Jan Steinhauser, a Denver sculptor who works in bronze, cast paper and terra cotta, made a bronze sculpture to encapuslate the mission of and welcome people to Congregation Bnai Jeshurun in Franklin Lakes, NJ.
The congregation, called the Nathan Barnert Memorial Temple, is the oldest Reform Jewish congregation in New Jersey, founded in 1847.
The new facility, which serves about 450 families, wanted a meaningful piece of art at its entrance.
The Hebrew inscription on the front of the round piece is a phrase from Ethics of the Fathers, [the world stands on three things:] on Torah, on service and on acts of kindness.
This is rendered in the English inscription on the back of the sculpture as, Three values sustain the world: wisdom, humility, and compassionate deeds.
A menorah appears twice each on the front and back of the sculpture.
Steinhauser says that the circular nature of the sculpture represents endless time, while in the inside is an abstract of the sky and the earth.
The temple calls the sculpture a timeless heritage. the sculpture dedication took place after the High Holidays last October.
Leading the dedication were the congregations Rabbis Elyse Frishman and Rachel Steiner.
It took Steinhauser six months to make the sculpture, which weighs about 200 pounds.
The model for the Bnai Jeshurun sculpture came from another piece Steinhauser did in Denver. A Denver housing developer purchased it minus the Hebrew and English inscriptions from Ethics of the Fathers and placed it on Martin Luther King Blvd., near Eudora St.
