Beauty at Home
HIS SPRING COURSE GUIDE is the final chapter of a wonderful calendar year of study and growth, as individuals and as part of the Skirball community. In the fall we featured the stunning and mysterious zodiac mosaic crafted for a sixth century synagogue in Beit Alpha in Northern Israel, and in the winter guide we were transported to Har Karkom (Mountain of Saffron) in the southwest Negev Desert, considered by some archaeologists to be the real Mount Sinai. The question was, where should we go next to complete the cycle?The answer was literally in front of our eyes, in the magnificent sanctuary at Temple Emanu-El, home to Skirball. Completed in 1929, Temple Emanu-El is one of the largest synagogues in the world. Among other magnificent artifacts, mosaics by the artist Hildreth Meière majestically adorn Temple Emanu-El’s eight-story-high arch in the Main Sanctuary and the ark on the Eastern wall behind it, which holds the Torah scrolls.
Of Meière’s many beautiful mosaics, on the cover page of our course guide we chose to zoom in on a small section representing Creation — more specifically, day two of Creation, when the waters were separated, uncovering the land.
The task of learning mimics the Divine act of Creation. Through interpretation and analysis we shape the challenges of life, represented as formless and turbulent waters, by endowing them with meaning. Through learning we establish places of understanding — “solid land” — where we can find repose during the journey of life. Regardless of your personal belief system, your serious learning has contributed to the covenant of maintaining a vibrant and meaningful Judaism and to fostering a world of individuals who are carriers of dialogue and mutual respect.
May the spring guide challenge you by opening new doors of learning and discovery.
Finally, the next time you come to Skirball, give yourself the gift of entering Temple Emanul-El’s Sanctuary, to be engulfed with beauty that will touch your soul.
— Rabbi Alfredo F. Borodowski, Ph.D.
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