History Preserved
An obscure piece of Jewish history is now preserved at B'nai Abraham synagogue, 519 N. Main St.
When Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle closed its doors for good Dec. 31, it gifted B'nai Abraham with its wall sculpture of the Lions of Judah guarding the Decalogue with the Crown of the Torah.
Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer said B'nai Abraham will have a dedication ceremony at 7 p.m. Friday with Soldiers and Sailors Museum curator Michael Kraus to speak about the history of the lions.
A special musical section based on the Genesis text (49:9) that first mentions the lions of Judah —
“Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” — has been written by Gray-Schaffer for this dedication service and will be presented by her and guest musicians.
Former congregants of Hadar Israel have been invited to join.
According to Eric Levin, B'nai Abraham president, “The lions had hung in Hader Israel since 1958.”
“They were hanging on the wall of the social hall up over a sliding door,” said Levin.
When they were brought down for the move to Butler, Levin said, the one lion split into three pieces. It was able to be restored, he said.
According to Gray-Schaffer, the lions guarding the Ten Commandments (the Decalogue) was originally carved for Congregation Tifereth Israel in New Castle in the early 20th century and had passed to Hadar Israel in 1909.
She said, “Carved Torah Arks depicting the Lions of Judah, this kind of art was an American phenomenon.”
“Most of the decorative energy in European synagogues was put into the architecture,” she said.
“The time these were created, 1880-1920, mirrored the big Jewish immigration period from Eastern Europe. That's where the carvers came from.
“The carving they did, when there wasn't enough call for Ark carvings, the same artists carved all the historic carousel animals,” she said.
Levin said of the lions, “They were gorgeous. When you have the opportunity to take something like that and preserve it, it's honoring the legacy of the New Castle synagogue.”
Unfortunately, according to Gray-Schaffer, none of her research has been able to turn up the name of the artist for the work which now hangs at B'nai Abraham.
Levin said the closing of the New Castle synagogue leaves B'nai Abraham and its 50 to 60 families as the sole synagogue in Western Pennsylvania between Erie to the north and Ambridge to the south.
“I hope the members of Hadar Israel might come here,” said Levin. “Obviously they are welcome. I know a lot of them and would love to see their familiar faces here.”
