When Mike Witman started his role as Director of Lifelong Learning, he noticed the hallway walls in the department’s wing. They were empty. He knew that eventually he wanted those walls to reflect the Temple Emanu-El Lifelong Learning community. Sixteen months later, with the help of religious school students, teachers, and Temple Emanu-El clergy and staff, the bare walls are now filled with vibrant murals. The murals represent the passion, energy, and diversity of the department’s community.
“I want students to see themselves in the building,” Mike explained. “When they walk on the fourth floor, students – from nursery school up to high school – can see the handprints they put on one of the murals. That reflects back to them that this is their home and space, a place where their mark can be seen. I hope they can see through the murals our school values of ahava (love) and HaKarat HaTov (gratitude).”
The Department of Lifelong Learning has been working on the concept and design of the mural for over a year. The project began when staff, teachers, students, and families identified the values of ahava, love, and HaKarat HaTov, gratitude, as core community values. Tova Speter, the artist who designed the mural and oversaw its creation, toured Temple Emanu-El on a scouting trip for design inspiration.
When Speter came to Temple Emanu-El in November to help with the mural’s painting, she did more than instruct on brush strokes and color choice. She led students in a text study that provided an overview of the Jewish values they chose to represent in the mural.
The first mural offers a friendly greeting of shalom – the Hebrew word for peace, hello, and goodbye – to visitors. It was created by nursery school through second grade students who used stamps to add a representation of what they love and feel grateful for. The varying shades of blue represent the Jewish diversity of the Emanu-El community – all coming together to highlight love and gratitude.
The second mural was created by 3rd – 8th grade students as well as staff and families. It is based off of the mosaic tile of a palm tree on the floor of the bimah in the Fifth Avenue Sanctuary. While working on the second mural, students learned about what different rabbinic sages have identified as the three things the world stands on and then brainstormed together what they think are three things to help the world thrive. Those words are contained in the triangles emanating out from the central tree of life sharing their light. The patterns also have meaning as they reflect participants’ ideas about love as something that offers warmth (wavy lines), strength (mountain/zigzag lines), and connection (arrows). The various hearts hidden in the artwork each represent a student or family member and the reflective mirrors allow all who walk by to see themselves as part of the Department of Lifelong Learning community.
In addition to students, temple staff contributed to the mural. Clergy, religious school teachers, finance professionals, and members of the marketing team donned smocks and picked up paint brushes. For Mike it was important that every staff member, no matter their role, had a chance to contribute.
“From operations to development, every department is helping the Jewish education of kids in one way or another,” he said.
For Mike, the creation of the mural was more than a communal art project. By coming together to create an object of beauty, the school participated in hiddur mitzvah, the sanctification of the commandments, he said.
“When you are beautifying a space, we are actually enhancing the commandments given by God.”
Mike emphasized that the mural project came to fruition because of the hard work of his team.
“I’d like to express my deepest gratitude to the incredible Department of Lifelong Learning staff for their dedication and hard work in bringing this unbelievable mural project to life,” he said. “This mural project would not have been possible with their creativity, passion, and unwavering commitment to excellence.”
