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Description

In the Cincinnati Enquirer building, downtown on Vine Street, there was a tiny one room Synagogue for observant Jews, on it's 6th floor. In order to have a minion it requires 10 men to hold services. The Synagogue was there for the orthodox, who would pray everyday, but primarily for those who would say Kaddish, a mourning prayer in remembrance of their dearly departed, a Jewish ritual for the deceased.

As my downtown business was nearby, I would often get a call from Nate, our unofficial rabbi, to attend and fill out the required numbers. Over the years I would get this call more often, as fewer men attended. I felt it was important to document this small Synagogue for posterity, and I was correct as it is no longer there.

Taken with a Zeiss 50mm F4.0 Distagon on a Hasselblad 500c, mounted unobtrusively against a far wall. The shutter was released with a squeeze bulb with a long 25 foot air line to the camera shutter, with a longish exposure time of 1/15th a second, wide open, on Kodak 120 Tri-X panchromatic film.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

eugene spiegel

You can find me, the only one slightly blurred from the motion of stepping on the bulb.

No Torahs were in use at the moment of the exposure, out of respect.

Description

In the Cincinnati Enquirer building, downtown on Vine Street, there was a tiny one room Synagogue for observant Jews, on it's 6th floor. In order to have a minion it requires 10 men to hold services. The Synagogue was there for the orthodox, who would pray everyday, but primarily for those who would say Kaddish, a mourning prayer in remembrance of their dearly departed, a Jewish ritual for the deceased.

As my downtown business was nearby, I would often get a call from Nate, our unofficial rabbi, to attend and fill out the required numbers. Over the years I would get this call more often, as fewer men attended. I felt it was important to document this small Synagogue for posterity, and I was correct as it is no longer there.

Taken with a Zeiss 50mm F4.0 Distagon on a Hasselblad 500c, mounted unobtrusively against a far wall. The shutter was released with a squeeze bulb with a long 25 foot air line to the camera shutter, with a longish exposure time of 1/15th a second, wide open, on Kodak 120 Tri-X panchromatic film.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

eugene spiegel

You can find me, the only one slightly blurred from the motion of stepping on the bulb.

No Torahs were in use at the moment of the exposure, out of respect.