Temple Beth Zion -Table of Contents

Temple Beth Zion - East Window / Interior
Temple Beth Zion - OFFICIAL HOME PAGE

Windows/ Ten Commandment tablets/ Menorah artist:

Ben Shahn

Stained glass windows artist:

Shahn's paintings adapted by Benoit Gilsoul (BEN wah JEEL soul)

Windows fabricator:

Willet Studios

Temple status:

Included in the Linwood Preservation District



Bimah
The elements that make a building a synagogue are the aron ha-kodesh (holy ark or niche in the eastern wall, containing the Torah scrolls); the amud (prayer desk, facing the ark) and the bima (the pulpit), where the Torah is read.

Designed by Ben Shahn:
The auditorium, designed by Abramovitz, focuses upon two thirty-foot-high Commandment Tablets flanking the highly noted east wall window. The tablets feature the first letter of each commandment in mosaic, followed by the rest of the text in gold leaf. The playful animal-like shapes of the mosaic letters are often seen in artist Ben Shahn's work.

Note the Holy Ark with drawn curtains.




Skylight  ...    ...  Commandment Tablets
Ner Tamid, the eternal light. The tradition of an ever-burning light dates back to the days of the Temple where the Menorah was never permitted to go out. The Eternal lights in the Sanctuary and the Chapel were designed by Ballini Studios in New York city.
  ...  East window




Skylight highlights the lectern below



East stained glass window  ...
The east window behind the ark tells the story of the Lord speaking to Job through a whirlwind   ...    The Henry Lee Willett Studios of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, executed the forty-foot-tall window.



Behind the Holy Ark  and Commandment tablets,  the east window  tells the story of the Lord speaking to Job through a whirlwind   ...    The Henry Lee Willett Studios,in  Pennsylvania, executed the forty-foot-tall window based on a painting by Ben Shahn.



 The east window contains a massive upturned hand symbolizing creation   ...    The lines above the hand represent the voice out of the whirlwind that spoke to the suffering Job (Job 38:4-7).







Note the steel cables anchored into the concrete wall to help support the huge window that is at an angle intentionally leaning out












Ben Shahn designed the menorah of brass and rose glass. It uses wax candles.



Ben Shahn's design features the first letter of each Commandment in mosaic, followed by the rest of the text in gold leaf.




Holy Ark (gold leaf) with drawn curtains featuring a menorah.




Holy Ark with opened curtains displaying the Torah



Torah in the Holy Ark  ...  Note tas (torah shield):  Lions with Ten Commandments




Torah mantels  in the Holy Ark




Special thanks to Executive Director Mark Criden for his cooperation
and
Wendee G. Lorbeer
for her encouragement

Photos and their arrangement © 2003 Chuck LaChiusa
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