The sanctuary at San Jose’s Temple Emanu-El is enhanced with a new look, thanks to the recent installation of the “Gates of Blessing,” 12 stained glass panels incorporating biblical themes.
Created and designed by David and Michelle Plachte-Zuieback of Santa Rosa, the windows take their title from the prayer at the end of the Yom Kippur service.
The artists wanted “to create a calm, pleasing feeling of being in a garden where you see leaves growing in colors from spring green to fall ambers,” David Plachte-Zuieback said. The colors represent the cycle of life and death.
The windows, which replace rippled glass formerly in the sanctuary, were donated by Sidney Levin and his family in memory of his wife of 49 years, Virginia Levin, who died in 1996. They were dedicated at a ceremony held Sunday, June 14.
Rabbi Mark Schiftan, who conceived the idea for the new windows, was familiar with work the artists had done at UAHC Camp Swig at Saratoga.
Inspired by the Bible, the artists created three panels in the foyer comprising the Tree of Life. The fruits on the tree are pomegranates, one of the three most symbolic fruits of Judaism. The pomegranate has 613 seeds symbolizing the 613 mitzvot in the Torah. There are 18 pomegranates for chai on the tree, and the trunk relates to the creation of life (chaim) from chaos.
Continuing the theme, the 12 panels on the wall in the main sanctuary incorporate both Jacob’s ladder and the Garden of Eden. Arranged in three columns on each side are two of Jacob’s ladders, symbols of Torah connecting heaven and earth. These ladders are covered with leaves and the other two fruits that Joshua brought: grapes, symbolic of blessings and prayers, and figs, symbol of paradise and peace.
The ladders hold the gates in the center panels which are decorated with the gems of the 12 tribes as seen in the original breast plates of the high priest. In the center of the windows on the gates are the emblems of the tribes, their names and symbolic colors.
The Plachte-Zuiebacks have been professional stained-glass artists working in Northern California since 1978. They have offered intensive stained-glass workshops for Swig campers annually since 1983.
They have also exhibited Jewish ritual plates since 1984 in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, New York and Atlanta. Since 1982, they have created works for synagogues throughout the United States, along with residences and buildings.
The windows, said Levin of Los Gatos, are a fitting tribute to his late wife. “They have a natural beauty and simplicity which was typical of Virginia.”
Virginia Levin was active in the sisterhood at Temple Emanu-El and worked on many beautification projects. She was also president of the San Jose Civic Light Opera Association which preceded the American Musical Theater.
For the past 32 years, the Ginney awards in her honor have been presented to acknowledge amateur performers and to provide scholarships for students who want to continue training in the theater.
At the dedication, a specially commissioned musical piece, “The Garden,” was performed by cantorial soloist Rachel Michelberg and former Emanu-El cantorial soloist Stephen Guggenheim. The work by Jose Bowen of the University of Southampton in England is a dramatic presentation based on Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Members of the Levin family shared reflections and remembrances of Virginia Levin.