Tour Station 5: The Gate of the Tribes and the Reception Desk

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Visiting Hours at the Knesset

The Reception Desk

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Tour Station 5: The Gate of the Tribes and the Reception Desk

The bronze doors at the main entrance to the Knesset building were designed by the artist Shraga Weil (born 1918), and are called "The Gate of the Tribes" and informally also "The Weil Gate."

The subjects depicted on the gate are drawn from the Jewish folklore and tradition. Its artistic style is characterized by the graphic and geometric abstraction of forms.

On the right hand door - the subject is "destruction and exile." The scattered sheaf of wheat stalks symbolizes the breach of contact with the land. Several of the stalks have taken on the shape of a wanderer's cane, which alludes to the fate of the wandering Jew.

On the central door - the subject is "the ingathering of the exiles" (Micha, 4:12). The style of the letters and the symbol of the sheafs emphasize the factor of unification and the ingathering of the People of Israel.

On the left hand door - the subject is "immigration and redemption of the land" (Ezekiel, 47:13). Here what is clearly visible are the traditional Jewish agricultural symbols. Among them are the cornucopia, full of poppy seeds, which sybolizes the work of the land and joy of the harvest.

The Gate of the Tribes