ART GROUP "MANOS BENDICHAS"



"Manos Bendichas" / Blessed Hands/ is a Jewish women`s art group in the Bulgarian Jewish community for Sephardic arts and crafts.
The group was established in 1996 by Lidia Yulzary - knitting designer, Juliana Farhi - embroidery designer and Madlena Bally - economist and manager of the group.
The lofty goal of "Manos Bendichas" is to revive the ethnic traditions in the crafts typical for the Sephardic Jews of the Balkans. We believe that through our craft's beauty we can pass on our ethnic traditions to the younger generations, and after 50 years of stagnation restore the spirit of Jewish heritage in our midst.
We involve in our activities about 80 Jewish women from various places in Bulgaria, in all ages, and this way we have a certain impact over the social life of Bulgarian Jews.
The art group develops objects characteristic of many of the Jewish holidays and rituals:
- kippot
- women`s hats
- covers for hallah
- covers for Rosh Hashana
- matzot pockets for Pessach
- women`s ritual shawls
- square cloth for candle sticks
- handkerchiefs for women
- bookmarks
All of our art products are elaborated by the traditional hand-made technique /crocheted article with embroidery/ and all of them are from natural materials. The models of laces and embroidery are made with the regional Sephardic style. This style is built-up on the basis of integration between the national art and folklore that came from Spain and Portugal, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and the culture of the oldest Jewish population - the Romaniots, who had already lived in the Balkans.
In 1999 we received a grant from the Jewish Women's Foundation of Chicago. This foundation supports various women's art projects and organizations in the world. We are proud that we have accreditations from the AJJDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee) and the International Council of Jewish Women.
Our products are being well accepted throughout the world - in USA, UK, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, South Africa, Turkey...




50, Stamboliyski Blvd.
Sofia 1303
Bulgaria


phone/fax: 359 2 986 78 96
Manos_Bendichas@shalom.bg