Glass Blowing at Sheva Chaya's

Tsfat, perched on a mountain with startlingly beautiful views and crisp fresh air, is a place of inspiration. For centuries, it influenced Kabbalists who prayed and meditated in the valleys and who learned and taught in the shuls of the Old City. Yet Tsfat has always infused the creative spirit of artists.
 
Tsfat is a place of art. Painters, potters, weavers, sculptors and photographers sit in studios along alleyways in the Old City. Footsteps echo atop cobblestones that fringe enigmatic sapphire walls. Hand-painted gates open onto hushed courtyards and homes with soaring domes. 

One of the most mystical forms of art in Tsfat is glassblowing. Sheva Chaya, the resident glassblower, has a beautiful gallery accessed through her sweet courtyard.  When she demonstrates her art, she is happy to share her spiritual connection to this medium, explaining that when the breath blows, it is transforming a hard substance into a soft, glowing piece. 

​In a Kabblistic way, it represents something broken mixing with fire and becoming whole again.

When Sheva Chaya recently hosted master glassmaker Gianni Toso into her studio in Tsfat, we were able to have such an experience. For us visitors, it felt expansive and spiritual to watch an inspired artist transform and create.

Maestro Tosowww.giannitoso.com/ captivated us with his mastery in an unforgettable demonstration.  Coming from a lineage of Venetian glassblowers that goes back 700 years, his art is displayed in museums and private collections around the world. He takes glass art to a new level, creating large, surrealistic glass forms as well as detailed scenes of Jewish life.

Like children in an ice cream shop, we sat in anticipation, waiting to see which rich flavors would be presented. We watched Gianni ignite the lampworking torch, choose sticks of hard glass, then focus on his creation. The room was silent save for the hiss of the flame and the clinking of glass.

Gianni twirled, twisted and mixed the glass with other colors. Mesmerized, we sat quietly as he used tweezers to pinch and squeeze the glowing glass. When he finally presented a miniature piece of glass art, we were in awe; he had created a miniature chassid complete with a beard and curled payot, scholarly glasses -- even astute eyebrows. His next creation of the evening was a ‘yad’ for reading the Torah. His creation wore a long patterned blue sleeve with a cuff extending to a hand and a pointer finger. We could make out a vein running to the palm, tendons, tiny bones and even finger nails on each curled finger. His attention to detail was incredible.

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It was an honor to be able to watch a master at work in his moment of creation. We witnessed how a basic dimension is fused into a higher one. Or, as Sheva Chaya so beautifully explains, we experienced art meeting faith.

The art of glassblowing represents a fusion of Kabbalah and art in an ancient city that, to this day, emulates its original inspiration. For people who love history, art and mysticism, Tsfat will blow you away (no pun intended) And when you visit, head to Sheva Chaya’s studio. Her gallery is a five-minute walk from Villa Tiferet. ​​