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זה כסא אליהו הנביאזכור לטוב
This is the chair of Elijah the prophet, remembered for good.
Tito (uncle) Isaque wanted every synagogue to have its own Elijah’s chair for the britot.
Here is his story, and below is his plan, so you can build your own and multiply his mitzvah.
At every brit milah a chair is set aside for Elijah the prophet. By tradition, Elijah is present at every circumcision, and the chair is engraved to say it is his.
Tito Isaque built seven Elijah's chairs, as he tells in his manuscript, and donated them to synagogues in Caracas, Maracaibo and Porlamar, in Venezuela, and in South Florida. He drew this one with all its measurements: the height of the arms, the section of every rail and the template for the letters.
Others have been built from his plan, such as the one at the Or Hayeladim synagogue in Madrid. Now the plan belongs to everyone, so that anyone can build the chair and multiply his mitzvah.
The chair has 37 pieces of 17 kinds. As you scroll, they come apart. Hover over one to see its name and section.
It is 164.5 cm tall. The seat is at 70 and the arms at 101 at the back and 95 at the front. It is 65 wide and 59 deep. Because the seat is so high, it has a footrest 12 cm off the floor.
All you need is the plan and a carpenter. These are the steps followed for the chair at the Or Hayeladim synagogue in Madrid, so you can see how it is done.
1 The beginning · 2016
My mother gave me some photos and my sister some plans. Tito Isaque had drawn the plans and built the chair in the photos.
2 The making · 2016-2017
From Tito Isaque's plan, the carpenter Mateo Bonilla built a new one: first the frame, then the crest rail with the letters, and finally the upholstery.
3 The finished chair · June 2017
The chair is at the Or Hayeladim synagogue in Madrid, in memory of Tito Isaque.
In his own handwriting
In these three pages, Tito Isaque tells how he made the chairs and recalls the journeys to Miami and Maracaibo to deliver them for a brit milah.
See the manuscript and read the Spanish transcription →
These are the chairs identified by the family, with the details still to be completed. Tito Isaque made the first seven; the last two were built from his plan. If you know of another, or if you build yours, tell us and we will add it.
Tell us about another one ↗Tito Isaque would have liked to bring a chair to every synagogue, but we cannot reach everywhere. What we can do is make sure anyone has the instructions: with this plan, a carpenter can build the chair for their synagogue.
If that happens, I will have done my part, and Tito Isaque his mitzvah: that there is an Elijah's chair at every brit milah, so the mitzvah of circumcision can be fulfilled.
— Alberto Benbunan Garzón, Tito Isaque's nephew
Download the plan ↓It is drawn in pencil on a sheet with the letterhead of Refrigeración Córdoba, in Porlamar, Margarita Island. The chair is drawn lying down: the floor is on the left and the top of the back on the right.
The inscription is engraved on the front of the crest rail. Tito Isaque drew the letters full size and numbered the words: four on the top line and two below.
זה כסא אליהו הנביאזכור לטוב
Everything comes from a single measurements file, silla.json. Change a dimension there, regenerate, and the DXF, the PDF, the cut list and the 3D drawing on this page all change together.
Have a carpenter check the plan and the six open dimensions. The measurements come from Tito Isaque's pencil drawing: the chair at Or Hayeladim has not been measured yet.
If you use this plan to build a chair, credit Isaac Garzón Serfaty z”l as the designer. You can use this dedication:
Design by Isaac Garzón Serfaty z”l. In his memory.
CC BY 4.0 license: you may copy, modify and sell it, as long as you credit Isaac Garzón Serfaty z”l.
Tito Isaque's plan does not say everything. Where a dimension was missing or two did not agree, we made a decision and it is written here. Go through them with your carpenter before cutting.
The side elevation adds up to 20 + 5 + 40 + 5 + 27 + 4 + 58 = 159, matching the overall height Isaac wrote. The rear elevation adds up to 20 + 5 + 40 + 5 + 8 + 8 + 45.5 + 15 + 18 = 164.5. One of the two chains has a wrong number.
What we did: We keep the piece sizes of the rear elevation, with the 45.5 back as written: the posts are 164.5 and the side elevation's “58” becomes 63.5. The proportions in the photos fit 45.5 better than a shortened back.
Alternative: Keep 159 by reducing from 18 to 12.5 how far the post rises above the crest's shoulder. Measuring the donated chair settles it
The rear elevation gives 65 between the outer faces of the posts. The “66 interno” in the arm sketch is drawn along the arm: it is the arm's length, not a width.
What we did: 65 outside and 55 inside. The photos show an inside width of that order.
The “10” in the side elevation sits between the front face of the leg and the arm tip: the arm overhangs by 10 cm. With “66 interno” as its length, the tip ends 7 to 12 cm past the leg. In the photo it looks like about 5.
What we did: A 10 cm overhang and a 64 cm arm measured from the post. Cut the arms at 70 and trim the tip on site. The widening from 8 to 10 at the tip is an assumption taken from the photos.
Alternative: A 5 cm overhang, as the photo seems to show
The plan says there is a slatted shelf flush with the stretcher, but does not draw the front stretcher or how the slats are supported.
What we did: A front stretcher like the back one, and two 2 × 2 cleats inside the side stretchers carrying eleven 3 × 1 slats, 55 cm long, between the posts and the legs.
Alternative: Slats running front to back, resting on the front and back stretchers
The template is full size: the numbers 32, 26 and 11.5 next to it (69.5 in total) are the lengths of the sheet's three rows, and at that scale the letters are 3.5 to 3.9 cm tall, as the note “letras bajas 3,5 cm” says. The scale was deduced this way, not measured: the scan has no resolution data.
What we did: 3.5 cm letters in two centred lines: the top one about 47 cm long and the bottom one about 22, leaving about 4 cm each side within the crest rail's 55. Before engraving, check on paper that the top line fits.
In the plan the footrest sits entirely in front of the legs, 12 cm off the floor (Isaac writes 12 and 13: 12 looks like the height and 13 the board's depth). It is the natural step for climbing onto a 70 cm seat, and an adult stepping on its front edge can tip the chair forward.
What we did: It is moved back: the board runs from 7 cm behind to 6 cm in front of the legs' front face, notched around them, on a 5 × 3 rail between the legs and two short brackets.
Alternative: Isaac's footrest, entirely in front, with a rail under its back edge and a warning not to step on it
זה כסא אליהו הנביאזכור לטוב
In memory of Isaac Garzón Serfaty z”l