Simon Levin
W11561 Mill Creek Rd.
Gresham, WI 54128
diasporaproject.com

Almost all of my life has been spent in areas of the world where Jews are not only a minority, but often a rarity.  I now live in a town in rural Wisconsin where I am the only Jew.  I travel an hour to attend services at a conservative Synagogue that has occasionally called itself “Re-conserv-adox” because of its need to serve a variety of Jewish experiences.  My identity as a Jewish man has grown and developed, been enriched and defined by my time in worship, community and with family.

I believe the heart of Judaism is the home but that is not enough. We need community to exist.  We need each other; regardless of how we observe our tradition.    It has always struck me as important that the fundamental message of the Shma is that G-d is one.   Rather than emphasizing monotheism, this suggests to me that as we move closer together, we move closer to G-d.  Divisions remove us from the Oneness of G-d.  

 In April of 2007 I was approached by an anonymous donor who commissioned me to create and execute an art project that would add to the Jewish community.   I began to think about how community is created.  Families from different households join together to share in worship and to grow, not more alike, but stronger through shared and varied experience.  It is the focus on what we have in common that is the root of community.   Expanding on these ideas created the Diaspora project.

I am sending you, and every other Jewish congregation in Wisconsin a ceramic house.  These pieces are solid clay, hand made and fired to over 2400 degrees in a wood fueled kiln.  You can see more about the process at my website woodfire.com.  Each house is unique, in its form as well as in the marks of the firing process.   I retail these houses in galleries across the country for $85 to $110.  These are a donation to your congregation.   Together with all the houses belonging to other Jewish congregations we create a village, a shtetl, a neighborhood. 

In order to create community the onus is in part on you, to write back to me, Simon@woodfire.com. Send me images of your house of worship, comments, thoughts, and images of the house I sent you in situ.  I will post these at Diasporaproject.com as well as links to your congregation.       This may lead to emails from other congregations, conversation, worship, and hopefully more.  At the very least I hope you find the small house in your hands a contemplative object that gives your eyes and mind rest.

All the best,

-Simon Levin