Ein Gadi Spring

"My beloved is unto me as a cluster of Henna in the vineyards of Ein Gedi" (The Song of Songs, 2, 14) "The desert shall rejoice and blossom" ( Isaiah, 35, 1) This Ketubah is based on scenes from the Judean Desert, and on verses from The Song of Songs. The Ketubah text is flanked by an apple tree on one side ("As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons, under its shadow I delighted to sit, and its fruit was sweet to my taste". Song of Songs, 2, 3), and by a palm tree on the other ("This thy stature is like to a palm tree" ibid 7, 9).The branches of the two trees, symbolizing the bride and groom, interlace to form a natural canopy over the text. On the right, the water runs down the mountain slope into a pond with fish, symbolizing fruitfulness and life. On the right front of the pond are typical Israeli wild flowers that appear abundantly in the desert in years blessed with rain. On the rocks above them is a pair of Ye'elim (Ibexes), common to the Judaean desert. On the left side, in a scene typical to the Jericho area, a pair of deer is standing by a brook, near trees of Etrogim (citrons) and pomegranates ("Thy temple is like a piece of pomegranate behind thy braid", ibid, 6, 7). A pair of doves ("Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my pure-one", ibid, 5, 2; "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock" ibid, 2, 14) nestles on the apple tree. Grapevines ("thy wife shall be as a fruitful grapevine", Psalms, 128, 3) climb on the trees, symbolizing love and embrace, as in the tradition of Persian miniatures. This print has been printed in the giclee technique on 140 lbs. 100% rag paper. Colors are non-fading, for at least 85 years.