Chagall said that all the time he worked on these windows, "I felt my mother and father looking over my shoulder; and behind them were Jews, millions of other vanished Jews - of yesterday and a thousand years ago. My hope is that I hereby extend my hand to seekers of culture, to poets and to artists among the neighboring people.
The synagogue of Hadassah Hospital — Ein Karem is one of only three buildings to have a complete set of windows designed by the artist. The road to Hadassah Hospital winds along the mountain overlooking the village of Ein Karem, the birthplace of John the Baptist, and is very picturesque.
Admission is free. Guided tours of the synagogue in English and other languages are available as follows: Sun -Thurs a. Beautiful pink, rose and light purple lights burst through to redeem the severe characteristics of this fearsome tribe. Levi is inextricably linked with Simon in Genesis and yet the tribe has a glorious tradition that must be celebrated.
The text is easily found in Deuteronomy. Therefore the next window soars in a brilliant yellow laced with gentle blues, reds and greens that celebrate the holy and priestly role the Levites will play to bring the Jewish people closer to G-d. A ceremonial ram and lion frame the bouquet of peace flowers that ascend along with the Star of David and its two mythical birds. The blessings of redemption through Torah study and service animates the multiple shades of yellow and gold, setting off and contrasting with the more somber brotherly colors of Simon and Reuben.
The simple white walls and arched ceiling of the chapel set off the luminous Chagall windows, allowing them to glow in an uncontrolled orgy of colored light and images. If one were to pause and use the chapel as a place of prayer, an utterly new experience could emerge.
Richard McBee is a painter and writer on Jewish Art. Please feel free to contact him with comments at rmcbee nyc. Scan this QR code to visit this page online:.
This advertisement will close in seconds Or click here to close it. Friday, January 14, Chagall and his assistant, Charles Marq, worked on the project for two years, during which time Marq developed a special process for applying color to the glass.
This allowed Chagall to use as many as three colors on a single pane, rather than being confined to the traditional technique of separating each colored pane by a lead strip. The synagogue was dedicated in the presence of the artist on February 6, as part of Hadassah's Golden Anniversary Celebration. An ancient Cabbalistic belief asserts that the prayers of Israel reach the gates of heaven, which are twelve in number, each corresponding to one of the original Twelve Tribes of Israel, and reach God as per the original tribe of the worshiper.
While due to intermarriages, the twelve tribes dissolved, it is believed that the twelve gates still exist today. For these windows, Chagall decided upon emblematic depiction rather than an illustration of scriptural episodes.
Yet his choice of symbols of the twelve tribes depends on just as primordial a tradition. This tradition was also tolerated even in the eras of comparatively strict construal of the rabbinical prescription on the representational artworks.
The worshipers in the Hadassah synagogue will only see the colorful windows, gorgeous and solemn. The medium of stained glass has previously suffered, in terms of aesthetic and technique, that now can justify its demands, different from those made when for instance, we contemplate the rose windows of Chartres. The general effect of a modern stained glass window is that of an inexplicably luminous mural painting created on a large scale instead of a translucently hieratic Byzantine mosaic or even a large jewel consisting of numerous stones that have been painstakingly assembled and set.
Much of the iconographic aspect of the rose-window of Chartres is not instantly apparent to the audience when they contemplate the whole in overwhelmed delight.
The Hebrew texts and the iconographic details were suggested to the artist by scriptural passages in the Bible where Jacob Israel blesses his sons and the whole twelve tribes, assigning to each an emblem that has remained a sort of heraldic tool. The stained-glass method is personal to Chagall or even novel. Otherwise, it can be said to possess the same uplifting effect. All the time I was working, I felt my mother and father looking over my shoulder; and behind them were Jews, millions of other vanished Jews — of yesterday and a thousand years ago.
In this project, the bible was his primary source of inspiration, especially the part where Jacob blesses his twelve sons and the blessings of Moses on the original twelve tribes. Each window in the synagogue contains its unique color as well as a quotation from the individual blessings.
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