THE CHAGALL WINDOWS AT HADASSAH HOSPITAL: EXPRE By Helen Hill, Haddassah Jacksonville
By Helen Hill, Hadassah Jacksonville
Every trip to Israel is an opportunity to see the Chagall windows at the Abbell Synagogue at the Hadassah University Medical Center on the southwestern outskirts of Jerusalem. These twelve stained-glass windows representing the 12 Sons of Jacob (the 12 Tribes of Israel) were created by the famous Russian-born painter and designer, Marc Chagall, who donated them to Hadassah in 1962. Hadassah University Medical Center at Ein Kerem, one of two internationally recognized Hadassah hospitals in Jerusalem (the other being Mt. Scopus) is also home to a collection of one-of-a-kind windows made by the Jewish artist Marc Chagall. So how is it that Chagall’s masterpiece in stained glass came to be at the Hadassah Hospital? Marc Chagall was one of the most prolific artists of the twentieth century. Famous for his bright, bizarre works, his art was not immediately accepted, yet later he
22
became recognized as one of the most famous masters of the art world. Born to Orthodox parents in the Belorussian town of Vitebsk, his life was spent alternatively embracing Jewish culture or acting indifferently toward it. Ironically, even though he enjoyed life on the French Riviera and did not practice Judaism, he never forgot his Jewish origin. It is said that he retained a deep sense of identification with the whole of Jewish history, its tragedies and victories, and he never forgot his personal background of having been born and growing up in a Russian shtetl. Chagall became well known for art that conveyed the struggle and triumphs of humanity. Based on his own feelings of spirituality and faith, he carefully selected scenes, used a bright color palette, dramatic shading, and created images that evoked deep emotions. In the 1930’s, he traveled to the “Holy Land” and began
creating art that was inspired by scenes from the Bible. He created art in a variety of mediums, not only stained glass, but many of his stainedglass windows are famous today in churches throughout Europe.
In 1959, Dr. Miriam Freund, who was National President of Hadassah at the time, and aware of the beautiful windows Chagall had designed for churches, approached Mark Chagall about creating windows for the synagogue in the not yet completed hospital. In her memoir, she tells of meeting violinist Isaac Stern on the plane from New York to Paris and inviting him to accompany her to visit Chagall in France, which he did. And when asked, the artist agreed to design the stained-glass windows, saying '' I have always looked forward to a call from the Jewish people.'' The request was for twelve windows, each window representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Chagall worked on this project for over two years and, during this time, developed a new
