A Survey of American Synagogue Stained Glass: 1845 to the Present

Abstract

This article addresses the lacuna of scholarship on Jewish-American stained glass by presenting a historical overview of this prevalent synagogue art form (1845 to the present). Analysis of key trends reveals Jewish congregations’ engagement with Christian influences by imitating the work of church stained glass in some ways while differentiating in other ways. Jewish artists and congregational leaders have also been in conversation with each other, sharing thematic and design ideas to formulate a loosely shared aesthetic and religious approach towards creating windows for their houses of worship. In accordance with the Second Commandment’s prohibition against creating “graven images,” God in figural form does not appear in synagogue space. Instead, a Jewish technique for eliciting a sense of Divine in the sanctuary has included a repertoire of light-filled images—including torches, lamps, fire, and celestial bodies—to convey a spiritual presence, enhanced by actual light from the sun itself as refracted through the windows.