Door Mural
By: The 2010 Levey Day School 5th grade class and Morah Camille
At Levey Day School we emphasize the concept of Hiddur Mitzvah (making a mitzvah as beautiful as possible).
Each year our graduating class creates a beautiful Jewish gift to leave behind. The class of 2010 took it upon themselves, guided by their Judaic/Hebrew teacher (an artist as well as a teacher), to create a mural filled with words of Torah around the door through which we enter and leave our school, reminding us that Torah is always present for us.
2010 Levey Day School 5th Grade Class Gift - Door Mural
The words surrounding the door are taken from Moses’ blessing to the tribes of Israel just before they crossed over the Jordan River into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 28:3 & 6):
“Blessed shall you be in the city and blessed shall you be in the field.”
“Blessed shall you be in your comings and blessed shall you be in your goings.”
The words in the sun include the Sh’ma and the end of the Amidah prayer:
“Hear O Israel, Ha-shem is our God, Ha-shem is One.”
“Open my heart to Your Torah and my soul will pursue Your mitzvot.”
The words that wind around the moon, sun and stars are from Genesis 1:14-18, the 4th day in the creation story:
“Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times, the days and the years, and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth. And it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominate the night and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, to dominate the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.”
The imagery corresponds to the words: sun, moon, stars, field and city. The field is a field of barley since we were working close to the holiday of Shavuot. The city is meant to be Portland and the water, the Back Cove many of us drive past as we approach Levey each morning. The forsythia is a continuation of the one outside the door in our very own Torah garden. The tulips were in full bloom outside as we worked on our painted garden.
We offer this gift to Levey, with appreciation to Temple Beth El, and hope that you enjoy what we’ve created.
2010 Levey Day School 5th Grade Class Gift - Door Mural
