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Stained Glass Windows: Creation vs. Evolution
Last month I was invited to speak at a Jewish Day School about my approach to prayer. Over the course of the year, fourth through eighth grade students hear from several rabbis in the community about their personal approach and congregation’s approach to prayer.
Explaining Judaism with a humanistic perspective to a bunch of kids who had likely never heard of it was going to be a daunting task. At Congregation Beth Adam and OurJewishCommunity.org, we have a distinct contemporary philosophy – and our own Religious School kids are raised in it. But explaining it to a bunch of day school kids – mostly from more traditional families – in 30 minutes was going to be more of a challenge.
So I talked to the kids about several things. I talked about how our ancestors got to write down what was important to them in the liturgy – so why shouldn’t we be able to do the same? I talked about how our congregation writes its own liturgy – liturgy that is inclusive. I talked about how our philosophy blends commonsense and Judaism. The kids were engaged and asked some good questions, but I wasn’t sure they got it.
And then I caught a glance of the windows in the school’s sanctuary where I was standing. Behind me were stained glass windows portraying the story of Creation – a la Garden of Eden from the book of Genesis. Ahhh. This was a teachable moment. I explained to the students that our sanctuary at Congregation Beth Adam (the brick-and-mortar synagogue where I work) also has stained glass windows that represent the origins of the world. Except our windows are not based on the Bible. Our sanctuary windows show the Big Bang, evolution, and science. Just as our liturgy is consistent with our philosophy, so is the design of our building.
Our eternal light (hanging over the ark containing the Torah scroll) has a DNA helix design – representing that science and religion both belong in our sanctuary. The ark is off center as well – to represent that authority lies with people. The students had an aha! moment. What we do at Beth Adam is a slightly different kind of Judaism than they had been exposed to previously. We take a contemporary approach to Judaism. We are committed to saying what we mean and meaning what we say. What we say in the hallway is consistent with what we say in the sanctuary. We are bringing Judaism into the 21st century.
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February 15th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Fascinating blog, Laura. I didn’t realize the double helix part. Sounds like comparing the physical windows was a good jumping off point.
February 15th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
PS. Great photos, BTW.
April 7th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
You might also note that the exterior sculpture on Beth Adam is also symbolic of the evolution of the Jewish faith through the evolution of the symbol, the Star of David.