Congregation Adat Reyim in Springfield began renovating its sanctuary and lobby about six years ago. So far, they’ve worked on the floors, ceilings, lighting and walls.
But the “pièce de résistance,” as congregant Andrea Cate describes it, is the new ner tamid, or eternal light, that hangs above the ark.
The eternal light was created by Minneapolis glass artist Claude Riedel. Cate said Riedel makes them in memory of his grandfather, who was imprisoned at Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany following Kristallnacht.
“The fact that Claude is now using his talents and his creativity to take broken glass and make it whole in his glass work is very meaningful,” Cate said.
“For me, to find myself in a position of putting broken glass back together, this is what I was meant to do with my art,” Riedel said iafter the ner tamid’s installation last fall.
@EricSchucht
