The Journey

The jagged shards of glass depict the Levison family's harrowing experience of Kristallnacht (night of broken glass), prelude to the Holocaust. Desperate to escape Germany, the family was just one boat ticket away from freedom. Moments before they were to leave, an elderly couple offered their tickets to the Levisons, effectively sealing their own fate as victims of the Final Solution, while giving the young family a chance to escape the coming storm. Waiting out the war in China, the family eventually made it to Canada where Manfred Levison immediately began to look for work as a Rabbi. At the same time, Isaac Ezekiel Cadesky, a refugee of the Russian pogroms and the man for whom our Synagogue is named, was looking for a Rabbi to serve Owen Sound's bourgeoning Jewish community. Manfred Levison took the job, and in time his daughter Miriam married Isaac's grandson Mike. Their daughter Goldie, along with her husband Bruce and their children Seth and Kayla carry on the traditions and keep their heritage alive in Owen Sound.

Imagery in the window includes Air Force wings in memory of Moses Rabovsky who was killed in action during World War II. The Levison's train tickets are depicted on their road to freedom, which winds through the centre of the window. The railroad tracks and boat represent the journeys made by the Rabovsky and Levison families to Owen Sound, which is itself represented by the fruit on the vine.