Temple Sinai in Italy

Last Day in Rome This has been a wonderful and tiring journey. Last night we gathered one last time as an entire group to share highlights of the trip. It was heartening to see how many people commented on the connections with each other and how this trip enriched our community. Of course there were comments on the different experiences. A few said the Jewish core of the trip was what stood out.  The morning started with a visit with the head of the Jewish community of Rome, a woman named Ruth. She described the communal structure not based on synagogue affiliation but still under the influence of the chief Orthodox rabbi. The community has existed for over 2000 years. The school they have starts with 75% of their children and then by high school they still retain 50%. People freely affiliate by contributing to the community. There are 18 synagogues in Rome under their umbrella. The small Reform congregation is not included in the organizational structure. She said at tim...

Our day began early in order to have a meeting with Father Norbert Hoffmann at the Vatican. This meeting was arranged with the assistance of Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester who requested that someone from Cardinal Koch’s office meet with us. Father Hofmann is secretary to Cardinal Koch and deals with catholic-Jewish relations. He spoke to us and answered questions. He has been doing this for quite a while and has met with many Jewish leaders over the years. He spoke about the issue of land in Israel as well as problems for Catholics caused by security needs. This was a worthwhile meeting. From there we drove over to the Jewish Ghetto area and visited the Jewish Museum. I was amazed at some of the beautiful tapestries used for parochets, and other ornamental dressings. Some of the silver was also outstanding. There was a relatively new and interesting section on the Libyan Jewish community. We were told that before the Great Temple was built while the ghetto was still i...

First Walk Around Rome After bidding farewell to Jan who was flying back to the States today to return to classes, our day began with a meeting with the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican and the Holy See, Oren David. He gave a wonderful clear explanation of the history between the Catholic Church and its relationship to Zionism, Israel and the Jewish people. He described some of the issues currently being discussed. At the end he warned against the new Liberation Theology which he described as distorting history by making Jesus as a Palestinian at the check point. Our local guide for the day was Leda, who has mixed background of Italian and Iranian. She ws a delightful guide and unlike many of the others she often did not talk as we walked but waited until we were standing still, which helped us hear and understand what she was saying. Our touring began with a walk to the Spanish Steps. We approached from the top and passed the hotel I stayed at on our Catholic-Jewish mission ...

We left Florence and would spend a good part of the day in the bus on the road to Rome. It was breathtaking how beautiful the ride was through Tuscany was. The first part Trip was driving through the green forested hills. The second part presented more of the brown harvested field and hills with houses and towns sitting on hill and mountain tops. During the ride Lana again shared information including reading chapters from Primo Levi. The only stop of the day was to the hilltop town of Pittigliano, which has been called “Little Jerusalem.” This is a wonderful little gem not known to a large number of Jewish travelers. I had visited when I was on the Jewish-Catholic mission to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Rochester Agreement between the Archdiocese of Rochester and the Jewish community. The beauty of the town is seen as one approaches and sees it on the steep cliffs of a mountain. The bus dropped us off just outside the main gate and it was a short walk down charming nar...

Our day  started with a ride out of Florence as we headed to Siena. On the way Lana gave more background on the Jewish experience in Tuscany. Similar to what occurred in Florence, the bus needed to register at a parking area in order to drive into the city of Siena. We then went to Sienna and met our local guide Titsyanna (sp?). We walked up to hill past external walls and a park to a lovely overlook towards the city and the cathedral. After being given an overview of the city we took a group photo before heading into the center of town. We passed a few historical sites (hard to remember all the details, before entering the Plaza de Campo. We did stop at a church dedicated to Ste. Catherine of Siena which contained relics of both her skull and a finger. The plaza is where the different districts of the town race horses around the plaza in the Palio Horse Race. This is a major event and it includes such activities as blessing the horses in district churches before the race. Th...

