Chabad of Greater Dayton is home to the single largest body of work crafted by that extraordinary group of creative and dedicated men, led by Burt Saidel, known as the “G‑d Squad.”
The Torah refers to the artistry that went into the crafting of the Tabernacle in the desert as melechet hakodesh – the creative work of the Holy Place. For the Tabernacle was the place where G‑d’s presence was manifest palpably within the world, and it was a place not only of power but also of beauty.
The Rabbis declared that today, when there is no Temple, each synagogue is a mikdash me’at – a miniature Holy Temple. In that spirit, the G‑d Squad has provided us with craftwork that reflects the vision of holiness and beauty our Torah has for a house of G‑d. As in that original vision, the gap between spiritual and material disappears. These are sermons in wood, inspiring us too to transcend limitations and be a part of the beauty, truth, and mystery that unifies all things.

In the middle foreground is the bima, or reading desk, where the Torah scroll is placed to be read and behind which speakers stand when addressing the congregation.
Immediately behind the bima is the ark, in which the Torah scrolls are kept.




Underneath the ark is an inscription by the men who, together and in various capacities, designed and executed all of the pieces seen in this collection. The message is modeled after a similar dedicatory inscription by the great Jewish sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, invoking the powerful image of people faithful to different ancestral traditions working to serve G‑d in peace and fellowship


These prayer tables are an inspired artistic response to the unique circumstances of Chabad’s building. As the structure was originally used for prayer, the sanctuary was seated on a north-south axis. Since Jewish law requires prayer while faced towards Jerusalem, the orientation was switch to east-west. But since the shape of the hall here is not square, the seating pattern would now have only a few, but very wide, rows. The inspiration to transform this unusual space by placing the long prayer tables before the seats in the front rows Burt attributes to the spiritual presence of David Saidel. The power of this inspiration and its effective and moving use of this space make this an inviting place for prayer and study.