Sculptor's 'Together' has personal meaning
Dedication is set for Shir Hadash on Feb. 25
By Shari Kaplan
In keeping with the title of its new garden sculpture, Together, Los Gatos' Congregation Shir Hadash, 16555 Shannon Road, invites the community to attend the Friday night service on Feb. 25 for the sculpture's dedication. It includes a program by sculptor Sara Aldouby. A reception follows the service.
Aldouby, who lives in Connecticut with her husband and family, came to the United States and her artistic calling through a long and rocky road; but it was not without its miracles.
A native of Hungary, Aldouby was 6 years old when her family was herded from their hometown, along with many other Jewish residents, into a ghetto. They later found themselves at work camps in Austria and Germany. Her father was sent later to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Her oldest brother, meanwhile, was fighting in the Hungarian army.
Aldouby says her life's first miracle came 1 1/2 years later, when an explosion caused the re-routing of a train that would have carried her, her siblings and mother to the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. Instead, they went to Theresienstadt, a less severe camp. She says the second miracle is that the whole family, including her father and oldest brother, survived World War II and were reunited at war's end.
The family moved to Israel, where she grew up, served in the Israeli army, went to college and became a teacher and psychomotor therapist. She also married, had four children and studied art, especially the art of sculpting from natural materials.
"I was always interested in nature--rocks and stones, and also in people and movement. I figured out that there are some people who are just born for three-dimensional expression. It's a combination of using your head, heart and hands to create something," says Aldouby, whose work is now exhibited in galleries throughout the world as well as at the annual International Art Expo in New York.
"Each stone is very unique and the carving process is so slow that you really get attached to it. It's a very personal process. In the beginning, it's very hard to see anything in the stone, but as you go on, you see a million things!"
In the red and gold Jerusalem stone she used to craft Together, Aldouby saw a heart-shaped vision of a family with children in the center, surrounded by strings representing their many ties. The piece is a gift commissioned by two families, the Bookeys of San Jose and the Lettweens of Saratoga, inspired by the memory of their matriarch, Lois Bookey.
"It symbolizes togetherness of the family and the social involvement of the family with their congregation, their town, the Jewish community and the world," Aldouby says.
The artwork is also a fitting testament to the togetherness and strength she experienced in her own family--her very first source of inspiration.
Congregation Shir Hadash is located at 16555 Shannon Road. For more information, call 408.358.1751. Aldouby's art is also available online at www.sara-sculpture.com.
Los Gatos, California Since 1881
