This one of a kind mezuzah case comes from the branch of a black cherry tree growing in Luthersberg, Pennsylvania, US. A friend of Hershel's was visiting family there and drove back home with some branches that they had pruned to make room for a tree house!
Hershel was raised by a Sefardi mother whose native language was Ladino, or Judeo-Espanyol; and an Ashkenazi dad whose first language was Yiddish. The Ashkenazi, or eastern European Jewish culture was prominent in his upbringing and the Sefardi, or Iberian Jewish culture was somewhat hidden. Today, his workshop is located on the campus of the synagogue Nahalat Shalom, which means both “Inheritance of Peace” and “River of Peace”, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He built the sanctuary entryway portico and doors there, and the torah ark and torah reading table, the talitot rack and the baseboard molding.
