THE WANDERING JERUSALEM

THE WANDERING JERUSALEM

I have long been fascinated by the Jewish conception of Jerusalem of above, and Jerusalem of below: The heavenly, perfected Jerusalem contrasted with the imperfect earthly city. Within this framework, I would like to consider the some images of a floating of dwelling in the air as a symbol of Reading in reverse.

The Wandering Jerusalem

Joseph Sassoon Semah 1977

To begin, let us turn to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels 1726. Swift, an Anglo-Irish devoted christian clergyman, and Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, conceived a city floating in the air named “Laputa” – that is, a striking image of political criticism.

Writing amid growing fascination with mathematics, astronomy, science, and mechanical invention - Swift the devoted Christian does not simply mock science: He objects that reason is detached from the reality of Christian life - in his own words "The Laputans live literally in the clouds because their minds are in the clouds".

Lemuel Gulliver signaling the flying island of Laputa:

Jonathan Swift - 1726 Gulliver’s Travels

Hereafter, the term Laputa introduces another layer of possible resonance. Heard as the Spanish la puta, it can be understood as “the whore” or “the prostitute”. This may suggest a symbolic association with the “Whore of Babylon”/“Babylon the Great” described in Revelation 17:5: “And upon her forehead was a name written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth”. The figure of Babylon is associated with worldly power, wealth, corruption, and spiritual unfaithfulness.

Similarly, the floating Laputa can also be linked to the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11: “Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven”. However, Swift already reversed the narrative of Babel: At Babel, the dwellers attempted to reach heaven by constructing a Tower – and yet, in Laputa, they are always suspended in the sky. However, in this case, elevation, brings no spiritual perfection. The Laputans remain detached from ordinary reality while continuing to exercise political, and technological power over those below [the devoted Christian].

The contrast with the biblical “Jerusalem of above” is likewise suggestive, although the two images should not be equated. In Galatians 4:26, Paul speaks of “Jerusalem which is above” a symbol of freedom, and transcendence. Laputa, by contrast, represents an artificial elevation: According to Swift the inhabitants of Laputa place themselves physically above others, yet their intellectualism, and therefore their methods of abstractions do not produce Christian’s moral or any spiritual superiority. Their elevation becomes a satire of people who mistake intellectual, technological, or institutional power for genuine wisdom.

This may also recall the historical image of Rome, and the papacy as a distant, hierarchical authority exercising power over European subjects. Such a comparison is particularly relevant to Swift’s religious, and political context. Swift an Anglican clergyman was writing during a period of intense conflict among Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestant dissent.

Hereafter, the question of Jewish symbolism requires still greater caution. In later Christian interpretation - the term “Babylon” was sometimes associated not only with Rome but also with apostate Jerusalem or Jewish religious authorities.

So, let us turn to René Magritte’s famous painting, The Castle of the Pyrenees: A massive castle built upon a huge rock suspended in a brilliant blue sky above a churning sea.

Rene Magritte The Castle of the Pyrenees 1959 Oil on canvas 200x145 cm – collection: Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

In 1957, in Belgium, René Magritte met Harry Torczyner, a Jewish Belgian-born lawyer, and art lover who had fled Belgium during the Second World War with his wife, Marcelle Siva Torczyner. After settling in New York, Torczyner established an international law practice, and developed a deep passion for art.

Their relationship grew into a close, and enduring friendship, united by their shared love of art and ideas. Around 1958, after previously commissioning Magritte to paint his portrait, Torczyner commissioned him again - this time to paint a castle perched on an enormous rock, seemingly floating above the sea. He wanted the painting to suggest a rough, turbulent sea reminiscent of the North Sea of his childhood, beneath a clear blue sky with calm white clouds.

The painting is nothing but Torczyner’s own story - his forced departure from Europe, his memories of the North Sea, and perhaps his longing for Europe, and eventually, Jerusalem.

The rock may also evoke the Jewish EVeN Ha-ShITYA, the Foundation Stone. According to the Talmud /Yoma 54b, this sacred stone is associated with the creation of the world. It also recalls the biblical stories of Moses bringing water from a rock to sustain the wandering Jews in the desert. At the end, this commissioned painting becomes more than a surreal image: It suggests memory, homeland, and the durable GaLUT.

Upon receiving the painting, Harry Torczyner was so pleased that he wrote the following words to Magritte - “Long live Magritte! … The Castle of the Pyrenees floats majestically and proudly. It is superb … and intact! The waves of the North Sea bring me fresh air and joy.”

Please note: A longtime supporter of Israel, Torczyner became one of the founding members of the American Friends of the Israel Museum. On the twentieth anniversary of the museum’s founding, he donated The Castle of the Pyrenees to the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

And so, the journey of the commissioned painting by Torczyner came full circle - born from a unique friendship between a Belgian artist, and a forced expelling Belgian Jew, inspired by memories of the North Sea, and perhaps by a longing for Europe, and eventually for Israel, the painting ultimately found its home in Jerusalem.

Anna Kamyshan

Nabatele 2026

In 2026, a floating symbolic synagogue, connected to a huge rock made of helium balloon, and tethered to the earth with ropes, was created by Ukrainian-Jewish artist, and architect Anna Kamyshan. The floating dwelling reflects on Jewish GaLUT - durable displacement, and the enduring search for belonging. Nabatele can be understood as a groundless MaKOM that carries collective memory while remaining in a continuous condition of GaLUT. The ropes anchoring it to the earth reveal the unresolved relationship between the idea of “Next Year in Jerusalem”, and the wandering in GaLUT.

Ultimately, Nabatele suggests that the idea of MaKOM does not necessarily require physical ground. An earthly dwelling can also exist in memory. After all, to wander in GaLUT is to inhabit a durable condition of a floating MaKOM within MaKOM.

In Anna Kamyshan’s own words [the Art Journal - 3 July, 2026]: “It is not trying to represent a state or a flag. It is more like a condition. Something floating, something that refuses to be pinned down” - “I was going through my own identity crisis because of the war. Questions of Jewish identity eventually came as an answer to many of the questions I was asking myself” - “If there is a political dimension, it is not in the form of a statement. It is in the refusal to simplify”.

Well, we are told that the name Nabatele is derived from the Slavic/Turkic word nabat, meaning an alarm, warning bell, or call to vigilance, combined, as it were, with the Yiddish diminutive suffix -ele. However, this linguistic blend may also reveal a hidden link with the Hebrew root נ־ב־ט (N-B-T), associated with looking, gazing, or beholding as well as with growing plant. In this sense, Nabatele becomes not only a symbolic MaKOM of warning and vigilance, but also a desire to see, to remember, and ultimately to be rooted.

Finally, why does a Jewish artist use gas as her material to create a symbolic BET-KNeSeT?

Signed heren

Joseph Sassoon Semah

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