Synagogue Installations

Ten Stained Glass Windows
Temple Beth-el, Northbrook, Illinois

Hebrew characters get less dense as they ascend, until, at the top, they spell "Anochi," the first word of the Ten Commandments. This imagery is a synthesis of three Rabbinic accounts of the Revelation at Sinai. The Midrash Tanhuma (Gen. 1) describes the letters on the two tablets as "black fire on white fire;" the mystical text, The Zohar, (Zohar Hadash 41b-c) presents a dramatic scene where letters and sparks flew around randomly and rapidly until they assembled themselves onto the tablets; and number of commentaries on Exodus 32:19, explain that the letters were animate, and when Moses shattered the tablets they flew upward. (Y. Taan. 4.4, Tanhuma Ki Tisa 26 and 30 and Avot d'Rabi Natan.)

Each window can be viewed on its own, or as part of a larger composition.

Chana was commissioned to create "Ten Commandments" themed windows for a Reform temple in suburban Chicago. Each window is 5 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide. Her concept and design were selected for visual impact, textual scholarship and how it addressed structural challenges. She traveled to Germany for fabrication at Derix Glasstudios, one of the world's most esteemed fabricators of architectural art glass, noted for its use of all known techniques in art glass, and its production of major ecclesiastic and public art work.

The windows are made of both translucent and opal mouth-blown glass sheets. The techniques used were acid-etching, painting and airbrushing with vitreous enamels, multiple firings at different temperatures, and spattering with liquid 24K gold. The three sheets were then fit together and laminated onto tempered glass.


Wall of Honor

How goodly are your tents, O Jacob,
your dwelling places, O Israel!
(Numbers 24:5)

This Wall of Honor was inspired by the first line of a prayer expressing
reverence for synagogues and other places of worship. Its source is the
account in Numbers 24:5, where Balaam, sent to curse the Israelites, is instead overcome with awe at God and the Israelites' houses of worship.

The Biblical passage Chana chose also creates thematic unity by linking references to the Patriarch Jacob and the tent motif found in other parts of the temple. The arch shape reiterates a prominent design element throughout the building

Chana chose a textile for the Wall of Honor, alluding to the tents in the verse. The names are hand-painted and stitched onto illuminated panels, while the rest of the background is stitched on hand-dyed silk organza.

Photography above by Wayne Cable, Quilting by Tracy McCabe Stewart.

Am Shalom Chapel Windows

Hebrew text hand-drawn by Chana was carved into the stone tablet at the entrance to the chapel: "Arise, shine for your light has come. And the glory of God rises upon you." (Isaiah 60:1.)

A central theme in Jewish theology is creating holiness out of the stream of time and cycles of days. It is exemplified in the Hebrew verse Chana chose to surround the oval space. As the windows move from east to west, following the right to left direction of Hebrew script, the colors flow through the visible light spectrum. Each window contains one Hebrew word from the verse, "From the eastern rising of the sun until it sets, God's name is praised." (Psalms, 113:3.)

This glass partition was created for the clergy suite of Temple Am Shalom, in Glencoe, Illinois. It is based on a fundamental belief in Reform Judaism that Torah is always evolving, Revelation is on-going and individuals are always to be engaged in carving out meaning from tradition. It is expressed through God's instruction to Moses after he shattered the first set of tablets: P'sal Lecha, "Carve for yourself two tablets." The design suggests this by two new hand-hewn tablets ascending and extending from the rubble of the old tablets. It is visible from both sides to reflect how the clergy is accessible to the entire community.

Fabrication for all windows Derix Glasstudios, Taunusstein, Germany.

Contact Chana if you are interested in an installation.