Jewish Art Today

Marc Chagall’s magical touch didn’t exclude itself merely to his soulful paintings, but has manifested also in his stained glass windows, which are a masterwork of glass joined with color in perfect harmony.

Chagall’s 12 tribes master piece is a series of illuminating windows, that incorporate the narrative of the 12 tribes’ blessings, whereas each window is dedicated to a different tribe like Reuben, Simeon and Levi.

The twelve tribes, which were first mentioned in the ending of the book of Genesis, are Jacob’s twelve sons, who grew to become the Israelite people. Just like the windows, that can be regarded separately, each one of the tribes has sat solely on his own land, but in resemblance to the twelve windows that are actually one piece, so did the tribes form together a united nation who dedicated its life to G-d’s worship.

When looking at these overwhelming windows and the smooth shadows and light stains that fall on the walls and the floor, one can feel as though he is looking at one of the high priest’s gemstones (12 as well), which were radiating from his holy breastplate.

The whole ravishing windows series is presented today upon the walls of Hadassah University Medical Centre in Jerusalem and was prepared especially to this purpose by Chagall, who put his intentions in these moving words:

“This is my modest gift to the Jewish people who have always dreamt of biblical love, friendship and  of peace among all peoples. This is my gift to that people which lived here thousands of years ago among the other Semitic people.”

The tribe of Asher

Each of the stained glass windows is characterized by one leading color (blue, red or yellow) that is accompanied with other colors that complete the eye-appetizing effect. The windows also incorporate a Hebrew quotation from each tribe’s unique blessing, in addition to writing the tribe’s name on the top.

Here we can see the name “Asher” (אשר) on the upper side of the picture and at the bottom:

“מֵאָשֵׁר שְׁמֵנָה לַחְמוֹ וְהוּא יִתֵּן מַעֲדַנֵּי מֶלֶךְ” , which means: “Bread from Asher shall be rich and he shall yield royal dainties”.

Truth is that no photo can reflect the beauty of these windows, which can turn one’s home into a temple, cherishing the Jewish history and also the greatness of men and art, that can penetrate our souls and fill them with deep awe.

Care to consider buying a Chagall piece for your home? Take a stroll in Chagall’s gallery.

Would you like to read more about Chagall? Go to this Judaica store.