Tour Israel Blog

Vivid embroidered colors of a scene right out of the Bible – I’m thinking baby Moses among the reeds in Egyptland – the handmade piece of folk art was too delightful to pass up. Now a focal piece of art hanging in my dining room, it was a topic of conversation among our guests during the recent Passover seder.

Although purchased at the Almaz Workshop for Ethiopian Women in Ramle, Israel, the 30 x 40 cm pillow cover which I decided to frame and display on
the wall, is an original piece of art made in Ethiopia.

Miki Shapiro, designer and director of Almaz, sometimes receives these one-of-a-kind pieces directly from Ethiopia, and offers them for sale to help support the center.

Almaz Workshop for Ethiopian Women, Rehov Haim Moshe Shapiro, Ramle. Tel: 08.921.0194

During trips to foreign countries, shopping for original products created by local craftspeople is a prime source of pleasure. That pleasure can be doubled (tripled?) when the items are produced by members of a non-profit organization: your purchase supports a worthy cause and you return home with original crafts.

In Israel, visits to the Almaz Workshop for Ethiopian Women surprise the visitor with the choice of creative, unique products in different media.

A risque gift for that special pair, this Ethiopian couple’s communicator tool, is a graphic, non-verbal way for a woman to let her man know when the time is right. The custom in Ethiopia, as related by the women at the workshop, is for the top of the box to be left open as a signal to her mate, one way to avoid mixed signals, so to speak.

Handmade from dark clay, each box differs slightly in appearance. A shelf of boxes at Almaz are ready for inspection and the shopper chooses the one that pleases most.

Question: Dare you give this original piece of folkart as an engagement gift?

Almaz Workshop for Ethiopian Women, Rehov Haim Moshe Shapiro, Ramle. Tel: 08.921.0194