Foto Friday – The Italian Synagogue
Filed under: Art, Foto Friday, History and Culture, Life, Profiles, Travel
The Conegliano Synagogue in Jerusalem is the heart and soul of the local Italian Jewish community. The building, formerly a German Catholic school for girls, houses a museum, a restoration center, research and educational center, and a chapel, magnificent though modest in size, whose interior was rescued from destruction and brought to Jerusalem imported from Italy after World War 2.
The Italian synagogue, or Minhag Bnei Roma (the Roman rite), also serves to protect the Jewish prayer rituals not only of Rome but of communities from all over Italy, the roots of which date back all the way to the Second Temple period. According the Jerusalem Italian Jews Association website: “It is still possible to identify some traces of that ancient rite in the present Italian rite, such as the special Shema blessings on the eve of Shabbath “asher kila ma’asav beyom hashevi’i” – “emet ve-emunah bashevi’i kyamta” and the Hebrew “kol nedarim” on Yom Kippur night, instead of the Aramaic one “kol nidre’” which is said in other rites.”
The synagogue itself, however, is far less classical Ancient Rome and way more fabulous over-the-top Baroque. The womens’ section has elements of a balcony at the opera…
I should point out that the Italian rite is traditionally open to influences — there is no one Italian ritual, with Northern Italian communities having a more Ashkenazi rite, central Italian communities having a more Sefardi one and all of Italian Jewry now being influenced heavily by Chabad — and Bnei Roma has an informal sort of gender-neutral area outside the main hall where men and women pray alongside one another. Definitely worth visiting on any Saturday morning – check the website for details. And if you can’t get there right away, take the virtual tour.
I also want to mention that the photos were taken by Jonathan Sierra; a sensitive and imaginative photographer, he is also my beloved life partner who suffered a sad loss this week when his father, Professor and Rabbi Sergio Joseph Sierra, passed away at the age of 85. Rabbi Sierra was a great scholar who, together with wife Ornella, reconstituted the Jewish community of Bologna after the war. He also researched, wrote and edited books and essays on medieval Jewish scholarship (he translated a good portion of the commentator Rashi into Italian), was Chief Rabbi of Torino (Turin) and, after coming to Israel a decade ago, continued as an active member of the Italian Jewish community in Jerusalem until Alzheimer’s cruelly stepped in and vanquished his mind and spirit.
This week, as the family mourns, the entire Italian community has gathered to pay tribute – whether physically at the shiva, or virtually through emails, instant messages and even Facebook – and to pray in the Italian rite.
Foto Friday – Marco Jona’s Sun & Moon
Filed under: Art, Environment, Foto Friday, General
Jerusalem-based Marco Jona is a professional photographer with a passion for nature, and a particular fascination with the heavenly bodies.
His series, entitled “The Sun and The Moon”, is a work in progress that is being created over time…
…sunrise by sunrise…
…lunar eclipse…
… by solar eclipse
…and sunset by sunset.
More of Jona’s work is on view at his website – www.marcojona.com.
Public potties
I had a bathroom epiphany the other day. It was one of those moments when a bathroom is needed, you’re out in public, and have already availed yourself of coffee and other treats at your favorite cafe. In fact, you’re far away from said coffee shop, otherwise it might make the most sense to just head back in there. There’s also no Aroma in sight — Aroma is to public bathrooms in Israel as McDonald’s is in most other places in the world — and you gotta go, bad.
Public potty on Hillel Street
I’d like to say it was reminiscent of the public restrooms of yore, in which a restroom attendant sat outside, collecting shekels in return for two squares of scratchy toilet paper and a fairly regularly-cleaned restroom. But it’s really much, much better than that. It’s clean, sleek and high-tech, and very, very private. Word has it that there are others in downtown Jerusalem; and if Jerusalem has public, self-cleaning bathrooms, then Tel Aviv must’ve been there first!
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