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Jewish weavers craft their own heritage at this New Jersey synagogue’s ‘Loom Room’
(JTA) — Some farms allow visitors to pick their own fruit. Some franchises let you make your own pizza.
At a synagogue in New Jersey, you can make your prayer shawl and other woven Judaica items, drawing on an ethos that the most meaningful religious pieces are created by family members and friends.
Neve Shalom, a Conservative synagogue in Metuchen, opened its Sisterhood Loom Room in 2015, offering equipment and instruction for congregants and an increasing number of visitors who want to weave a custom tallit — the familiar prayer shawls with knotted fringes, or tzitzit, attached to their four corners. The shawls, plus tallit bags, challah and matzah covers, frequently become gifts for bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings and other joyous life cycle events.
“If somebody weaves a tallit for you, or they participated in its design – something that’s hand-made – it’s like being hugged by them every time you put it on,” said Cory Schneider, co-creator of the Loom Room with Neve Shalom Sisterhood president Jennifer Bullock.
More than 300 Judaica items have been woven at the Loom Room. Weavers range in age from 4 to 92, and experience levels go from beginner to expert.
Weavers are not only Neve Shalom congregants, but also visitors, largely from eastern Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut. Intrepid weavers have ventured from as far as Florida, Las Vegas and Canada, Schneider said.
The effort has grown in popularity since Schneider and her husband moved from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Somerset, New Jersey in 2014. Their granddaughter requested a custom tallit for her upcoming bat mitzvah, and Schneider introduced weaving to the congregation. Schneider came across an unused loom in the garage of a neighbor, a charitable-minded non-Jewish woman who soon donated it to the synagogue.
Bullock, Neve Shalom’s longtime Sisterhood president, was intrigued, and jumped in to learn how to weave.
“I went from being a complete novice to, in short order, being an expert on the loom,” Bullock said.
The woven Judaica items that have since proliferated at Neve Shalom reflect a combination of religious ritual, art and design. Each tallit’s tzitzit — which the Loom Room imports from Israel — must have four strings, intricately knotted according to prescribed instructions. Weavers must also be mindful of the biblical prohibition about mixing wool and linen, or shatnez.
After that weavers have wide latitude on tallit design. One Neve Shalom visitor, Jared Laff, for his 2018 bar mitzvah at Congregation Beth El in Yardley, Pennsylvania, wore a tallit that included the Boston Red Sox insignia. The color scheme and pattern were designed by Laff, and the garment woven by Schneider.
“None of them are alike. No two are identical,” Bullock said. “Each person puts their own identity into it.”
Jared Laff in his bar mitzvah tallit that included the Boston Red Sox insignia. (Congregation Neve Shalom)
The do-it-yourself spirit of the Loom Room echoes the hands-on Judaism movement of the 1970s, when Jews adjacent to the counterculture began making their own Judaica according to the principle of “hiddur mitzvah,” or beautifying the commandments. “We cheat ourselves if we don’t invest something of ourselves in making beautiful objects for everyday use,” according to one contributor to “The Jewish Catalog,” published in 1973, which included instructions for making a tallit, homemade candles and mezuzahs.
That impulse inspired Deborah Lamensdorf Jacobs to seek out the Loom Room. Lamensdorf Jacobs’ family owns a farm in the Mississippi Delta, purchased by her great-grandfather Morris Grundfest in 1919. Since 2005 she has had prayer shawls made by fellow Atlantan Lynn Hirsch, from cotton grown and baled on the farm.
“We have this first piece of cotton land that he purchased in 1919,” Lamensdorf Jacobs recalled. “But we don’t have the Judaica that we would hope to have had.”
Hirsch had woven the shawls for the bar and bat mitzvahs of her own three children, along with a niece. She started a home business, specializing in prayer shawls and challah covers.
Hirsch eventually sold the loom when she and her husband downsized, leaving Lamensdorf Jacobs without a weaver for several years. Last year, in an internet search, she discovered the thriving Neve Shalom Sisterhood Loom Room, which had just obtained a second loom donated by congregant Deborah Berman.
