New Order Form

For all of our stores, good news! Our newly updated order form is available in the retailers section of the website. This order form has been newly revised and organized, including every item we currently carry as well as their prices and sizing. If you're a retail customer, you can hop on over to thefriendsofgary.com to access a list of our suggested retail prices, then head over here to find a store in your area!

NYIGF 2009

Hello! Video games have E3, movies and graphic novels have Comic Con, and we have the New York International Gift Fair! Gary is currently in New York showing off our numerous new pieces of work, but you don't have to travel to the Big Apple to see it all! All the new items are now up for all to see right here! We have a lot of great items that I know you will like, so hop on over and get a preview of this summer's hottest GRC Judaica.

A Braille Mezuzah

We may be a business, but as artists we love to give people joy through our work. This letter is a great example of that and we are very glad that this special mezuzah brought such happiness.

"Dear Mr. Rosenthal,
Sherry Davidowitz, a friend and our local JCC Judaica coordinator contacted you when I asked her about a Braille Mezuzzah. I was asked to do a blessing at the naming of a new facility for our local Association for the Blind here in northeastern Pennsylvania. The Mezuzzah you sent with the raised Shin and the word Shalom spelled out in Braille was beyond my wildest dreams. The family that donated the building is very modest about their philanthropy and had to have their arms twisted to agree to having their name on the building. They were uncomfortable about the publicity, but when they saw the Mezuzzah and heard the artist’s name they were moved to tears and knew they had made the right decision. Before the event I was a bit nervous about the Braille on the Mezuzzah. When I looked at it I checked the dots with a web page that seemed to show the letters differently than I had originally seen. But when I presented it to the president of the association, who is a blind attorney, and asked him to read the word on the Mezuzzah, he said “Shalom” loud and clear. He couldn’t quite make out the Shin on top (he’s not Jewish), but the letters were perfect.

The folks from the Association for the Blind will be contacting you separately, but I want to thank you for making this event so special and meaningful. An artisan such as yourself probably assumes that the vast majority of people who enjoy his work do so visually. But you will now have a steady flow of blind and visually impaired folks in northeastern PA that will enjoy your art every day just by touching it. Thank you for making this possible.

All the best,
Rabbi Larry Kaplan
TempleIsrael, Wilkes-Barre, PA"

Henry Winkler, BBYO, and The Gary Rosenthal Collection

This is actually old news - from 2007 - but it was just brought to my attention and I wanted to share it with you.

BBYO Honors Henry Winkler at Los Angeles Gala

"On October 11, more than 150 BBYO alumni and entertainment industry professionals joined together at BBYO's first annual Los Angeles Gala. The evening included an elegant reception and dinner before the presentation of the Inspiration Award by Garry Marshall to Henry Winkler for his dedication to the Jewish community throughout his more than 30-year career in the entertainment industry."

Here's a picture with "The Fonz" receiving a Gary Rosenthal Collection award from Happy Days creator, Garry Mashall.

Camp Airy

A couple of weeks ago Gary traveled to Camp Airy for a special Hiddur Mitzvah Project. This excerpt from the camp newsletter describes this great program.

"...In addition, as part of our camp’s continuing mission to instill Jewish values into the young men and women at Camps Airy and Louise, our campers this year participated in a Mitzvah project by creating mezuzot that will be affixed to the doors of our new bunks. With the help of internationally recognized artist and sculptor Gary Rosenthal (www.collectgaryrosenthal.com), our campers fashioned the beautiful fused glass mosaics that have been transformed into dazzling mezuzot, many of which will be placed on each of our twenty new bunks.

In fact, our campers did such a nice job at making the glass that there was a lot of glass left over after the twenty new mezuzot for the bunks were made. Gary has very generously fashioned many additional pieces of Judaica for Camp Airy that gives us the opportunity to enhance the original mitzvah. These pieces include Shabbat candlesticks, Chanukah menorahs and dreidels, a unique vertical seder plate, mezuzot, and tzedukah boxes.

As you may know, many campers at Camps Airy and Louise are able to have a summer camp experience because of generous donations that are made throughout the year to our “Campership Fund”. We would like to encourage all families who have the means to consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Camp Airy Campership Fund. In appreciation of your generous donation, we will be able to recognize your thoughtfulness with a one of kind piece of artwork because the glasswork was “touched by our campers”.

In addition, we would also like to invite you to dedicate one of the bunk mezuzot. A permanent commemorative plaque will be placed alongside each mezuzah in order to recognize your thoughtfulness. Again, all funds go directly into our Campership Fund.

Thank you so much in advance for participating in this worthwhile endeavor. Because of your help, another camper will be able to join the Camp Airy family and enjoy the same positive growing experience that your son has experienced over the past few weeks."

Gary talks with the campers while they put together glass mosaics