“And it was, when Moses finished writing the words of this Torah in a scroll, until their very completion, that Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the L-rd, saying: "Take this Torah scroll and place it alongside the ark of covenant of the L-rd, your G‑d, and it will be there as a witness…” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26)

There is a difference of opinion whether this Torah scroll was placed inside the Ark along with the tablets of the Ten Commandments or on a shelf outside the Ark. The Ark was initially kept inside the Tent of the Meeting, the portable sanctuary the Israelites carried with them during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. Later, when this sanctuary was replaced by the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the Ark rested within the Holy of Holies along with Torah scrolls written by Moses.

After the destruction of the Temple, the rabbis endorsed the idea of creating individual places of worship to accommodate the dispersed Jewish population. The synagogue came to take over some of the functions of the Temple and was sometimes called Mikdash Me’at or the “Little Temple.” The focal feature of every synagogue is the ark which holds the Torah scrolls. Three times a week, when the scrolls are taken out of the Ark for the weekly portion to be read, the words "Ki MiZion tetzei torah u'dvar Hashem miYerushalayim" are sung in a melodious tune.

This painting began as landscape, painted in earth tones of the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Two years later magenta curtains were added. They frame the pathway and form a doorway into the bright landscape. A few years later, Torah scrolls painted on a book cover were collaged onto the landscape. The scrolls are white, full of light and shine like jewels. Only then was the picture of Jerusalem complete and the painting got its name, "Ki MiZion". The curtains of history have opened as the Torah sings its song again in our Holy Land.