Gently undulating flags of color trimmed with tinkling silver bells celebrate the name of Esther during the reading of Megillat Esther (Esther scroll), a tradition of the Jewish holiday Purim, which begins today at sundown.

        A new wrinkle in an ancient religious tradition, Purim flags are part of the “burgeoning field of Jewish feminist art. It's a whole new genre of Judaica in which artists and crafts people are making ritual objects to create places for women in traditional male-focused observances,” Jewish Week says.

        Cincinnati silk artist Barbara H. Rabkin, 56, fashioned a Purim flag so beautiful the Laurie Tisch Sussman Gallery in New York selected her work for their inaugural exhibition, A Different Purim Sound: Waving Flags and Ringing Bells, on display through next Sunday.

        Ms. Rabkin's quilted silk and silver rattle creation, a brightly colored fabric mosaic, is made to be worn on the hand as a glove.

        “The faces on each side reflect the various faces that Esther had to wear as queen and as a Jewess,” the artist says. “The silver baby rattles remind us of the many generations she saved through her courage.”

        The richly colored hand piece also includes pomegranates based on an illustration from a Sephardic marriage contract that represents fruitfulness and renewal.

        Purim commemorates the triumph of the Jewish people over Haman, who sought their destruction during the reign of the Persian King Ahasuerus. Esther, the Jewish wife of Ahasuerus, saved her people from slaughter.

        It is customary during the reading of the Esther scroll to make a loud noise when the name of Haman is recited. The new tradition incorporates the sound of bells or rattles when the heroines of the Purim story are named in the text.

        The self-taught Ms. Rabkin, who is development director at the Yavneh Day School in Kenwood, says the show selection by the Jewish feminist organization Ma'yan is “an opportunity for women to give voice to their Jewishness.

        “I've always fiddled with watercolors. I've always liked to sew. And I've always liked to paint. With the silks I am satisfying both creative urges.”

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