Pittsburgh, Pa.
Sandstone and bronze. 30' x 30' rear wall, 17' x 17' front wall, bronze tablets 6' x 2' each.
Temple Ohav Shalom design committee and Dan Rothschild, architect, used the talents and energy of Michael Kraus to create this striking sanctuary. The back walls are two stone half circles, the shorter one-positioned 3 feet in front of the rear to accommodate the cabinet, which houses the Torah scrolls. The stones were individually hands cut and faced, by the artist, to resemble stones from the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The tablets on the front wall are solid bronze, weighing 300 lbs. each. Kraus was interested in finding a different layout for the wording of the Hebrew text for the Ten Commandments. In an obscure book about Polish wooden synagogues destroyed in the Holocaust, Kraus found an out of focus photo of an interior from Suchawola showing a very small, but individual layout for the text. By rendering this lost example, the artist was able to subtly incorporate a holocaust tribute into the sanctuary.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
Michael Kraus
1040 W. Ingomar Rd.
Pittsburgh, PA
(412)364-7815
