Worship Graven Image

We all know that the second commandment states “thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” But precisely what is a “graven image”?

Any bible – in Spanish, in English, in Turkish, in Greek -- is a translation of an ancient language. In a sense we will never-ever really know what was meant when the commandment, in Hebrew, says “thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”

We can guess, we do guess. If you go into any synagogue in the world -- any synagogue -- you will not see carvings of humans, or cows, or trees, or recognizable images of any kind. In Christian houses of worship & far Eastern houses of worship, there are images – Christ, the Buddha – but not in Synagogues. Jews wanted no image of God. God is mysterious. Focus on the mystery, not a depiction that is concrete, visible. And yet, and yet...

The most beautiful Synagogue in all of Europe is in Prague, Czechoslovakia, and it is full – blatantly full – of “graven” images. Representations of humans? No. Images of any kind? No. So what do I mean when I say full of graven images?

The Synagogue in Prague is carved out of gold. I mean carved out of gold. It glows. It is yellow, beautiful, splendid -- it is the most beautiful synagogue I have ever seen. It is all geometric patterns of one kind or another -- no image is to be seen. Gold patterns fill the side walls, the domed ceiling, the columns. The intricate patterns are varied, immensely beautiful. But all I could think of is Gold, money. These people worshipped money.

Every time Prague Jews came to pray, they could not help but think of money, of gold, of the splendor that could only be bought with a great deal of money -- money for materials, money for craftsmen, money for designers.

I am sure they left this place of worship and lusted for something resembling this shimmering gold splendor in their own homes. It all glows. It shrieks out -- I am rich. I can afford all this. Isn’t this beyond belief beautiful? Isn’t this splendor on a vast scale -- and don’t I want some of it for my abode?

Virtually every synagogue I’ve ever visited is simple, white, stark. It may have a high ceiling. It may be vast. It may be beautiful in its way, but it is totally free of graven images -- no gold, no marble, no statues, no filigrees. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. Focus on God. You are here to worship him, not the craftsmanship of Michelangelo, or the splendor of silver, the glow of gold.

I do not mean to denigrate the splendiferous synagogue in Prague. It is so beautiful that a picture of the inside of this synagogue, the dome, was for long my screen saver. I loved looking at it. It is so stunningly beautiful.

But I am worshipping a graven image. I do not think of God, or the meaning of my existence. I think of beauty upon this earth. I think of Gold & Silver. And that is not what a Jewish God would want.