The Maurice Amado Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by the late Maurice Amado in 1961, commissioned Raphael Abecassis to design a work of art in stained glass depicting the Sephardic Heritage. Sephardi Jews are descendants of Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before they were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492. Centuries ago, the name Abecassis meant a story teller, and certainly the modern Abecassis tells us a story through his art work. The windows depict the odyssey of the Sephardic Jews. Starting at the bottom right panel and moving upwards through the arch above and down to the left bottom panel, one travels a journey from the beginnings of the Diaspora, when Jews were exiled from Jerusalem, through their settlement in the Iberian Peninsula, the Golden Age in Spain, the Inquisition years, the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, the various countries to which Sephardi Jews migrated, their settlement in Los Angeles, the establishment of the first Sephardic synagogue in this city and the inauguration of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in 1974.
Many symbols repeat throughout the windows.
Floating angels appear, symbolizing the spiritual dimension in history and in people's lives. To the artist, the angels demonstrate that beyond what meets the eye and can be seen in reality, there is another plane, another level, where God's messengers are in action. Another important symbol is the ladder. As it is found in Jacob's dream, the ladder connects the earth's physical world with the spiritual world above. It shows us that we should aspire to reach higher and higher levels of spirituality.