The Eternal Light

I’m thinking of light during this time of Chanukah celebration. It’s known that it takes only a small amount of light to dispel a great amount of darkness. This brings me to the story behind the Eternal Light — a light that continues to shine.

Sitting in the sanctuary of our local Chabad Shul (Synagogue) last week, I couldn’t help but glimpse up at the Eternal Light (Ner Tamid) hanging above the Holy Ark where Torah Scrolls are kept. There is an interesting story behind this light.

During the original planning and construction of the Shul, a Building Campaign was launched. Various ways of giving were offered. One was to donate funds needed to buy various ritual objects. One such object was the Eternal Light.

A number of years after the building was constructed and the Shul was in full operation; I got a call from the rabbi asking if I could help by creating the Eternal Light which had been anticipated as part of the Building Campaign.

I needed to think about this. My immediate thought was that it was way outside my wheelhouse. It would be a very steep ramp up and take a lot of time to create. There would be so many factors to consider — too many to list here. The clincher was my concern about the safety of people standing under the light. With my lack of experience with lighting fixtures and what I expected would be a heavy light, I couldn't bear the thought of someone getting hurt from my work accidentally falling from a high vaulted ceiling overhead.

When I called the Rabbi, I respectfully declined his request. I said I was sorry and hoped he understood. This project would be well outside my wheelhouse. As an alternative, I provided him with a short list of commercially available Eternal Lights that I felt would fit the sanctuary’s design and decor.

For the most part of the next couple years I remained conflicted. Why didn’t I just do it? “But Barry,” I would tell myself: “What if the light fell and hurt someone? You would never forgive yourself!” These thoughts would come and go. Again, again and again I would rehash this internal dialogue privately in my head.

Then, one day I was reading “The Gate of Trust,” part of an eleventh century treatise on the: “Duties of the Heart,” by Rabbi Bachya ibn Pekuda. In particular, I came across a passage that I’ll paraphrase as: If someone makes a request, one should wholeheartedly make every effort to perform it, provided he/she is capable and the person requesting is deserving of the efforts being done on his behalf. And after making these efforts, one should rely on G-d to help fulfill the person’s request.

Upon reading this, I thought immediately of the Eternal Light. I should have said yes.

So truly in a very impulsive shut-off-my-mind and jump-off-a-cliff moment, I picked up the phone and called the rabbi. With a pit-in-my-stomach, I bumbled my way through my predicament. He took it in stride and proceeded to tell me that my timing could not have been better. Not only had he not yet purchased a light, the benefactor family was scheduled to have a Simcha (joyous occasion) at the Shul in three months. It would be so amazing for them to see their funded Eternal Light installed.

My mind went into 24/7 over-drive. Myriad imaginations, ideas and strategies began coming to mind day and night. I called a Jewish glass artist acquaintance of mine. I was hoping to get a better feel for glass. I was thinking of a sculpted or blown crystal glass set in a fabricated bronze fixture.

Commissioned installation by Jewish glass artist acquaintance of mine.

She invited me to her studio and wouldn’t you know, she had recently completed a beautiful hanging light installation for a high-end establishment. When I heard this, the idea of a collaboration popped into my head. My vision was to bridge two competing aesthetics in the sanctuary — a modern minimalist ark and port-hole window with a more ornate and traditional decor. Although her contemporary glass wasn’t going to work, the idea of a collaboration really captured my imagination, especially given our limited time!

When I had gotten into this the first time around, I had searched the internet for Eternal Lights. The vast majority smacked of an engineered and manufactured quality. My vision was now a fine work of art hanging in this prominent place above the Holy Ark. I searched the internet again. This time, I searched for: “Jewish Artist and “Ner Tamid” (Hebrew for Eternal Light). To my surprise, I discovered a Jewish artist in Minnesota who specialized in hand-crafted Ner Tamid’s. The aesthetic of his work was in sync with what I was looking for. I sensed we could work together to create something quite exciting for the Shul.

Combining features from a selection of this artist’s prior works, I created a 3-D painted cardboard model (in full scale) of what I envisioned for the space.

Side view of my 3-D cardboard model (in full scale) — envisioned for the Eternal Light (hanging in my kitchen).

Underside of my 3-D cardboard model (full-scale) — envisioned for the Eternal Light.

The full-scale 3-D model gave us a life size visual of how the actual light would look. I wanted to see the model in the sanctuary, positioned in the way the actual Eternal Light would hang. I was excited to see how it would visually relate to the architecture and interior design with contrasting modern and traditional elements. There was still a question of where to hang it — both vertically and horizontally relative to the ridge of the vaulted ceiling, the port-hole window and the Holy Ark. With the ridge of the vaulted ceiling way above ladder access, I had no idea how this was going to be accomplished.

Positioning full scale painted cardboard model in front of round porthole window (using housekeeper’s extension rod).

I went to the Shul to ponder the feel of the space in the sanctuary. And again to my surprise, I saw a housekeeper dusting the high vaulted ceiling with a very long extension pole. “OMG!”, I thought. “This is how I’ll hang my model! And, it worked! We were able to view the model in the space and in multiple positions relative to the Ark and the port-hole window above it. We settled on a spot where both the model and its placement looked spectacular!

I called my collaborating artist. He proceeded to craft the Eternal Light to the design of my model. Many back and forth conversations and emails ensued. The light was completed and shipped to us from Minnesota.

In Process - the underside of the Eternal Light - cut stained glass with crystal beads set in copper and then in bronze.

The rabbi’s contractor immediately got to work putting his master touches to the installation of the light where we had hung the model. The project was complete, and our collective vision was realized with a couple of weeks to spare!

Contractor at work installing the actual Eternal Light.

Finished Eternal Light - Bronze setting with inset stained glass and crystal beads, hand sculpted and cast glass flame atop hand blown glass bowl.

I can attest from first-hand experience, the truth of what I read in Rabbi Pekuda’s “Gate of Trust.”

We started with a modern minimalist facade of a Holy Ark and port-hole window contrasted with traditional decor. Something was missing. The something turned out to be this Eternal Light — beautifully unifying disparate aesthetics of the sanctuary. Project complete! Let there be light!

Finished Eternal Light - Bronze setting with inset stained glass and crystal beads, hand sculpted and cast glass flame atop hand blown glass bowl.

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