This Yom Kippur, as we reflect on our own shaping, we also honor the hands that formed the sacred and mundane objects of Jerusalem’s past. Jewish prayer books contain many liturgical poems (piyyutim), especially in the holiday services. One well-known example from the Yom Kippur prayers is “כי הנה כחומר” (Ki Hineh Ka-ḥomer, “Like Clay”). ...At the Temple Mount Sifting Project, these images take on tangible form. The soil of the Temple Mount has yielded thousands of finds that reflect the very crafts described in the piyyut. Every item uncovered in the sifting also tells of the ancient workmanship that brought it into being – many of them the very arts portrayed in the poem.
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