Gary Rosenthal has been sculpting in welded metals for over 25 years. Together with a team of talented craftspeople he has created one of the most popular and unique lines of Judaic art in the country. By combining copper, brass and steel with brilliant fused glass, the Gary Rosenthal Collection has a contemporary style rooted in tradition. His inspiration comes from the rich history of the Jewish people which tells us it's a blessing, a mitzvah, to make beautiful, functional art. Work from this collection has been presented to Presidents from Carter to Clinton and celebrities as varied as Bette Midler, John Travolta and Tony Randall. Rosenthal's collection can be found throughout the worlds many fine galleries, private collections, and the following museum shops: Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery, Corning Museum of Glass, American Craft Museum, B'nai B'rith Museum, The Jewish Museum, Skirball Museum of Culture, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Elijah’s Cup (koso shel Eliyahu) In the Talmudic literature, Elijah would visit rabbis to help solve particularly difficult legal problems. Malachi had cited Elijah as the harbinger of the eschaton. Thus, when confronted with reconciling impossibly conflicting laws or rituals, the rabbis would set aside any decision “until Elijah comes.”[32] One such decision was whether the Passover seder required four or five cups of wine. Each serving of wine corresponds to "four expressions of redemption" in Exodus: "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an out-stretched arm and with great acts of judgment, and I will take you for my people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians" (Exodus 6:6-7). The next verse, "And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord" (Exodus 6:8), was not fulfilled until the generation after that of the passover story. Since the rabbis could not resolve the question of whether or not this verse was a part of the Passover celebration (thus deserving of another serving of wine), a cup was left for the arrival of Elijah. In practice, the fifth cup has come to be seen as a celebration of future redemption. Today, a place is reserved at the seder table and a cup of wine is placed there for Elijah. During the seder, the door of the house is opened and Elijah is invited in. Traditionally, the cup is viewed as Elijah’s and is used for no other purpose.[33][34] |