Split Rock Thinking - Lessons from a problem-solving and story-telling people
“In R. Ishmael’s school it was taught: “And like a hammer that splits the rock into pieces” i.e. just as the rock is split into many splinters, so also may one biblical verse convey many teachings.”
ליצור, לחדש ולהפוך Strategies Applied
An Agam Designed Ark An implementation of creativity, innovation and transformation
Creativity
A creative digital age translation of the first verses of the Bible from the original Hebrew can offer us a fresh look at connections between The Place and The Cloud. “In the network, God created media systems for creating heaven and earth. When the earth was absolutely empty and dark, God created light and separated between light and darkness (1 and 0)” We can read the first word of the Bible B’reshit (In the beginning) as B’reshet (In the network). In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word et appears twice, before heaven and before earth. “In the beginning God created et the heaven and et the earth.” Since English has no equivalent for the word et that links a verb to a noun, it drops out in translation. et is spelled alef-tav, the first and last letters of the Hebrew a alphabet. Spanning the full set of 22 Hebrew letters, et symbolizes media systems. Alexenberg, Mel. Photograph God: Creating a Spiritual Blog of Your Life (pp. 45-46). Kindle Edition.
Innovation
Agam’s own words:
“The most daring innovations in technology and electronics should be employed to enhance our worship experience. The Eternal Light I created for the synagogue at the Palm Springs Jewish Community Center is controlled by computer, and the ark is engineered so that the Torah scrolls can be made to “disappear” when a non-religious activity is performed.”
Unfortunately, over time the mechanism broke down, so the scrolls could not be lowered and raised.
Transformation
The Agam ark is the central focus of the sanctuary, without the other common symbols of a jewish worship space such as a menorah, or image of the ten commandments. Therein the sanctuary is transformed into a modern worship environment, with panoramic windows revealing the local mountains.
