Chagall Windows and Hadassah Hospital

Chagall Windows and Hadassah Hospital Review

Some remarkable stained glass draws travelers to Hadassah, one of the leading general hospitals in the Middle East and the teaching hospital for Hebrew University's medical, dental, and public-health schools. When the U.S.-based Hadassah women's organization approached the Russian-born Jewish artist Marc Chagall in 1959 about designing stained-glass windows for the synagogue at the new hospital, he was delighted and contributed his work for free. Taking his inspiration from the Bible—Jacob's deathbed blessings on his sons and, to a lesser extent, Moses' valediction to the tribes of Israel—the artist created 12 vibrant windows in primary colors, with an ark full of characteristically Chagallian beasts and a bag of Jewish and esoteric symbols. The innovative techniques of the Reims glassmakers give the wafer-thin windows an astounding illusion of depth in many places. Buses 12, 19, 27 and 42 serve the hospital. The recorded explanations in the synagogue alternate languages.