Jennifer Bullock and Cory Schneider weave on the newly-renovated loom that was donated by Deborah Lamensdorf Berman. (Congregation Neve Shalom)
Lamensdorf Jacobs eagerly shipped cotton-based yarn to New Jersey, to create another family tallit and a challah cover, with Schneider doing the weaving. That’s when Hirsch reentered the picture, helping Lamensdorf Jacobs with pattern designs. Jewish geography being what it is, the Neve Shalom weaving opportunities reconnected Hirsch, formerly of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and Schneider, a longtime Harrisburg resident, about 34 miles away. They had been active together years before in the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism.
Now at Neve Shalom’s Sisterhood Loom Room, requests to learn weaving are growing at a steady clip.
“They make it accessible. They show you how to do it. They watch you for a little bit and are very patient if you make mistakes,” said Lamensdorf Jacobs, who last year visited Neve Shalom.
It’s been particularly gratifying to watch the weaving program grow in popularity not just among congregants but members of the Jewish community in and around New Jersey, and further away, said Bullock, the Neve Shalom Sisterhood president.
“The program has very much been a labor of love,” Bullock said. “We’re helping people to create Jewish heirlooms for their family, their loved ones, which hopefully will get passed on.”
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From UK to the Balkans, Europe Faces Wave of Antisemitic Attacks at Jewish Sites
A person holds a sign near the scene where four ambulances belonging to Hatzola, a Jewish community organization, were set on fire in an incident that the police say is being treated as an antisemitic hate crime, in northwest London, Britain, March 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes
A growing wave of antisemitic attacks has swept across Europe in recent weeks, with a string of incidents targeting Jewish sites in multiple countries underscoring an increasingly hostile climate and a rise in targeted violence against Jewish communities.
On Wednesday, London police arrested two suspects following an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in the north of the British capital, in the latest in a series of antisemitic incidents that have deepened alarm and unease among Jews across the country.
According to British authorities, two individuals wearing dark clothing and balaclavas approached Finchley Reform Synagogue in north London late Tuesday night and threw a brick and two bottles suspected of containing petrol at the building.
Authorities confirmed no damage or injuries were reported after neither of the bottles ignited. Working in coordination with Counter Terrorism Policing London, local police have launched an investigation, treating the incident as an antisemitic hate crime.
Cantor Zöe Jacobs, a leader at the synagogue, strongly condemned the attack, calling it a deeply troubling attempt to target the Jewish community and a stark reminder of the growing climate of hostility and fear across the United Kingdom.
“This is clearly an attempt to intimidate the British Jewish community, but we will not be deterred by these cowardly acts. Instead, we will continue to prioritize building bridges across the wider Barnet community,” Jacobs said in a statement.
This latest incident followed an arson attack on ambulances run by a Jewish charity in London last month, amid a broader upsurge in antisemitism over the last two years, in the wake of the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Detective Chief Superintendent Luke Williams, who leads policing in the area, assured the community that increased patrols in the Finchley area will continue, alongside ongoing monitoring and preventative measures.
“I hope the swift action by officers today to identify and arrest two people provides some reassurance and demonstrates how seriously we take attacks of this nature,” Williams said in a statement.
Meanwhile, more than a thousand miles away, North Macedonia’s only synagogue was targeted in a separate attempted arson attack in Skopje, the country’s capital, on Sunday night. The attack is believed to be the country’s first antisemitic incident since World War II.
According to local media reports, the Beth Yaakov Synagogue — the country’s only functioning Jewish house of worship, consecrated in 2000 — was targeted by two unknown individuals who threw firebombs at the building, leaving the synagogue’s door and courtyard scorched by fire.
Police reported that surveillance footage showed two suspects climbing a fence, pouring fuel, and throwing a firebomb before fleeing, with investigators later recovering a fuel canister at the scene but so far failing to identify those responsible.
Pepo Levi, the president of the local Jewish community, strongly condemned the attack, calling it a disturbing act of violence and an alarming escalation in targeted hostility.
“This act represents a serious attack not only on our community’s safety, but also on the principles of religious freedom, dignity, and peaceful coexistence that we have upheld for generations,” Levi said in a statement.
