Introduction Text

The Project

This project was commissioned by the members of Queen's Park Synagogue in Glasgow. The project was linked to Glasgow European City of Culture 1990. From beginning to end the project took three years to design and make.

The images created and the symbolism used are drawn from both past and present observances and ceremonies involved with the festivals. The symbolism often refers back to the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and to earlier events which have shaped Jewish, and indeed world, history. Most of the festivals have their origins in ancient times and the major festivals are all specifically decreed in the Torah.

Pesach comes from the days when the Jewish Tribes were still nomadic shepherds and possibly even since the time of Abraham. The basis of the current observance is contained in the Book of Exodus and was given before the flight from Egypt.

Shavuot and Sukkot were also established in the Book of Exodus although greater clarification is given in Leviticus. They were to take effect when the people came into the promised land and became farmers.

Later still when the Temple in Jerusalem was established as the only sanctuary, the character of the three originally agricultural festivals changed. Through the years they evolved from being agricultural celebrations into the spiritual and historical ceremonies which they currently are.

Each pilgrim festival shows a different aspect of God's love.
Passover for freeing Israel from Egypt's Slavery,
Shavuot for granting Israel the Torah, Sukkot for the inheritance of the Land of Israel.

The Sabbath, which was one of the unique features of Judaism, is also extremely ancient. In Biblical terms it is the oldest festival and appears at the beginning of the Book of Genesis where God sanctified the day.
In the Pentateuch, it is often referred to in conjunction with Rosh Chodesh, the festival for the New Moon. It is probable that they had equal value in ancient times and there has been considerable debate as to whether Sabbath originally meant the full moon. However the weekly Sabbath has developed to become the most important festival while the celebration of the New Moon has almost disappeared.
The Sabbath is also unique that it does not follow the Lunar Calendar, it appears weekly irrespective of the phases of the moon which control the timing of the rest of the festivals.
It is considered to be the most eminent festival and is the only one mentioned in the Decalogue.

It seems to be that not only a regular period of rest on the seventh day was thus established but also the now universal system of breaking time into periods of seven days.

Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur evolved some time after the Babylonian exile.
This does not mean that previously there were no observances at this time, but the name was new. It is believed that the new year celebrations were originally linked to the Festival of the Ingathering, Sukkot. The Pentateuch does not call the first of Tishri, Rosh Hoshanah, it is referred to as 'the first day of the seventh month'.
One reason suggested for the new year being celebrated in the seventh month could simply be that as the seventh day was holy and also the seventh year then the seventh month was also exalted.

The minor festivals of Rosh Chodesh, Chanukah, Lag B'Omer, Tu B'Shevat and Purim are dealt with under their own headings.

The windows are not arranged in the building in calendar order but begin with the Sabbath, then Rosh Hoshanah and Yom Kippur (the Days of Awe), next come the the major festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot. Finally the minor festivals.

The symbols used recur throughout the series and mostly are consistent in meaning. One symbol in particular deserves some clarification, the scales.
The sages who compiled the Talmud declared that the world is judged at four different periods of the year;
On Pesach for grain, Shavuot for the fruit of the trees, on Rosh Hoshanah all the inhabitants of the world pass before him and on Sukkot water is judged. In later times it was decided that Tu Bi Shevat would be the Day of Judgement for trees.

Text from Dr Barlow 1992

Queens Park Synagogue, Stained Glass Windows Series.

In celebration of Glasgow 1990 Year of Culture, Queens Park Hebrew Congregation (Incorporating Crosshill) will present to our members and the community at large what we believe will be a unique comprehensive and quite spectacular series of stained glass windows representing the Creation, Sabbath and Jewish Festivals.

As I am sure you are aware, Glasgow has come through some very depressing years to emerge with a new enterprise for the 21st century. Our synagogue has paralleled this trend.
Five years ago, the very fabric of our building was in a precarious state with rapidly advancing rot. I believe that a bold decision was made at that time to restore the building despite the enormity of the cost and I was given the the task of tackling the problem of funding against a negative tide. I came to the conclusion with my committee that the synagogue and congregation were certainly viable and had a future. We had a membership of around seven hundred persons and had recently absorbed nearby Crosshill Synagogue. Furthermore we had quality membership with tremendous family loyalties. These assumptions have subsequently been proven by the magnificent response of our members to my fund raising activities over the last four years. We look forward to having a beautifully restored house of prayer and a renewed spirit.

