As Debbie Jacknin, our resident artist, said to our students: when we as Jews think of broken glass, we think of Kristallnacht.  And while the shards of colorful broken glass that were to be used to create our memorial to the horror of October 27, 2018, she noted that while they would not become whole, together they would create something new.  And so they did.

Hand after hand – congregants of every age, neighbors of every age, skin tone, gender, religion, ethnicity, our elected officials and every single one of our religious school students placed glass onto our glass mosaic, designed by Debbie, inspired by our Remembrance Committee and based on the poem “In the rising of the sun and in its going down, we remember them” written by Rabbis Syvan Kamens and Jack Reimer.

The first to place the broken glass were Committee members who placed 11 stars for the 11 victims. The very first star was placed by the hand of Rachael Farber, great niece of Rose Mallinger (z”l) in the top right corner.

Carefully placing glass shards is healing.  As it was when I asked students to choose a piece of glass that reflected, through its color or shape, how they were feeling at that moment.  Red for anger; blue for comfort; red for violence… And then those emotions became art.

Thank you to Debbie, to our Committee, to all who joined us on Saturday night and to every hand that touched a piece of art that reflects brokenness and wholeness all at once.