Dec 29, 2004

Jews under fluorescent

This past Shabbos I stayed with a friend in Boro Park. I was saddened how little the neighborhood changed. But the lighting, ahh... I am troubled by the fact that most Jews are desensitized to the negative rays of the fluorescent lights. The cheapest 4' Home Depot strip is meant for janitor closets, not houses of worship. Fluorescent light is cold it washes out the remnants of sculptureness and it strains the soul. It is a diametrically dead mechanical opposite to the warm candlelight. Light shapes. Amorphous cold fluorescents rays flood spaces with nauseous sameness. Fluorescent make you numb. There are parts of the Shules that need to be dark like the souls of its living visitors. Flickering spot lights chant secrets. There are parchments that need to be gently held by the indirect rays bounced off the ceiling openings. I know, there are orphaned texts that haven't touched a natural radiance since Moses came down the mountain. The texts will settle for the incandescent yellows, it�s �more like the sun� they say...