Glass and the Jews

Jews have been making glass and glass beads for over 4,000 years.  Excavations of ancient Jewish settlements in Mesopotamia, Israel, and elsewhere in the Middle East have uncovered such beads.  More recently, scholars believe the first European glassmakers were Jews, brought in as slaves, or forced into exhile, by Romans.  As the Diaspora spread, so did the craft of glass blowing and glass bead making. Today, many glass workers are Jewish. Knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, they perpetuate this rich tradition.

A
 harlanbead
is a piece of that tradition.