Wednesday, March 11, 2026 – 7:00 pm – also on Zoom
Soon after beginning her role at Harvard Hillel last year, Rabbi Elisha Gechter asked me about the beautiful paper cuts in Smith Hall–what was their significance and might we think about moving them. That question led to a fascinating series of conversations with Diane Palley, the artist (and former Worship and Study member) who made those papercuts and the silkscreened parochet (Ark Curtain) that also hangs in Smith Hall.
First, a little background:
When Rosovsky Hall opened in 1994, Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold and the Worship and Study Minyan carried the minyan’s Torah scrolls from Hillel’s former location and deposited them in the ark in Smith Hall. They thus dedicated it as our “makom kavua”–our fixed place for prayer. Ever since, we have held Shabbat Morning services in this beautiful room with a view of the sky.
Also in the nineties, a group of Harvard undergraduates organized the Student Conservative Minyan, which began holding their Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat Evening services in Smith Hall. (They would hold Shabbat Morning Services downstairs in Rabb Hall.) This year, the students decided to change the name of their congregation to Student Harvard Egalitarian Minyan (SHEM).
As for the papercuts on the walls…
They were a commission for Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story, a book that former W&S members Judith Kates and Gail Twersky Reimer published in 1996. Several of the originals were part of a tzedakah auction and the three that remained now hang in Smith Hall.
A year later, in 1997, the Emanuel family provided generous support to commission Diane to design and fabricate the parochet that we get to enjoy every week. Diane pointed us to a supplemental silkscreen that she added to the back of the parochet that listed the date and the dedication. No one in either minyan had seen this silkscreen for years (if at all!).
Learning about the papercuts and the origin of the parochet spurred a fruitful conversation among me, Rabbi Elisha, and Talia Young, the current rabbinic advisor for SHEM. With Diane coming to the east coast from New Mexico in March, we decided that it would be an ideal occasion for a rededication ceremony for both minyanim. We have invited Gail, Judith, and the Emanuel family to join us in the celebration.
Please join us!
The program will include music, refreshments, and the hanging of the original papercut, newly framed and with commentary!