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October 4, 2002/Tishri 28 5763, Vol. 55, No. 6
Flourishing legacy
Solel dedicates garden to retired rabbi
LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor
"And you shall make upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood." (Exodus 26:15)
"Your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia." (Psalms 45:9)
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Rabbi Maynard Bell stands in the biblical garden at Temple Solel, which was dedicated in his name.
Photo by Leisah Namm
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Using biblical passages as a guide, a local synagogue brings Israeli horticulture to Paradise Valley while paying tribute to their recently retired rabbi.
Temple Solel dedicated its new biblical garden in honor of Rabbi Maynard Bell, who retired this year after 25 years with the congregation. A formal dedication ceremony was held in May at Bell's retirement dinner.
The Maynard W. Bell Biblical Garden, designed by Donna Winters of Enchanted Garden Landscape, features many plants mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, such as an etrog tree, an acacia tree, aloe, pomegranate and star-of-Bethlehem.
"This is our first biblical garden and it is certainly a work in progress," says Executive Director Patti Evans. Solel congregant Al Feldman, a retired botanist, is researching possible additions to the garden.
The biblical garden, inspired by biblical gardens around the world, was a natural outgrowth of the recent remodeling of Solel's sanctuary and the similarity of Arizona's climate to that of Israel's desert, says the brochure about the garden.
One wall of the garden is a large stained glass window that is part of the outer wall of the sanctuary. The window features seven quotations, chosen by Bell, and each is set in a calligraphic style or printed font from different eras of Jewish history.
"I was very touched by the gesture," Bell said of the garden. "I stewarded this congregation through a period of growth and development so the metaphor of a garden fits."
Temple Solel, a Reform congregation, is located at 6805 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley.
Call 480-991-7414.
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