Elisberg Industries
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like
Decent Quality Since 1847

Gray Around the Temples

8/7/2014

2 Comments

 
As the saying goes, the first three rules of real estate are location, location, location.  But sometimes, it still doesn't make any sense.

The other day I was driving along the lake just north of Chicago in the 'burbs, and got out of my car to take a picture of a local landmark which, in all my years here on the North Shore, I'd never photographed before.

A very brief backstory.


When I was growing up, there were only three Baha'i Temples in the world.  Today, there are more, but just barely, still a mere eight.  That's not a whole lot of houses of worship for an international religion.  If you've ever seen a picture of a Baha'i Temple, you can see they're magnificent structures, but however gloriously you build it, that's still hardly many.  And not only are they few, but they're  dotted in exotic or obscure locales around the globe, like Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and Kampala, Uganda, and Delhi, India.

And for reasons I've never been able to understand -- in Wilmette, Illinois. 
On Sheridan Road, bordering Lake Michigan

As far as I can tell, the North Shore suburbs of Chicago is not, nor has ever been (nor likely will ever be) a hot bed of the Baha'i faithful.  Sheridan Road borders Lake Michigan which is laden with old-money mansions.  The El that takes you to Wrigley Field is four blocks away.  My high school, New Trier, is about a mile north.  If you watched the original Bob Newhart Show, when Dr. Hartley left his exclusive high-rise in the opening credits, that luxury complex of apartment buildings was just down the road

And in the midst of all that was, at the time, one of only three ultra-magnificent Baha'i Temples on earth.

Seriously, I have no idea what they were thinking.  Maybe they spun a globe and threw a dart.

Mind you, I've always been glad it was there.  It was always a joy to drive along the winding Sheridan Road and see the tip of the temple's dome peek through the trees, and then as you curved around the street, this majestic structure from another time would loom up.
Picture
For reasons that I assume are not shocking, we always referred to this as the Giant Orange Juice Squeezer.

Over all the many years I've driven past the Baha'i Temple, I only went in once.  There may have been other rooms for worshiping or meeting, but all I remember is just one big open room and a very high view upward.  It was a fascinating combination of simple and ornate -- the design was meticulous and gorgeous (as you might suspect), but it was fairly barebones.  I also don't recall any clergy "officials" there, though I'd think there had to have been.  But it was all very low-key, and meditative.

I only mention this all so that the next time you're planning to go to
Tiapapata, Samoa, to visit a Baha'i Temple, just know there's one closer.

You can't miss it.  It's right across the street from Gillson Park.
2 Comments
Frederick Nachman
8/7/2014 05:19:16 am

You've reminded me I need to go inside some time. Here's the Baha'i Shrine in Haifa. https://www.flickr.com/photos/brulelaker/10502098894/in/set-72157636934618386

Reply
Robert Elisberg
8/7/2014 07:51:05 am

Thanks. But can you get the El to the Cubs game from there...?

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Elisberg Industries gets a commission if you click here before shopping on Amazon.
    Picture
    Follow @relisberg

    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



    Picture
           Feedspot Badge of Honor

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    Categories

    All
    Animals
    Audio
    Audio Land
    Books
    Busienss
    Business
    Chicago
    Consumer Product
    Education
    Email Interview
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Fine Art
    Food
    From The Management
    Health
    History
    Huffery
    Humor
    International
    Internet
    Journalism
    Law
    Los Angeles
    Media
    Morning News Round Up
    Movies
    Music
    Musical
    Personal
    Photograph
    Piano Puzzler
    Politics
    Popular Culture
    Profiles
    Quote Of The Day
    Radio
    Religion
    Restaurants
    Science
    Sports
    Technology
    Tech Tip
    Theater
    The Writers Workbench
    Tidbits
    Travel
    Tv
    Twitter
    Video
    Videology
    Well Worth Reading
    Words-o-wisdom
    Writing

    RSS Feed

© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2023
Contact Us    About EI    Chicago Cubs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Products
    • Books
    • Movies
  • About Elisberg Industries
    • Our Corporate Board
    • Information Overstock
    • Elisberg Industries Entertainment Information
    • Elisberg Statistical Center of American Research
    • Consultancy Service
  • Contact
    • How to Find Us
  • Kudos
  • Good Things to Know
    • The BOB Page
    • Sites You Might Actually Like