The Sephardic Heritage Windows

by

Joshua Bittan & William Judson

http://www.ar tglassworld.com/mag/sglass/heritage/

On March 23, 1994, a new Jewish landmark was dedicated in Los Angeles - The Sephardic Heritage Windows by Israeli artist Raphael Abecassis, Fabricated by The Judson Studios.

The dedication ceremony at the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel crowned a year and one-half long process of creating the magnificent stained glass window (opening web page) around the main entrance to the Temple on renowned Wilshire Blvd. between Beverly Hills and Westwood Village.

The Maurice Amado Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by the late Maurice Amado in 1961, commissioned Raphael Abecassis to design a work of art in stained glass depicting the Sephardic Heritage. Sephardi Jews are descendants of Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before they were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.

Raphael Abecassis is a world-renowned Sephardi-Israeli artist who has developed a unique style that combines Jewish symbols, Sephardic motifs, and modern composition into a beautifully harmonized celebration of color. Centuries ago, the name Abecassis meant a story teller, and certainly the modern Abecassis tells us a story through his art work.

The windows depict the odyssey of the Sephardic Jews. Starting at the bottom right panel and moving upwards through the arch above and down to the left bottom panel, one travels a journey from the beginnings of the Diaspora, when Jews were exiled from Jerusalem, through their settlement in the Iberian Peninsula, the Golden Age in Spain, the Inquisition years, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the various countries to which Sephardi Jews migrated, their settlement in Los Angeles, the establishment of the first Sephardic synagogue in this city and the inauguration of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in 1974.

Many symbols repeat throughout the windows. Floating angels appear, symbolizing the spiritual dimension in history and in people's lives. To the artist, the angels demonstrate that beyond what meets the eye and can be seen in reality, there is another plane, another level, where God's messengers are in action.

Another important symbol is the ladder. As it is found in Jacob's dream, the ladder connects the earth's physical world with the spiritual world above. It shows us that we should aspire to reach higher and higher levels of spirituality. The ladder of spirituality also stands for the scholarly endeavors of the Sephardi spiritual leaders during the Golden Age in Spain. These scholars included Abraham Ibn Ezra, Nachmanides, Maimonides, Abulafia, Yehuda Halevi, Isaac Elfassi, Samuel Hanagid and Hasdai Ibn Shaprut.

At the center of the window design is The City of Jerusalem set in a pomegranate, a fruit from the Holy Land. This is the artist's way of expressing the centrality of Jerusalem to the Jewish people. Throughout the centuries, Jerusalem has always been at the center of Jewish hopes and aspirations.

Other symbols in the windows include the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, the seven-branched candelabrum, the shofar or ram's horn blown on the Jewish new year and more.

An important episode in recent Jewish history, The Holocaust, is symbolized by the broken Star of David, barbed wire and six candles representative of the six million.