The Eternal Light (1996) is a perfect example of a work of art expressed in elegant simplicity and removed from any form of distraction. This lamp is an explosion of brass rods and crystal elements that despite its brilliance properly focuses the congregation upon the aron kiodesh that contains the holy Torah. It does not presume to emulate a burning light as a flame or fire. Rather the forms of the materials become a kind of light. The Eternal Light, referring to the one lamp of the Temple menorah that burned continually, day and night, represents the Jewish people as an expanding light among the nations.

The elegant Synagogue Menorah (1992) similarly expresses a simple abstract concept. The top horizontal bar aligns the lights in a straight row and is supported by a straightforward vertical upright. The complexity of the artwork is subtly revealed in the crucial transition between ascent and illumination. Bronze rectangles suggest the static stability of constant repetitive religious practice and ascending and descending rods, some connecting and some missing their mark, represent the constant strivings and occasional failures of those who reach for the illumination of Torah and mitzvahs. The abstract elements, the gaps and connections, evoke the community and its efforts at performance of God's commands.

David's two-piece Kiddush Cup (1990) is another example of an abstraction that reveals a deeper meaning. Traditionally, the kiddush cup is simply a vessel to contain wine used to sanctify the Sabbath and the Holidays. The fine materials of silver, gold or blown glass are used for hiddur mitzvah or the beautification of the act. The sacred nature of Kiddush is thereby expressed by the use of fine materials. Klass takes this concept a step beyond the ordinary. In his Kiddush Cup one part of the design holds the wine and the other holds the cup. The blessing and wine drinking, in this artistic context, is never a solitary act. The two interlocking parts to the kiddush cup imply a continuity of blessing that extends beyond the family that sits at the table and encompasses the entire community. This kiddush cup, unable to stand by itself without the beautifully wrought base and holder, implies a social context of an individual blessing Hashem who; "sanctified us...took pleasure in us…[and] choose…us." Klass's design brings the entire community into the house for the blessing.

But David's piece was radically different. The tower was now bent at the top, as if a terrible blow had struck it and the flag was tattered and burnt. It sat asymmetrically on the scarred box below. What had been traditionally a fantastic medieval structure was now transformed into an emblematic cube roughly decorated and perched uneasily atop four skinny supports. David's Spice Box evoked a thoroughly contemporary Havdalah that marks the difficult transition from the blissful peace of Shabbos into the uncertain and threatening clamor of the weekday world. The use of an abstract visual vocabulary is what gives these works such suggestive power. They are never describing something in the real world. Instead they evoke and suggest meanings associated with the ritual use of each object. The openness and fluidity that David Klass invests in each object allows it to interact with the viewer in a dynamic and creative manner, creating an on-going dialogue that enriches the visual experience with each use and visual encounter. And that is the definition of what good Jewish art should accomplish.