A few years ago an opportunity arose for me. Rabbi Polin reached out to me wondering if I would be interested in working on a project for his congregation. I didn’t have much information only that the synagogue needed a new bimah and lecterns. I drove down to the synagogue and was asked if I can make a Bimah, lecterns, Aron Kodesh, and the back walls. I came home and immediately started coming up with ideas.
The Torah scrolls are the most sacred writings to the Jewish people. In some traditions, if the Torah scrolls are dropped it is customary for the entire congregation to fast. The furniture used to hold the Torah such as a cabinet known as the Torah Ark (Aron Kodesh) is designated as a holy object and can only be used to hold the Torah scrolls. In some traditions it is customary for it to be buried after it is deemed no longer usable for that purpose. This being said, anything associated with the direct use of the Torah such as the Bimah, also referred to as a Torah Table, is deemed as a holy object as well.
This is why making items such as the Torah Ark or a Bimah, is a pinnacle in my career as a Judaica artist and a Jewish woodworker.
The lecterns
In Judaism ,the Torah and the wisdom that it holds, is often referred to as “The tree of life”.
The Torah mentions the tree of life in the book of Genesis, 2:9
וַיַּצְמַ֞ח יְהֹוָ֤ה אֱלֹהִים֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה כׇּל־עֵ֛ץ נֶחְמָ֥ד לְמַרְאֶ֖ה וְט֣וֹב לְמַאֲכָ֑ל וְעֵ֤ץ הַֽחַיִּים֙ בְּת֣וֹךְ הַגָּ֔ן וְעֵ֕ץ הַדַּ֖עַת ט֥וֹב וָרָֽע׃
“And from the ground God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.”
This was part of my inspiration for my design. I incorporated two trees into the lecterns, mirror images of each other, that sit at the front of the stage. These symbolize the two trees in the garden of Eden, mentioned above.
The two lecterns, hand made from curly maple, figured bubinga and cherry, each feature seven handcarved bubinga leaves. The number seven is an important number in Judaism. It is related to the seven species of the land of Israel, seven laws of the descendants of Noah (the Noahide laws), seven days of creation, seven branches of the menorah in the temple and seven divine attributes. These are just a few examples among many other associations to the number 7 in Judaism.
The Bimah
Front and center, flanked by the two trees is the Bimah handcrafted from curly maple, figured bubinga and cherry.
The Bimah features a line from Mishlei, (Proverbs) 3:18 , hand carved in Hebrew, often recited when the Torah is brought back to the Ark
עֵץ־חַיִּ֣ים הִ֭יא לַמַּחֲזִיקִ֣ים בָּ֑הּ וְֽתֹמְכֶ֥יהָ מְאֻשָּֽׁר
“It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and all who uphold it are blessed.”
I have always been fascinated by Hebrew. Not so much the language but the letters themselves. When I found out how important Hebrew was to this congregation I knew I had to make it a prominent part of the design. I wanted the words and letters themselves to inspire a certain feeling of awe in anyone who saw them whether they could read them or not and understand them or not.
When designing this piece I had to keep in mind possible weak spots and made sure that every letter was supported somehow. This was not an easy task since Hebrew letters have many floating parts. For example the letters י ,ק , and ה were especially problematic. I spent weeks fine tuning the design, resizing and fitting every letter before I even cutting the boards to size. For a project like this, careful planning at this stage was a must.
The Aron Kodesh
The design for the Torah ark, was also hand crafted from curly maple, figured bubinga and cherry.
I wanted to tie the idea of the Torah represented as the tree of life directly to the Torah Ark and therefore designed a tree for the top two doors of the Torah Ark and roots for the bottom two doors. I made the trunk of the tree to serve as the handles, opening the Tree of life to receive the Torah.
The two letters that make the Hebrew word for life “Chai”, (חי) spelled in Hebrew with the letters Chet (ח) and Yud (י). The numerical equivalent of this word is eighteen, since the letter “Chet” equals eight and the letter “Yud”, Ten. In Judaism certain numbers are often used to represent words. This is known as Gematria, an important part of Jewish mysticism, known as Kabbalah. I touched on this idea with this design. The tree of life represents the Torah, and the Torah holds 613 mitzvot, commandments, within it. I designed the tree on the Torah Ark to have 34 leaves. Each leaf is handcarved from cherry, with the word chai. 34 x 18 = 612. The center branch leads you all the way up to the first commandment given to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai. This is represented by the Ner tamid translated as the eternal light, flame, bringing the total to 613.
The Ner Tamid
I hand carved my representation of a flame from a 50 lb block of semi-translucent white alabaster and fit a led light inside. I made the base out of bubinga. The base features 6 sides that formed a hexagon that I rounded to form the shape of a Magen David, Star of David, (literal translation is “shield of David”) when viewed from above.
There are many meanings and interpretations of this symbol. One of them according to Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) is the idea that the Magen David, Star of David symbolizes seven spiritual building blocks or divine attributes at the center of which is yesod “foundation” and all other attributes stem from this (all the 6 corners of the Magen David.) Another interpretation/meaning to this symbol is that G-d is with us on all sides. Since, the Ner tamid symbolizes G-d’s presence (or the Shechina), my goal was to tie this idea together with the Magen David.
It is customary to always keep the Ner Tamid lit over the Aron kodesh. Similar to the Ner tamid that was always kept lit in the temple in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago.
This project is culmination of all the knowledge and skill that I have acquired over the last fourteen years woodworking and creating judaica. I’d like to thank the Rabbi, staff, and congregation for giving me this opportunity to be able to create something this holy for the community.