Knesset Menorah

In total he spent almost ten years on the project, much of it in research, with the intention to create a unique work which would tell the millennia-old history of the nation of Israel.

The idea of presenting the Menorah was conceived by members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland in appreciation of the establishment of a democratic parliamentary government in the State of Israel.

The gift was made possible by the generosity of the people of Britain and received strong support from the leading banks of the United Kingdom and large industrial concerns.

Many small donations, too numerous to record here, were received from British citizens.By 1955, the required 20 thousand pounds were gathered, and in December of that year the Menorah was transferred to Morris Singer Foundry in London.

Proponents for accepting the gift argued that it is not designed as a ritual object, and therefore, its resemblance to the Temple Menorah should not create any theological problems.

What began as a gesture of good will of the British House of Lords, grew into an uncomfortable question whether Israel was even interested in the Menorah, and if so, how it could be adapted to conform with Jewish law.

The negotiators were Eliyahu Eilat, Israel's Ambassador to the UK; Yosef Shprinzak, Speaker of the Knesset; Mordechai Ish-Shalom, deputy mayor of Jerusalem, and many others.

Clement Davies, the Liberal Party leader, who served as chairman of the "Menorah Fund Committee" spoke at the ceremony and said: "...We were lucky to have such a great artist, a Jewish artist, who fled to Britain from the evil clutches of Hitler and the atrocities committed by his executioners to millions from the Jewish people... We know that the Menorah that Elkan created is the symbol chosen so the walkers in darkness will see a great light.

With Honesty, humility and all our power, we pray that Jerusalem, the eternal city, that stands on a high hill, will shine a light on the people of this holy land, and through it, the whole world.

[4] The Menorah presents 30 reliefs of events, idioms, characters and concepts, which Elkan saw as the most important and significant in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish history.

These words are taken from a passage in Zacharia which mentions the Menorah and olive branches, hinting at the Knesset's choice of the State emblem: 1 And the angel that spoke with me returned, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

9 And Moses said unto Joshua: "Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek; tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand."

Ruth is represented in the relief holding a pile of sheaves, she symbolizes the foreign woman that assimilated into the people of Israel and became the founder from which the dynasty from which the kings of Judah began.

Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded...They will return from the land of the enemy" (Jeremiah 31:15-16) Ruth and Rachel represent independence and monarchy on one hand, and the exile and enslavement on the other.

[4] Elkan designed the Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones shaped as an angel wearing a large flapping cloak, created from the four winds (in the background) that unite as one.

The choice of the vision of the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel as a key event in the history of the Jewish people is understandable, the prophecy describes the end of times, and the return of the entire nation to the land of Israel.

The relief of the uprising describes many characters, that represent the different Jews in the ghetto: The fighters are seen with guns in their hands, or armed with axes, sticks, and knives.

The relief depicts pioneers working on a rocky terrain, carving stones, plowing the land, building bridges, drilling wells, sowing and harvesting, planting and fortifying, laying down the foundations of the state.

Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai met with Vespasian, the Roman emperor, during the Great Revolt and persuaded him to allow him to save the Jewish leadership when Jerusalem falls.

Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai is depicted in the relief with arms spread out toward the ruins of Jerusalem, its Roman marble columns broken and shattered.

Hillel chose to understand the other's request as a demand for most significant statement of the Torah of Israel, and the surprising answer is not theological, but rather a moral and social one.

In the relief, Ezra is depicted standing above the people, reading from a large scroll the laws of the Torah, such as observing the Sabbath and the avoidance of assimilation.

In the Menorah relief, Rabbi Hanina ben Teradyon is depicted on his knees tied to a pole, wrapped in a Torah scroll across his chest and in the background.

The Talmud, in contrast to the Kabbalah, does not address, at least openly, spirituality, but rather focuses on technical matters relating to Jewish law, in order to define a clear way for the observant person.

The halacha relief in the menorah is depicted by a difficult event in the Bible, in which the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, were killed by God after offering a sacrifice of "strange fire".

The Aggadah Literature is depicted in the Menorah relief by in the image of King Solomon wearing a crown, sitting in a vineyard, wrapped in grapes and holding cornucopia.

One of them is covered with a tallit, another casts a large anchor, in the background is a representative of the community in the form of a big, muscular man, leading the ship.

Abraham is depicted in the Menorah as an old man, his long hair surrounding his shoulders, he is seated cross-legged on the ground, his hands raised to the sides, as a sign of humility and acceptance of God's order.

Mishory in his book Shuru, habiṭu u-re'u harshly criticizes the Menorah, calling it "a pale and discolored assembly based on worn out echoes of Western Art masterpieces" and continues adding that "If the representatives responsible for the creation of the Menorah would have focused on the substance—the images and not the frivolous issues such as the size of the reliefs, or the question whether or not the characters are naked or dressed and other Jewish law considerations, they could have saved themselves a lot of time, and arrive at an adequate solution, by contacting a more serious artist than Benno Elkan.

Their gain would be twofold: observing, even if succinct, at the history of Israel, and exciting pleasure from the exquisite workmanship dedicated to the artistic design of every relief in the Menorah..."[7] Shema Yisrael