Mezuzah at Front Door 

Victor Ries is well known for the many iconic metal sculptures that he designed and manufactured for synagogues throughout the Bay Area and throughout the world.

In 2007, Victor was a resident of the Reutlinger Community for Jewish Living in Danville. When BCC member Neil Bernstein took Victor on a tour of our new building, still under interior construction, Victor expressed his desire to make something for the new synagogue. When he looked at the door frame at the main entrance, he asked if we already had a mezuzah. When told, “not yet,” his eyes lit up. “That is what I will make.”  

Knowing that Victor would soon turn 100 years old, many were skeptical that he would still have the needed dexterity and concentration level to craft even a small item out of metal. But very quickly he came up with a design that was both unique and beautifully sketched. The mezuzah was to be an unconventional square shape with the “Shadi” large and prominent at its center. 

For several weeks, Victor worked with special saws and files to shape the mezuzah from brass and silver. He ordered the scroll containing the “veahavta” from a scribe in Jerusalem. The scroll was written on real parchment by hand, not a printed reproduction. The project, funded partially by one of BCC’s generous members, was ready just in time to be nailed to the doorpost at the dedication ceremony for our new home.