Volume 1, Issue 5 (June 2011) - The Heschel School

Washington, DC and Philadelphia
Beth Sholom Synagogue:
Frank Lloyd Wright or Frank
Lloyd Wrong?
The Sixth Grade’s First Taste of Modern
Architecture
By Hannah Zhukovsky
After an early wake-up call, the
sixth graders all piled into the coach
bus, then, after a long and sleepy ride,
managed to stumble out of the bus into
a strange pyramid figure supported by
obelisks at its side; the building is the
Beth Sholom Synagogue designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect of the
Guggenheim Museum.
After walking through a long carpeted
hallway, we were greeted by Mordechai
and Mati Rosentein, grandparents
of fellow sixth grader Ava Pearlman.
We were then ushered into one of the
many chapels to watch a short video
about the construction of the building.
The Rabbi of Beth Sholom Synagogue, at
that time, was Mortimer J. Cohen. When
Rabbi Cohen was at Beth Sholom, many
members of the synagogue, located in
Philadelphia, left to move to the suburbs,
and the old building was in disrepair. He
decided to move the synagogue to Elkins
Park, and to build a new synagogue.
Rabbi Cohen’s mission was to expand
the congregation attending the Synagogue,
and at the same time think about
the architecture of the new building to
connect Judaism with the modern world.
He even said he wanted a building that
had “the American spirit wedded to the
ancient spirit of Israel.”
In order to accomplish his dream,
in 1953 Rabbi Cohen sent Frank Lloyd
Wright , one of the most famous and
accomplished architects in the world, a
personal letter to convince him to consider
the project. Frank Lloyd Wright
at the time was best known for designing
the extraordinary home, “Falling
Water.” Wright, a Welsh Unitarian, had
been asked before to design and build
a synagogue, but had always refused.
Rabbi Cohen would not take “no” for an
answer, and after much coaxing, Wright
agreed to go along with the project.
After meeting, Cohen and Wright
soon became great friends, and Cohen
maintained the position of Co-Designer
of the building, a position never given
away before by Wright. Thus, they started
to work on the six-sided pyramid with
tripod beams laden with plastic panels
within the structure, which resembled
Mount Sinai.
After the video, we walked up the
carpeted stairs into the main sanctuary.
As soon as we arrived into the room,
there were gasps of “oohs”, and “aahs.”
Many kids loved the open space, while
others said it was too “overwhelming.”
The main sanctuary, when first looked at,
resembles a modern cubist design done
to give the sacred holy place an “edge.”
However, the inside, such as a piece of
Jewish text, has many deep interpretations
of mystical ideas and tradition.
The only difference between the two is
that the interpretations are played out in
the many facets of the architecture, not
words. Inside the main sanctuary, where
the pyramid peaks, the floor is tilted in a
certain way, which gives the effect of one
being cupped in God’s hands. The Bima,
a representation of angels ascending to
heaven, is lined with modern shaped
patterns (usually six on each side, to
represent the twelve tribes) and in the
middle is the triangular shaped ark with
Continued on page 12
So You Think You Can Fly?
By Ella N. Kaplun
The man who said, “Tell me, have I
done anything of worth?” Is the same
man who invented the Great Kite, the
ornithopter flying machine, the parachute,
and who painted the Mona Lisa.
This Renaissance man was Leonardo Da-
Vinci.
During the sixth grade trip to Pennsylvania,
specifically Lancaster and
Philadelphia, sixth graders went to the
Leonardo DaVinci exhibit in the Franklin
Institute. There, we watched a video
about Leonardo, looked at Leonardo’s
paintings, read his journal entries, and
viewed the astounding drawings of his
inventions. Much of what we saw was
Leonardo’s actual writing, as well as
touch screen reproductions of his work.
Before we went to the museum Gary
asked that we choose one invention of
DaVinci’s that we’d like to take home.
Would we choose: The Great Kite, Aerial
Screw, Mechanical Lion and Bat, Self-
Propelled Cart, or the Harpsichord Viola.”
Looking at thirty-seven results,
three people wanted to bring the Aerial
Screw home, twenty people wanted to
bring home the Great Kite, five people
wanted to bring home the Mechanical
Lion and Bat, five people wanted to bring
home a Self-Propelled cart, and four others
opted for the harpsichord-viola.
In 1498, Leonardo DaVinci completed
work on his painting, “The Last
Supper.” He thought of flying machines
400 years before electronic flying machines
were made. In addition, he helped
Continued on page 11
The Joseph Slifka Middle School June 2011 ◆ 7