Rabbi Susan Talve and Indian-Jewish artist Siona Benjamin sat together in the back of a bus leaving Jaipur, India, and they began imagining. What they dreamed about on that trip across the world in 2014 were their plans for a circular mosaic floor for Central Reform Congregation that would be like those that adorn the floors of ancient synagogues in Israel. But theirs would have an edge: It would celebrate traditional Jewish holidays but also feminism and racial, cultural and gender diversity. It would feature astrological symbols of the Zodiac wheel.
Now, those ideas that Benjamin and Talve envisioned on a back road in India have been transformed into a 15-foot diameter mosaic on the floor of the synagogue's entrance lobby.
Benjamin, who lives outside New York City in Montclair, N.J., spent over a year working on the CRC floor design and painting in close consultation with the rabbi. A scan of the painting was created, and 320 porcelain tiles with ceramic glaze were fired at a very high temperature and numbered to fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
On Shabbat on Aug. 14, 2015, the congregation saw the completed mosaic floor for the first time. While its holiday themes, laid out in chronological order around the circle, elicit feelings of warmth and tradition, the mosaic is provocative and challenging.
The Mosaic Floor offers beautiful photographs of the artwork and the story of the journey.