Existing comment:
Reform and Growth of the Hebrew Nation:
This is the first of three windows whose sections commemorate the three branches of the United States Government, honoring the courts of our nation. The window also portrays the development of Israel through the building the rebuilding of the sacred temple. Installed in 1989.
(1) King Solomon, builder of the original Temple in Jerusalem. He holds a model of the Temple over his head. Eventually, the Torah (the books of Jewish Law) was lost and the Temple fell to ruin.
(2) Josiah holds the Torah above his head, having rediscovered it when he began repairs on the Temple. Beneath his feet, the busy masons work on the reconstruction of the Temple.
(3) The decay of the Temple with the stones crumbling and overgrown with vegetation.
(4) Ezra is seen mounting the walls of the rebuilt Temple holding aloft the sacred Torah.
(5) The facade of the United States Supreme Court Building. Just as judges guided the national [sic] of Israel, the rule of judges is no less central in our society.
(6) In the predella, or lower portion of each lancet, is seen the beginning of the preamble to the United States Constitution; "WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES" |