The Prophets - Beth-El's Stained Glass Windows

First panel on the West Side.

Isaiah prophesied in the kingdom of Judah during the eighth century B.C.E. The scion of an aristocratic family, Isaiah was a deeply religious person who fully developed the concept of "k'dushah" or "holiness." In this window (upper section), we see depicted his famous prophecy of the establishment of the Lord's house on the top of the mountains. Both a Sukkah, which protects it from the heat and the rain, shelters it and by a hovering bird Isaiah proclaimed: "Out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."

Isaiah's prophecy of the messianic era included a vision of universal peace. The mountainside would be watered by a wide stream upon which predatory and domestic animals roam at peace. This scene is represented in the window together with the vision of a child, completely unafraid, extending his hand over the lair of an asp. At that moment, forecasted Isaiah, "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord."

Finally, the prophet called for the ingathering of all segments of the Jewish people into their ancestral home. Pilgrims from all the nations ascend to Jerusalem playing flutes, drums and lyres. In that era, swords will be converted into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks.

In Loving Memory of Husband and Father, Joseph B. Schultz

 

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