Born in Beer Sheva, Israel and raised in France, Rubis Nakash always felt that something was missing from her life. She always felt a pull in her heart to return to her homeland, the homeland of her nation, the Land of Israel. She moved around the world with her family before finally settling in Israel, where she has been since 2002.
An artist since age five, Rubis Jewish faith has always influenced her artwork. Although she never studied art formally, she is so naturally skilled that her artwork is her livelihood. Her artistic range includes jewelry, sculpture, furniture design, calligraphy, and more. Her newest project is creating elaborate ornate shofars.
A shofar is an instrument made out of a ram’s horn. It is the Jewish symbol of redemption, and it is blown throughout the Jewish month of Elul and the following High Holidays. Its sound is meant to call us to repent, and it will be blown upon the coming of the Messiah. Traditionally, it is blown by men, and so it is seen as a masculine object. Rubis was looking at a shofar, listening to its sound, and she felt inspired to add an element of femininity to the instrument.
She began designing the most beautiful shofars. She uses the finest silver and Swarovski crystals to decorate the shofars. Since the purpose of the shofar is for its sound to remind us to repent, she uses the crystals to beautifully spell out the verse, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). She has been making these shofars for over three years, and custom-makes each and every one of them. The price of shofars has skyrocketed over the last few years, and although Rubis hardly makes a profit on them, she continues to make them, spreading the word of God and adding feminine beauty to this otherwise masculine mitzvah.
Rubis lived in Jerusalem for 14 years with her son. One year ago, she reignited a relationship with a childhood friend, and they got married and moved to Israel’s Heartland to a settlement called Kochav Hashachar. Together they have six children and four grandchildren. Just two weeks ago, their fourth child joined the Israeli Navy, and in two months their fifth child will be enlisting in the IDF’s paratrooper unit. They are so proud.
After living all over the world, and spending 12 years living in Jerusalem, she said that coming to Kochav Hashachar felt like coming home. She always yearned to live in Israel’s Heartland, and she feels more artistically inspired than ever here. After experiencing the escalating Anti-Semitism in France, she truly feels like she is experiencing the redemption of the Jewish people, and her beautiful shofars are a symbol of that.
“Kochav Hashachar” means “morning star.” It is Israel’s easternmost mountain-top settlement, and Rubis and her family get to watch the sun rise in the east, coming over the Jordan Valley where the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel in the Book of Joshua. Although this town is linked to the Bible, many members of the international community condemn settlements like Kochav Hashachar. As the sun rises, they think of the verse in the Talmud that says that the redemption will come like “Ayelet Hashachar” – the sun rising. Living in Kochav Hashachar, a settlement named for the rising sun, they know that they are part of the slow-coming redemption of the Jewish people. Rubis and her husband left their home, their culture, their language to come to the Land of Israel, and take an active part in the redemption of the Jewish people.
Rubis’s shofars have now been added to the Heart of Israel Store.