With a total population of around 1.8 million people, North Macedonia is home to approximately 200 Jews, nearly all based in Skopje. Before the Holocaust, the country was home to nearly 8,000 Jews — with around 3,000 in Skopje — and five synagogues in Bitola.
Synagogues have increasingly been targeted in acts of vandalism and violence amid a broader surge in antisemitism worldwide, with a mounting wave of incidents reported from Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States, and Australia.
In northern Romania, a Jewish cemetery and final resting place of Rabbi Hillel Pollak, a disciple of the Chatam Sofer and author of Kodesh Hillulim, was vandalized by unknown perpetrators this week.
According to local media reports, 14 gravestones were toppled at the cemetery in the city of Reghin in the Transylvania region, with no suspects identified or arrested so far.
The European Jewish Congress strongly condemned the incident, calling it a disturbing act of vandalism and part of a worrying pattern of attacks on Jewish heritage sites across Europe.
“This desecration is part of a broader pattern of antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish heritage sites across Europe. Attacks on cemeteries not only damage property but also show a profound disrespect for memory, history and the dignity of the deceased,” the statement read.
A Jewish cemetery in Reghin, northern Romania, has been vandalised, with 14 gravestones toppled by unknown perpetrators.
The site includes the grave of Rabbi Hillel Pollak, a prominent historical figure. Romanian authorities have opened an investigation and no suspects have been… pic.twitter.com/oc5k2pmR3R
— European Jewish Congress (@eurojewcong) April 15, 2026
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Israeli Legal Group Files ICC Complaint Against Spain’s Sánchez Over Alleged Dual-Use Weapons Exports to Iran
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference after attending a special summit of European Union leaders to discuss transatlantic relations, in Brussels, Belgium, Jan. 23, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman
An Israeli legal advocacy group has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court seeking an investigation into Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez over allegations that Spain supplied weapons-related materials to Iran’s Islamist regime, potentially implicating him in alleged war crimes.
Filed by Shurat HaDin, an Israel-based non-governmental organization that pursues terrorism-related cases, the lawsuit claims Spain supplied “equipment and components used by Iran’s regime and its proxy forces for military purposes” amid widening regional escalation across the Middle East.
According to data from Spain’s Ministry of Trade, the Spanish government exported more than €1.3 million worth of dual-use materials to Iran in 2024 and the first half of 2025, including explosive components, laboratory reagents, and specialized control software.
Since Sánchez took office in 2018, official data indicates Spain has authorized roughly $7 million in dual-use exports to Iran with potential military and nuclear applications, and machinery shipments alone reached about $80 million in 2024.
Shurat HaDin argues such exports occurred despite a “well-documented” pattern of Iranian support for terrorist groups across the region, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.
Under international law, states or entities that supply essential components enabling the operation of weapons systems may be held liable for aiding and abetting war crimes, even when those items are formally classified as dual-use goods.
“These materials are not innocent industrial products, but critical components that enable explosive devices to function, and they were transferred in circumstances where their use for attacks against civilians was foreseeable and reasonable,” Shurat HaDin said in a statement.
Spain’s Prime Minister is now facing a complaint at the International Criminal Court.
Shurat HaDin has filed an ICC complaint against Pedro Sánchez, alleging Spain enabled the transfer of dual-use components to Iran worth €1.3 million.
These dual-use components are not… pic.twitter.com/dJVilxR6Y6
— Shurat HaDin – שורת הדין (@ShuratHaDin) April 15, 2026
The Israeli organization also pointed to a recent Iranian propaganda campaign depicting a missile aimed at “US-Israeli assets” alongside a message thanking the Spanish leader, citing it as further evidence of what it describes as growing political alignment between the two countries.
With regional tensions continuing to escalate, Shurat HaDin is calling on the ICC to open a formal investigation and issue an arrest warrant against Sánchez, as well as to examine the involvement of other officials in export decisions.
This lawsuit comes amid already strained relations between Israel and Spain that began with the war in Gaza and have deepened through the conflict with Iran and wider regional escalation.
From unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state to repeatedly branding the war in Gaza a “genocide,” Madrid has been pursuing a fierce anti-Israel campaign aimed at undermining and isolating the Jewish state on the international stage.
In one of its most controversial recent moves, the Spanish government announced last week the reopening of its embassy in Tehran, just a few weeks after it permanently withdrew its ambassador from Israel.
Sánchez has publicly condemned Israeli strikes in Lebanon and the widening regional escalation tied to the Iran conflict, renewing calls for the European Union to suspend its association agreement with Israel and urging an end to “impunity for [Israel’s] criminal actions.”
The Spanish leader also accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of breaching basic humanitarian norms, saying his “contempt for life and international law is intolerable.”
Last week, Israel expelled Spain from the United States’ Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, a hub established to coordinate humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, in response to Madrid’s increasingly anti-Israel stance and continued hostility toward the Jewish state.
Despite being a NATO ally, Spain had also recently closed its airspace to US aircraft involved in what officials described as a “reckless and illegal confrontation,” and barred Washington from using its bases for military operations against the Iranian regime.
As the local Jewish community continues to face an increasingly hostile climate and targeted violence, Sánchez has drawn mounting criticism from political opponents and Jewish leaders who accuse his rhetoric of fueling antisemitic hostility across the country.
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JD Vance Argues Against the Pope’s Calls for Peace As Iran’s LEGO AI Videos Stoke America’s Religious Divisions
An Iranian propaganda video attacks President Donald Trump in response to social media postings critical of the Pope and regarded as insensitive to Christians. Photo: Screenshot.
Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in August 2019 at age 35 criticzed Pope Leo’s call for peace between the United States and Iran, another example of growing religious disagreements among Christians which Iranian propagandists have sought to exacerbate in new propaganda videos.
On Thursday at an event organized in Georgia by conservative activist group Turning Point USA, Vance said when asked about the head of his church disagreeing with President Donald Trump’s policies, “I do think we have to remember that each of us has our own role. I’m the Vice President of the United States. The fundamental way I understand my role is I’m trying to take the lessons, the moral truths that are rooted in Christianity and I’m trying to apply to a whole host of complicated real world scenarios.” Tepid applause broke out in response with Vance then thanking the crowd.
The Vice President’s comments came in the days following social media postings from Trump which included a broadside against Pope Leo and an AI-generated image depicting the Commander-in-Chief wearing white and red flowing robes as he placed one of his glowing hands on the head of a sick man. Trump later removed the image following the criticism of longtime Christian members of his Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
Iran took advantage of the social media kerfuffle, on Wednesday the Iranian embassy in Tajikistan posted an AI animation which took the original image and modified it to mock Trump.
Another propaganda video released by a pro-Iran group this week also responded to Trump’s social media postings about the Pope and the Jesus image, again deploying the AI-generated animation style depicting the president and other American officials as LEGO characters while a soundtrack delivers rhyming insults.
The Occupy Democrats Facebook group which has 11 million followers celebrated another pro-Iran propaganda video that has started circulating online.
While the president’s opponents on the progressive left may enjoy Iran’s jabs at Trump, the video’s themes casting him as an enemy of Christianity seek to exacerbate pre-existing intra-theological conflicts among the MAGA base.
This year, other recent Catholic converts — notably far-right podcaster Candace Owens and her supporter Carrie Prejean Boller, the former beauty queen contestant ejected from a White House Religious Liberty Panel on antisemitism following her questioning about Christian Zionism — have also advanced positions counter to Catholic teachings.
Prejean Boller claims that Zionism and Catholicism are incompatible, writing on X after her dismissal from the panel that “I will continue to stand against Zionist supremacy in America. I’m a proud Catholic. I, in no way will be forced to embrace Zionism as a fulfillment of biblical prophesy [sic]. I am a free American. Not a slave to a foreign nation.”
In response to her actions, the group Catholics for Catholics awarded Prejean Boller a “Catholic Champion” award at its gala, an event also featuring Owens and Joe Kent, the recently-resigned director of the National Counterterrorism Center who has suggested that Israel controls America’s foreign policy and may have have had a hand in the Sept. 10, 2025 assassination of Turning Point USA chief Charlie Kirk.