Our morning started with breakfast at the hotel and then going to the Moorish Style Synagogue. The Great Synagogue or the Temple  a is one of the largest synagogues in all of Europe. Our plan was to arrive early for the service, stay for about an hour and then leave to go to our appointment time at the Uffizi gallery. Kowing this is an Orthodox synagogue we thought the arrangements were that we weren't to bring in any large backpacks. We got to the entrance where there were two armed soldiers serving as guards plus a person working for the synagogue. He would not allow any small bag into the facility. Lana stayed outside with the bags, which she didn't seem to mind. On entering the man attending to the entrance told us we had to leave all cell phones or cameras with him. He also told us if we only wanted to go in for 5-10 minutes to come back on another day. We told him we wanted to attend the service. Once inside we realized we had arrived even before the service began. Ther...

Our day started by loading the group with all our luggage into four water taxis. We were taken to the bus station where we met our bus for the day. It is amazing how life in Venice revolves around water transportation with no motor vehicles or even bicycles o the streets. After loading the bus it was off to Ferrara. On the way our wonderful educator, Lana, gave us background material and a historical perspective of early Jewish life. She centered on the Jews of Tuscany. The bus parked in a large parking lot and we walked to the museum. In many places busses are unable to drive on the narrow old streets. The museum is very new and originally it was not on our itinerary. The group was split into 2  and we saw the exhibit on the first 1,000 years of Jewish life in Italy but also got the background from the beginnings from Abraham on. The next stage for the museum is to have the exhibit that deals with the Renaissance. Some of the group enjoyed a maze outdoors in a garden that had a ...

We began our second day in Venice with a lovely breakfast at the hotel. It is so great to start with freshly baked bread and croissants, not to mention the other items. The group then gathered in front of the hotel to take three water taxis to the Ghetto. The Venice Ghetto was the original ghetto (getto in Italian) established in 1516. It was an area in the city in which Jews were separated and allowed to live and work in the city. Many of the first Jews who came to Venice were brought in as money lenders or physicians. Some might see the ghetto as a terrible injustice done to the Jews, forbidding them the freedom to live anywhere they chose and restricting their movement when the gates were locked.   Since previously Jews were not allowed to live anywhere within the city, one could view the ghetto as the first allowance of for any Jews to dwell within the city. The Christian guards were payed by the Jewish community to keep them locked on. Perhaps they also prevented troub...

First Day in Venice The flights arrived and most of us were taken by water taxis to our hotel, The Hotel Salut Plaza. The other members of our group who arrived a bit earlier also me us there. We were fortunate to be able to check into our rooms and some of us had lunch at the restaurant downstairs. We then met as a group with our wonderful tour educator from Da’at, ARZA tours, Lana Zilberman Soloway. After an introductory briefing we headed to St. Mark’s Plaza. Walking through the city, crossing over many bridges and getting an initial glimpse only made us want to stop and take more pictures and visit galleries and shops. We met up with our local guide, Monika. The requirement is that we must have a di ff erent local guide in each of the cities we visit. The magnificent plaza and buildings were a delight to behold. We began at the Golden Basilica of Saint Marco. The magestic basilica was initially constructed over 1000 years ago but with the many repairs and upd...

We have completed the celebration of our Tishrei holidays. This morning a congregant saw me at services and said, "I thought you were in Italy." My response, "I am in Italy but my body is still here until tomorrow." We have a wonderful group of 29 people. Many of us will take a shuttle to Toronto and fly from there. If all goes smoothly by Wednesday we will all be in Venice. Looking forward to good camaraderie, great food and wine, beautiful sites, and gorgeous countryside. We will visit the Jewish sites along the way and go to Shabbat services in Florence in both the Reform congregation and the large Orthodox one. We will hopefully have meetings with the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican and leaders of the Jewish community in Rome. Thanks to our connections here in Rochester, and the kindness of Bishop Matano, we will meet with an official of the office of Catholic-Jewish relations in the Vatican.