GAMBIER — The Kenyon College Torah’s new home, an elegantly hand-crafted, beautifully-lit ark, especially made to house the 176-year-old text, was dedicated Thursday evening in the Special Collections room of the college’s library.
“It is a very special day indeed that we get to dedicate this ark on Simchat Torah” the day the traditional reading of the Torah is finished and begun again, Jewish Chaplain Marc Bragin told the audience in the packed room. “This is a treasure protecting a treasure.”
Kenyon’s President, S. Georgia Nugent, pronounced the event “a joyous occasion” and thanked Michael and Deborah Salzberg of Maryland, who could not be present, for their gift of the Torah to Kenyon in 2007. It came from the area of Lvov, Ukraine, and was restored by Rabbi Menachem Youlus of Save a Torah, a nonprofit organization in Maryland.
The Salzberg’s daughter Anna, a Kenyon senior, spoke on behalf of her parents and thanked those who participated in the ark dedication as well as the dedication of the Torah almost exactly one year ago.
Artist and art teacher Audrey Fenigstein and carpenter and craftsman Jack Esslinger collaborated to build the ark from local cherry and curly maple, seeded art glass and incandescent lights that cast an indirect soft glow inside and outside.
The cherry wood came from Gambier and from the Jelloway Valley, Esslinger said, the latter a gift of Susan Ramser. Kenyon professor Will Scott contributed the maple, and Franklin Glass provided the art glass. Herb Yoder of The Carpenter’s Sons assisted in the woodworking.
Fenigstein, who creates artworks in both wood and paint, said Bragin noticed cabinets she had crafted when he visited her home.
“He said, ‘You know, we could use an ark. The ark that we are using was kind of a converted makeshift kind of ark. It would be nice to have a really beautiful ark,’ remembered Fenigstein, who said her power tool of choice is a right-angle grinder. With it, she carved three-dimensional Hebrew letters from cherry for the top of the ark; they translate to “This is the tree of life for those who hold it fast.”
A stylized cherry-wood tree, trunk and branches, graces the front of the twin-doored ark, and are replicated on the inside of the doors. Even the back of the ark is beautifully finished, rubbed, as is the rest, with Danish oil that gives it a rich warm glow. The glass was etched by Tim Yoder with the Hebrew chai symbol, meaning “life.”
The Hebrew letters are lighted by a rope light; light fixtures designed to illuminate works of art light the inside. The ark, considered portable, rests on a four-legged stand and has removable doors.
Fenigstein, whose sisters came to Gambier from the East Coast for the dedication, spoke of the creation of the ark.
“It was important to me,” she said, “to create an ark that would be worthy of holding this scroll.”
Her mother was born in the Ukraine, she said, near the torah’s original home, and her husband’s parents, both Holocaust survivors, are very proud of her work on the ark, which in turn made her happy.
Esslinger said he was “honored and intrigued” when invited to help construct the ark.
“This was truly a collaborative effort,” he said, adding that Fenigstein taught him several Yiddish words during the sometimes stressful nine-month project.
Bragin draped Esslinger and Fenigstein in a talit, a prayer shawl, and offered them a blessing of peace, sung by Bryan Zive, music director at Temple Israel in Columbus. The Kenyon College Chamber Singers, led by Benjamin Locke, provided choral music, and a reception followed.
