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Chagall Windows

The Synagogue of the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center was dedicated on February 6th, 1962, as part of Hadassah's Golden Anniversary celebration. The floors and interior walls are made of Jerusalem Stone, and the Synagogue is illuminated by a hanging lantern and by sunlight which streams through the magnificent Chagall Windows.

Marc Chagall, who was present at the dedication, spoke of the joy he felt in bringing "my modest gift to the Jewish people, who have always dreamt of biblical love, of friendship and peace among all people; to that people who lived here, thousands of years ago, among other Semitic people. My hope is that I hereby extend my hand to seekers of culture, to poets and to artists among the neighboring people." The creation of the Windows was a labor of love to Chagall and his assistant, Charles Marq, both of whom worked on the project for two years. Marq developed a special process of veneering pigment on glass which allowed Chagall to use as many as three colors on a single uninterrupted pane, rather than being confined to the traditional technique of separating each color pane by lean strips.
To ensure that each window receives the proper light, Marq came to Jerusalem and made tests on the spot where each of the windows was to be placed.

The Windows represents the 12 sons of the Patriarch Jacob, from whom came the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Chagall's Windows are populated by floating figures of animals, fish, flowers, and numerous Jewish symbols. To fully understand the significance of the Windows they must be viewed against Chagall's deep sense of identification with the whole of the Jewish history, its tragedies and victories, as well as his own personal background in the shtetl of Vitebsk, where he was born and grew up. "All the time I was working," he said, "I felt my father and my mother were looking over my shoulder, and behind them were Jews, millions of other vanished Jews of yesterday and a thousand years ago."

But it was the bible which provided his main inspiration, particularly Genesis 49, where Jacob blesses his 12 sons, and Deuteronomy 33, where Moses blesses the Twelve Tribes. The dominant colors used in each window are inspired by those blessings as well as by the Description of the breastplate of the High Priest in Exodus 28:15, which was colored gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and contained 12 gems including emeralds , turquoise, sapphire, blue jacinth, agate, beryl, lapis lazuli and jasper.

Chagall Windows copyright:
The Hadassah Hospitals in Jerusalem are owned by the Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America, 50 West 58th Street, New York, NY 10019, USA. They own the rights to the Chagall Windows and you must apply to them for permission to use them commercially.
Address your request to their Legal Advisor, Sheryl Zeligson. Her e-mail address is: szeligson@hadassah.org.il or send a letter to:
Sheryl Zeligson
Hadassah
50 West 58 Street
New York, New York 10019

It is possible to download the pictures freely for personal use only.