Jacqueline Nicholls' Torah Cover for Storahtelling

Jacqueline Nicholls was commissioned to make a Torah cover for Storahtelling, a New York based innovative Jewish education and performance company. It became an extension of her series of artwork 'Maternal Torah.' 

The act of putting on the sefer torah cover is called ʻdressing the Torah,ʼ and so it follows that to remove it is an act of undressing and revealing.

This sefer torah cover for Storahtelling builds on ʻThe ʻMaternal Torah – Torat Imechaʼ that combine elements of a traditional sefer torah cover, with a womanʼs corset. Torah is often described in traditional learning circles as a feminine object. The Torah is held, kissed, even symbolically married to. The corset seems to be a perfect metaphor for Torah, it gives shape, support, and constrains.