If you have glanced into any darkened synagogue, your attention was likely drawn toward the Ner Tamid, the perpetual flame near the ark at the front of the sanctuary representing the presence of God, and the holiness of the Torah scrolls.
In the United States Claude Riedel is the only person creating one-of-a-kind Ner Tamids as a full-time profession, and two are in St. Louis. In November of 2024 one of his Ner Tamids was added to the event space in The Staenberg House, the recently dedicated Jewish teen life center on Delmar. In 2015 a Riedel Ner Tamid was installed at Congregation Temple Israel in Creve Coeur.
Alana Minoff is the Assistant Director of Strategic Partnerships for the JSU Staenberg House, and together with Executive Director Rabbi Rovinsky they collaborated with Claude to design and create their Ner Tamid.
“We were interested in something out-of-the-ordinary, and I had seen Ner Tamids Claude had done in synagogues in New York and Florida,” Alana says. “Also, there is a book about his life with photos of 175 of the eternal lights he has created, and I looked through it for inspiration and ideas.”
An important criterion for the Staenberg House Ner Tamid was that it be mostly glass so it would diffuse a rainbow of light on the brilliant white stone wall where it was to be placed.
Claude did several drawings of what he envisioned, and once approval was given, he went to work.
The completed light consists of several flame shaped pieces of clear hand-blown glass, interspersed among stained-glass flames. When illuminated by the light in the center, a myriad of colors radiates against the wall just as Alana and Rabbi Rovinsky had envisioned.
Alana and Rabbi Rovinsky were so happy with the outcome, Claude was invited to St. Louis to install the light. At Claude’s suggestion, Alana’s son Rafi stood on a ladder and handed him several of the pieces of glass as they assembled the light on the wall together.
“I like having a young person help me,” Claude says. “Few people ever get to touch a Ner Tamid and feeling it as it is assembled and installed creates a life-long memory.”
After the installation Claude was honored at the ribbon cutting when the building was dedicated with 300 people in attendance.
When Temple Israel was renovating the main sanctuary in 2015, the plan for the new ark doors and Torah covers necessitated a new Ner Tamid to complement the updated design.
“We were referred to Claude through our architect Jay Brown of Levin/Brown & Associates, Architects in Owings Mills Maryland who had worked with Claude in the past,” says congregant and Board of Trustee member David Chassin. “The architectural renderings had left an area for the Eternal Light but no specific design, so Claude worked from the dimensions and context for his design from the sketches and detailed plans for the renovated sanctuary”.
After an exchange of emails the design was approved, and Claude designed and crafted his Ner Tamid.
“Claude and the architect both came to St. Louis to ensure it was installed so it could be seen,” David says. “It is actually behind the doors of the ark, but the ark doors are designed so it can be seen when they are closed.”
“Claude’s light replaces an original, much larger ‘historic’ eternal light which was part of an older more elaborate ark and bemah in use now only for the High Holidays when the sanctuary and adjacent Social Hall are combined to accommodate 2,200 congregants,” David adds. “The larger size of the original Ner Tamid made it easier to see.”
From a hobby to a second career
Claude’s journey to creating Ner Tamids had a very unexpected beginning in 1977 when he took a course in making stained glass. He recalls being captivated by what he describes as the “illuminative and refractions of glass.” and soon he was making stained glass pieces for relatives. Then he was asked to make windows for a hospice.
Although he was working full time as a psychologist as co-director of the Adoptive Family Therapy Center in Minneapolis, knowledge of Claude’s work with glass spread. In 1992 Rabbi Norman Cohen at his congregation of Bet Shalom in Minnetonka, Minnesota asked him to make a Ner Tamid for the synagogue.
“I had no idea of what I was getting into, but when after it was finished and I was sitting by myself with that first Ner Tamid alone in the darkness, I felt connected with every aspect of who I am as a Jew,” he recalls. “I had found a way to contribute and belong.”
Today, after 30 years working as a psychologist, Claude is making Ner Tamids full-time. “I have made over 200 and shipped them to all five continents,” he says.
The process begins with Claude collaborating with committees, sometimes with the rabbi directly, as he did with Alayna and Rabbi Rovinsky. “I’m listening for the images or feelings they associate with the Ner Tamid,” he says. “Then I ask them to describe to me, or show me pictures, or even respond to some of the pieces on my website to give us a sense of what they like about what I’ve done and what direction they might want things to go.”
At some point Claude tells those he is working with that they “need to let go, trust that you hired me, and let me take it the rest of the way. And it will be special.”
Then he collaborates with glass artisans and metal workers to craft pieces that are combined to match the drawing of the Ner Tamid he envisioned. He adds his own stained glass into the design, and when all the pirecs are ready he assembles the light.
Most intricate designs are rich with Judaic symbolism such as the Tree of Life, the Burning Bush, a Menorah, and the Star of David. Many have a quartz crystal Star of David in the bottom, or a Star of David in the chain.
“They all have flames in various ways, and they’re all layered — showing the idea of light coming through multiple layers and moving out into space. The ever-expanding layers of light as described in the Zohar,” he explains.
Most are lit by electricity, but a few have been designed for the flame to be lit by gas.
“Whenever I complete a Ner Tamid, it is like shipping off a child,” he says.
Claude personally installs about a third of his creations, often done while a sanctuary is still being completed. In those instances, there are usually other workmen nearby painting, plastering or adding finishing touches to the room.
“After the Ner Tamid is in place and just before it is about to be lit for the first time, everyone in the room invariably senses something special is about to happen,” he says. “They put down their tools or stop whatever they are doing and a profound silence comes over the room. No matter what their religion, they realizethat it is something sacred they are about to witness in that moment.”
To see more of Claudes Ner Tamids and learn more about him, visit his website at: clauderiedelart.com/
