Merging craft, fabrication, and modern technology, the lighting for the Memorial Walls and Ner Tamids is one of several elements found at the Congregation Beit Simchat Torah (CBST) that have been reimagined from centuries-old traditions. Housed in a landmarked Cass Gilbert-designed warehouse in Chelsea, Manhattan, CBST is the world’s largest LGBTQ Jewish congregation and a progressive voice in Judaism. Founded in 1973, CBST is known for its social justice advocacy through intersectionality and its work during the AIDS crises, a time of significant historical and emotional impact for the congregation when it lost many of its members to the disease. The design of new synagogue by Architecture Research Office (ARO) embodies the congregation’s core values “through an architecture of accessibility, transparency, and warmth” (ARO), and its two memorial walls are fundamental centerpieces for remembrance and contemplation. The memorial walls in the sanctuary and chapel “commemorate individuals lost to AIDS and in the Holocaust, reminding CBST of its struggles, accomplishments, and underlying ideals” (ARO). The synagogue is LEED Gold certified and also includes spaces for worship, community life, and social justice activism.

ARO approached us with the basic structure of the memorial walls and eternal flames planned out, but with no solutions for the lighting. Working closely with the architects, it was our goal to creatively explore the aesthetic and technological possibilities of LED light while finding design solutions that are as simple and elegant as possible. We performed the hands-on installation ourselves to ensure that the integrity of the aesthetic vision, that the unique lighting seamlessly fit within the architecture, and that the LED program controls are user-friendly for the synagogue staff.

The memorial wall in the sanctuary, the spiritual heart of CBST, honors congregation members. Composed of two transparent gray glass walls with LED lights in-between, it divides the vestibule and the sanctuary spaces.  The traditional Yahrzeit memorial candles are reinterpreted as individually controllable LEDs, lighting the names of those being honored in gold on the sanctuary side. The lights on the vestibule side appear as a changing constellation of abstract lights. By placing the LEDs right up against the gray glass wall, the LED light creates a flame-like quality when turned on, creating a cone shape light similar to the way the light of a tea light candle would bounce off a wall.

The memorial wall in the more intimate, wood-paneled chapel honors friends and family of the congregation. Brass plaques are slightly offset from the wall by about an inch, and the soft glow from the LEDs bounce off the back of the brass onto the wall behind. The LEDs themselves are not visible from any viewpoint. In order to create a user-friendly programmable interface for the LEDs for both memorial walls, we developed a program that involves a combination of the Hebrew Calendar, translation to the Julien Calendar, and translation into the Gregorian Calendar that is commonly used today. This allows CBST to input the names and dates of those honored in a common format without having to do the math of what weeks the Yahrzeit LEDs will be turned on, according to the Hebrew Calendar.

The Ner Tamid (Eternal Light) in both the sanctuary and chapel are minimal and modern. Nested within a carved torch-shaped void in a structural column, each Ner Tamid is applied with gold leaf and illuminated with a solar powered LED array that is programmed to flicker occasionally, echoing the flames of an oil lamp.  In the sanctuary, this creates an enchanting rhythm between the eternal light and the canted ribbed concrete wall behind it, as its warm glow contrasts with the cool daylit concrete while echoing the color and shape of the stem-bent oak staves of the Torah ark.

“The ner tamid is one of several traditional elements found at CBST that have been reimagined to merge craft, fabrication, and contemporary technology.”

Joann Gonchar, FAIA
Architectural Record, May 2016

Client: Congregation Beit Simchat Torah
Location: Chelsea, New York, NY
Size:
Sanctuary Memorial Wall: 95in x 280in, 600 LED pixels
Chapel Memorial Wall: 112in x 252in, 630 LED pixels
Ner Tamid (2): 58in x 6in, 5 LED pixels
Cost: $104,373
Project Status: Completed 2016
Team: Architecture Research Office (Architect), RUSH Design (Fabricator), 2x4 (Signage)
Photographer: Eduard Hueber/archphoto