Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1992-12-17

              M Jrt'io'r
•It ;
t: -
!?*&
l|>
am
The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Columbus and tke Central Ohio
Jewish Community since 1922
VOLUME 70
NUMBER 51
DECEMBER 17, 1992
22 KISLEV 5753
DEVOTED TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
Peace Now, settlers
disagree on trends
page 2
t
Chabad to sponsor
Chanukah festivities
page 3
Going public with
your religion
page 4
y—>.
W-f-;W^«:;»;v»
▼ '■'▼.▼ ▼
First Light • Saturday, December 19
24 Kislev 5753 — 3 Tevet 5753
Special
Chanukah Feature Section
Page 20-40
In The Chronicle   ■&■■■■
AtThe JCC ,-ie
Calendar    4
Community .......i .....: 6-10
Federation 14,18
___J t D_«_ 3>W
rpuu«*rS||9    r-e- - «,«—.* * • ^. •»...*...f.....   rbfpf
In The New» 7.BJTB., 13
Lifecycle .....;. 12
Marketplace ,..i.... 19
New Generation  17
.Scoreboard   ...» »..* 16
Synagogues ,». 11
'ViewpQ—*t ....... »V»„t i** •*»*««•<•,«•« *■» ^. 4>5
Ohio Hist.Society Libr
1982 VeJLma Ave-
Columbus, Ohio
COMMUNITY FEATURE
Local synagogue windows
rich in Jewish history and beauty
By Ina Horwitz
The stained glass windows
that adorn our community's
synagogues and Wexner Heritage House are alive with Jewish history as well as with great
beauty. They each have their
own story to tell and range in
time from Temple Israel's
Chapel windows (circa 1904)
to those designed for Congregation Tifereth Israel and Beth
Jacob in the 1980s.
Temple Israel
Temple Israel's Chapel appears to house the oldest
stained glass in the Jewish
Community. They were removed from the sanctuary of
the old Bryden Road Temple
and installed in the new Temple in the late 1950s. These
works of art were imported
from Belgium and designed by
the late artist Gottfried Werner.
The themes ofthe windows
are from Old Testament sto
ries: "David the Shepherd;"
"Miriam, Ziporah and Ger-
shon;" "Moses on Mt. Sinai;"
"Aaron, Joshua and Amram;"
"Samuel and Eli, the High
Priest;" "Isaac's Blessing of
Jacob;" "Noah's Sacrifice;"
"Shem, Ham and Japheth,"
and "The Wives of Shem,
Ham and Japheth."
Sylvia Dillon, a Temple Israel tour guide for over 30
years, said whenever other artists see the old windows, they
get very excited, particularly
about the technique used.
"They just don't do them like
that anymore," she added.
Created in 1959, the two
stained glass windows on either side ofthe bimah tn Temple Israel's main sanctuary
were designed by New York
artist Sam Wiener, Jr. The
subjects depicted are "Moses
and the Burning Bush" and
"Moses Brings Forth Water
from the Rocks" —- thus the
two themes of fire and water.
Agudas Achim Synagogue
The bimah windows at Agudas Achim were designed by
the artist, AmEn. Created in
1977, they represent Jacob's
prophetic vision for the future
destinies of his children — referred to as the 12 Tribes of
Israel. In the absence of any
document by AmEn explaining his artistic creation, Dorothy Rubenstein, wife of Rabbi
Emeritus Samuel Rubenstein,
has interpreted the meanings
ofthe windows and their symbols based on the Book of
Genesis 49:1-28 and the Book
of Deuteronomy 33:6-27 —
that is, the blessings by Jacob
and later on Moses.
The over-all theme of
AmEn's creations presents the
bright yellow sun surrounding
and encompassing the windows. And like the flaming
sun, the windows surround
and encompass the Ark which
houses the Torah. The Torah,
like the bright sun, is the light
which gives inspiration, un
derstanding and a way of life
for the people of Israel, Dr.
Rubenstein explained.
Interspersed throughout the
windows are the symbols of
the 12 tribes, including the
bird — flying upward reaching for peace; the shepherd
and sheep — the children of
Jacob were shepherds; the Torah — representing study or
learning, and light — representing understanding.
The 12 window panes are
named Reuben, Zebulun, Levi,
Judah, Simeon, Isaachar, Dan,
Gad, Asher, Naftali, Joseph
and Benjamin. Dr. Rubenstein said that AmEn, in creating the windows, didn't follow
the biblical text, but rather did
it his way to reflect his
thoughts.
"That is the privilege of an
see WINDOWS pg 24
i^__S
- ^■^Yfc*.