Ner Tamid
In all my years of creating Jewish art, building a Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) had never crossed my mind. When The Jewish Community Day School of Greater New Orleans commissioned us to build their Ner Tamid, I jumped at the opportunity.
If I close my eyes, I can still picture the Ner Tamid at the synagogue where I grew up attending Shabbat services. I learned that the light symbolizes God's eternal presence in our lives. It hung from the ceiling with gold chains and brilliantly shined. I was enchanted by the fact that the Eternal Light is just that, eternal. It was an an honor to build this wooden Ner Tamid and personally deliver it to the school.
I used walnut, one of my favorite mediums, to build this piece. I anticipated that the contrast between the dark wood and electronic light would be beautiful. The wood from this project is second hand. We love using second hand wood to protect forests; we buy scrap pieces from local wood workers in Asheville, North Carolina. These two walnut pieces were scrapped table legs from Brian Boggs Chairmakers.
I carved out a cavity for the light, then chopped diagonal lines. There are 12 lines to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Then, I filled gaps with plexi glass. To hold the entire structure together, I used a two part epoxy, which coated the entire cavity. Once I had the structure in place, I went to sanding… lots and lots of sanding. With a coat of finish and LED lights, the piece came to life. There are two lights operating on separate power banks to ensure the Ner Tamid will always shine, and the accompanying base attaches snuggly to the cavity for easy detaching to switch out batteries.
Thank you to the Jewish Day School of Greater New Orleans for the opportunity to build this meaningful piece.
