After having read about Betzalel’s Ark (excerpts from “Legends of the Bible” by Louis Ginzberg), I wanted to incorporate some of the original iconography in my Torah Ark. I also wanted to make an ark influenced by my Indian Jewish background and upbringing. I looked at Indian and Iranian sepher torah cases and designs and also Jewish synagogues in Morocco. These places had an oriental mystique, ornamentation and color. I researched beautiful Moroccan synagogue photos. The peacock green color of these synagogues and the onion dome shapes in the architecture inspired me.
The velvet and silver Sepher Torahs of my Bombay synagogues also served as inspiration for the shape of my Torah Ark. My cherubim are angels named “Fereshteh” that bring the fire of hope and courage. My mother’s Shabbat lamp that she lit every Friday made with oil and wick, which burned all night into the morning in our Bombay home, is this same fire. My ark sits on a “celestial throne” or table and perfumed myrrh and frankincense comes from the water lilies within the Arabian oceans of my childhood.
