עור חדש | Or hadash

2015-Present

Collaborators: Jesse and Stephen Meyer (Pergamena parchment and leather, NY), Klaf Bak (Industrial parchment makers in Jerusalem, Israel), Jonathan Networx (shochet / ritual animal slaughter, Israel/Palestine), Adamah (Jewish farmers provide goat skins and small batch finished parchment)

Or Hadash | עור חדש is a Jewish and contemporary art in(ter)vention into the normative practice of parchment making that envisions redirecting the supply chain away from the industrial animal agriculture complex and toward shepherds, farmers and the land they tend. The work disrupts the current model of parchment making for Hebrew scribes by incorporating concern for higher animal welfare, regenerative farming, and slow craft practices into the production of parchment and, by doing so, centering regeneration—for humans, animals, lands, and community. Or Hadash | עור חדש is an emergent strategy for re/thinking קדושה (kedusha: sanctity) in this moment and into the future. Or Hadash | עור חדש challenges our ethical sensibilities by asking, “How does the Jewish community reconcile the par between the sanctity of our most holy texts and the inhumane treatment of the animals upon whose backs we are literally inscribing them?” The newly released publication explores the ways in which ancient Jewish wisdom can inform how we interact with and build the world around us while balancing the sacredness of faith and tradition with the convenience of modern life.

order the publication, mezzuzot and more here!!

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order the publication, Mezzuzot and More here!!

PUblication images Above

people, places, objects Below…

Or Hadash | עור חדש Poster

Or Hadash | עור חדש mezuzzah

Megilla on Or Hadash | עור חדש parchment

Ketubbah on Or Hadash | עור חדש

Jesse Meyer, owner of Pergamena

Pergamena parchment samples

Soferet, Julie Seltzer testing parchment

Jacqueline Smith, shepherdess

Shochet, Jonathan Networx selecting a sheep for slaughter

Some shchitah (slaughtering) tools

Ritual slaughter of sheep for Or Hadash

Shochet, Jonathan Networx processing a sheep for meat and for Or Hadash parchment

Fetal calf skins being prepared for soak

Avrami, Stirring the soak bath

Wet skins hung to dry

Dried fetal calf skins before processing

Parchment maker at work in Klaf Bak facility

Finished parchment, Klaf Bak in Jerusalem

Meir Klaf, proprietor of Klaf Bak in Jerusalem

Dov Laimon, master scribe and mentor

View this panel conversation with soil regeneration artist, Jacqueline Smith (Central Grazing Company) and parchment and leather producer, Jesse Meyer (Pergamena) at The Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest 2021. We sat down with Hannah Henza, former Director of National Programs at Hazon and Adam Carlin from the Greensboro Contemporary Jewish Museum to discuss Or Hadash | עור חדש in the context of contemporary art and regenerative farming. Other artist talks on Or Hadash can be found with JIFA and with the Jewish Farmer Network.

Huge thank you to artist and designer Spencer Byrne-Seres @Visitor ProjectsStudios for his creative direction of the publication.

Funders: The Regional Arts & Culture Council (Portland, OR), The Oregon Arts Commission, The Ford Family Foundation

A thank you to the Regional Arts and Culture Council, The Oregon Arts Commission and The Ford Family Foundation

for supporting this project. A special thank you to Sou’wester Lodge for providing an artist residency

and a thank you to Rabbi Rachel Schoenfeld for her support.