Artifact: Itamar Sagi (b. 1966) Alone on the Roof Sabbaths and Holidays

Must Know

A challah cover is a special cloth used to cover the two loaves set out on the table at the beginning of a Shabbat or holiday meal. The placement of the challah under the challah cover and over the Shabbat tablecloth recalls the Biblical story of the manna which the Jewish people ate every day following the flight from Egypt. The manna, fell every day of the week except for Shabbat. In deference to the holiness of Shabbat, two portions would fall on Friday, enough for that day and for the Shabbat. This is given as the reason for the use of two loaves at Shabbat and holiday meals, as the challot represent the double portion of manna that fell in honor of Shabbat.
Each morning the Israelites found the manna in the fields encased in two layers of dew to preserve its freshness. Thus, we place the challot beneath a challah cover and over a tablecloth (or challah board) to recreate the miracle of the manna at our own Shabbat tables.
Covering the challah so as not to “shame” it while the wine is being blessed is a lesson for the importance of not shaming one’s fellow humans.
The title of this work is based on the song “Alone on the Roof, Shabbat and Chagim” by Israeli songwriter, Yaakov Rotblit (1987) and sung by Yehudit Ravitz. The song tells the story of a lonely woman looking at the happy family of her lover of which she is not part. Shabbat tends to be family-centric causing many singles to feel unsupported and on the periphery of the community. Including this piece in our exhibition makes the statement that Shabbat is truly for everyone and yet can sometimes be lonely