AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHAGALL WINDOWS – JERUSALEM

The Abell synagogue located at the Hadassah University Medical Centre in Ein Karem, is home to the Chagall stain glass windows.

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) was born into Jewish Hassidic family in present day Belarus, and was the oldest of 9 children. Certainly not the most condusive atmosphere for an aspiring artist, he nevertheless was blessed with a wise and insightfull mother who recognized his talent & passion for art. She consequently supported him in his artistic endeavours.

For a Jew to be accepted into the artistic establishment of the period, he had to either negate or expose his Jewishness – Chagall chose the latter. His works unabashedly make constant reference to his heritage.

Between 1960 – 1962, Chagall with his assistant Charles Marq (1923-2006) worked on the Hadassah windows. Whilst working on the windows, Chagall said the following : "All the time I was working I felt my father and mother were looking over my shoulder, and behind them were Jews, millions of other vanished Jews of yesterday & a thousand years ago".

The windows represent the 12 tribes of Israel, descedents of the 12 sons of the the patriarch Jacob, who was later renamed Israel. The 12 tribes being Reuven, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulon, Ephraim & Mennaseh, the latter two being the sons of Joseph. Each of the 12 panels focus on character traits associated with the tribal leader who represented the collective nature of the tribe.This characterization is achieved by the choice of colours, emblems and flags, as well as gems both precious & semi precious associated with each tribe. Each panel of course deserves its own article, which would result in a mini thesis, not the intention of this article. I have therefore decided to focus on one specific character trait that is attributed to either the tribal leader or the tribe.

REUVEN'S unstable nature is represented by an equally unstable substance, namely water. The blue colour which represents water dominates the entire panel.

SIMEON'S attribute of anger is conveyed by the posture of the animals who do not face each other signifying tension.

The tribe of LEVI was known for its zeal and readyness to oppose idol worship. No member of the tribe partook in the worship of the golden calf and were consequently appointed to serve in the sanctuary and become the priests and teachers of the nation. Their panel is predominantly gold in colour representing the sacred objects housed in the temple and includes the Tablets of the Law.

JUDAH is credited for preventing his brothers from killing Joseph. This act contained the seeds of leadership and the panel displays both a crown and lion, both symbols of kingship.

The panel attributed to the tribe of DAN contains a lion, which in this case is not associated with kingship as with the panel of Judah. Mose's blessing to Dan included the following "Dan is lions whelp that leaps forth from Bashan" which is an area of the Golan were the tribal allotment of Dan was located, after having been evicted from the area of Dan by the Philistines. (Tel Aviv and the surrounding area are to this day called the Dan block). The blessing of Moses implies that the mother of the messiah will come from the tribe of Dan.

The hind and the bird signify freedom which relates to the defeat of Sisera by Barak who came from the tribe of NAPHTALI.

The warlike character of the tribe of DAN is alluded to by the weaponry that is contained in the panel.

The tribe of ASHER was allocated the northern fertile land. The panel depicts olive trees which imply wealth and include a Menorah which was fed by olive oil.

The tribe of ISSACHAR & the tribe of ZEBULON can be discussed in tandem, as the brothers came to an agreement that ISSACHAR would study Torah while ZEBULON would provide material assistence. The white tent in the panel of ISSACHAR alludes to tents of Torah learning. Moses includes in his blessing to the tribe of ZEBULON that "they shall draw riches from the sea and the hidden riches of the sand". The riches of the sea are alluded to in the panel by the depiction of fishes, and the stone associated with the tribe is a diamond.

JOSEPH is represented by two tribes, namely tribes of EPHRAIM & MENASHE, his two sons. The predominance of the gold/yellow colour in the window can allude to the corn related to Joseph's dreams, as does the grazing cattle.

King Saul came from the tribe of BENJAMIN and prepared the ground for a united kingdom. The smaller circles within the panel allude to the individual tribes which are encompassed by a larger circle representing unity.

I must however include an important technical innovation applied to the windows. A technique developed by Charles Marq, Chagalls assistant who developed what was a hithertoo unknown teqnique of applying colour to glass which allowed for the inclusion of 3 colours into a single pane. This as opposed to the traditional technique of seperating each coloured pane with a lead strip.

On completing the work, Marc Chagall said the following: "This is my modest gift to the Jewish people who have always dreamt of biblical love, friendship and peace amongst all people. This is my gift to people which lived here thousands of years ago among other semitic people" (February 6, 1962)

Open : Sunday – Thursday Single admission (above 6 years old) – 15 N.I.S. Group admission (21-50 people) - 12 N.I.S. Group admission ( above 51 people) - 10 N.I.S.

Ron Traub (Tour Guide & Architect). Website : rontraub-tours.com Photo : Wikipedia.