When I met Bob Stark about this project he said only one sentence to me, “Barak, here in this space, I want to sell Israel”. When I tried to go into details he repeated it again and again. This was what the building was about, a small Island of Israel in Cleveland.
This got me going on the idea of only using natural Israeli materials . Israel has only stone, glass ( according to Pliny the Elder glass was dicovered on an Judean Beach) and copper which was plentiful down South in old times. I also used quotes from Rav Kook who is the Cornerstone of the Religious Zionist movement. When we did the stained glass it was a celebration of Israel, and our history in the land. Starting from the birth of our nation in the plagues of Egypt till the fight for survival of the modern nation.
