When I first arrived at Habonim in June 1988, the focal point of our simple sanctuary was the modernist yet appealing wooden ark with bronze handles on the western wall of the synagogue, designed by Habonim members May Marx and Alfred Altman, who also installed the ark. When the building was purchased, it was too costly to orient the synagogue in the customary east direction.

Over the years, modest but beautiful improvements were made to the sanctuary, including stained glass windows behind the ark and on the north and south sides of the old building.

Other artifacts in the old Habonim building included:

A Ner Tamid on top of the ark; A Holocaust memorial candelabrum also designed by May Marx; Two traditional menorahs flanking either side of the Bimah; A bronze “Tree of Life – Eitz Chaim,” designed by May Marx, adorned the lobby. Each leaf was inscribed in honour or memory of a member, or a member’s loved one.

When Habonim opened its new building on the same site in 2019, the stained glass windows on the north and south of the old building, along with the bronze “Tree of Life,” were moved to the Esther Ghan Firestone Celebration Hall on the lower level. In 2021, the upstairs sanctuary was adorned yet again, with a new series of stained glass windows.

Each of these additions, the stained glass and other adornments, was undertaken through the generosity of Habonim members to beautify the sanctuary and enhance the spiritual experience of those attending the congregation.

Below is a history of Habonim’s stained glass windows from 1970 to the present.

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