With the city of Glasgow as European city of Culture 1990 looming high on the horizon, it was my intention to see the community in a truly international context rather than a narrow parochial one. It was with this view of the future and my belief in Glasgow as a reviving city in a wider sense that I decided to embark on a project that would enhance the prestige of the Jewish Community and our own synagogue. Two years ago, I commissioned a very ambitious young Scottish artist, John K. Clark, to design and make a series of 22 Stained Glass Windows for the synagogue. The reputation of the artist is well known in art circles in Scotland and the project was given the official stamp of a Year Of Culture Commission by Glasgow District Council. Other commissions by this artist include a large window in the choir of Paisley Abbey and various churches throughout Scotland. Secular work includes windows in the Cafe Gandolfi and Princes Square.

As the artist is not Jewish the research and design took over a year to complete during which time he studied at our own Jewish Resource Centre. The brief stated that the designs were to be representational rather than abstract and that the stained glass of Chagall was to be borne in mind. The main window of this theme is the Sabbath which is linked to the creation, this is a triptych. This window is located in the most prominent location in the synagogue. The other windows represent the various festivals and their different aspects including the Jewish New Year, Day of Atonement, Passover, Pentecost, Sukkot, Channukah, Purim and other minor festivals. The major festivals will have their different aspects highlighted in more than one window. All of these windows are symbolically inter-related. The other major work which is unrelated to the festivals is a semi-dome on the theme of the legendary elements used in the creation of the world with the emphasis on the Hebrew alphabet perhaps with a hint of Kabbalistic significance.

The windows are individually made by the artist and use etching painting and staining extensively. These are the techniques used in the great works of the middle ages and the Gothic revival period of last century.

The commission has been very well received by the press and radio.

At present the artist is in the process of making the windows and is starting to receive critical acclaim for the project in artistic terms.The synagogue itself has recently been made a listed building of architectural importance in the city despite it being only sixty four years old.
The funding for the project has come directly from active members of the congregation in memoriam to their families.
The installation, protection and lighting of the windows should be completed by early December 1990 and about half will be in situ for the High Holy Days. They will have a strong educational appeal in a wide sense and we will be having open days towards the end of the year by arrangement.
To quote from the Sunday Times 11 March 1990, The work "is likely to have reverberations in the international art world.............in the world wide Jewish community the reputation of these windows will almost certainly attract visitors to Glasgow for a very long time to come"

Dr George Barlow, MBChB, MRCGP.
Public Relations Officer and Fund Raiser.

Press Release for the Unveiling of the Windows

PRESS MEETING - WEDNESDAY 24TH JUNE. 1992. 12.00 NOON PRESS RELEASE

On Wednesday 24th June 1992, the new Chief Rabbi of Britain and the Commonwealth Dr. Jonathan Sacks will dedicate a unique set of stained glass windows in Queen's Park Synagogue in Glasgow. His visit to the synagogue will be his only formal speaking engagement on this his first official visit to Scotland.

The Queens Park Synagogue windows have the theme of the Jewish Festivals which occur throughout the year.
This project is unusual in that a single artist has conceived of and completed all the windows in a building and has achieved a staggering transformation of the physical and spiritual atmosphere of the interior.

The project consists of 22 windows, one a large triptych and another a 20 sq./Mt. half dome and has taken three and a half years to complete.

The building is seventy years old and has recently been listed.
The concept originated with Glasgow GP Dr. George Barlow who first approached John K. Clark in 1987. A further approach was made in 1988 after Mr Clark had recently completed the large James Shaw Memorial Window in Paisley Abbey. The theme was set as the Jewish Festivals and Mr Clark was formally asked to begin to producing designs on this theme.

As Mr Clark is not Jewish this proved a daunting task and the first year of work was devoted solely to research and design.
When this was completed Dr. Barlow sought donors for all the windows from throughout the community.
The commission was completed in the spring of this year so the project has taken three and a half years from the initial formal request to the completion and dedication.
This is possibly one of the only complete stained glass schemes to be completed in Scotland and one of the very few anywhere. It is such a rare event that it is unlikely to be repeated in Britain for a very long time if ever.

One artist to be commissioned to set a concept for an entire building the result of which will be seen by the congregation and hopefully the people of Glasgow for generations to come. Part of the initial design brief was to make the work symbolic and to consider the stained glass of Marc Chagall.

The use of symbols which are repeated in slightly different forms throughout the commission add to the total cohesiveness of the work as a single entity. It is virtually impossible to realize which is the first and which was the last window to be made.

The techniques Mr Clark employs are basically those of the 14th Century. The design approach is influenced by both Medieval and Modern Art and music.

The original windows were rectangular quarries of clear roughcast glass with heavy steel ventilators. The dome was a painted white glass structure. The transformation of the interior could not have been envisaged.

The last widely publicized work by Mr Clark was the Lockerbie Memorial Window. He has also recently completed two designs on the Captivity and Freedom of the hostages in Beirut, in particular John McCarthy.

Mr Clark will be available on Wednesday at 12.00 Noon in the synagogue. Falloch Road, off Ledard Road.