70 Guest appearance: Synagogues Preserved in Jerusalem

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 As I mentioned before, the blog is about churches because that's what I know,  because there's lots of them about, and because they have a particularly theatrical tradition, more so than most other holy buildings. But today a guest appearance from synagogues. The "Museum of Israel" in Jerusalem bought up and transported four synagogues from different parts of the world, and they make up a whole wing of the museum, entitled "The Synagogue Route". Now, I know next to nothing about synagogues, so cannot comment much. The museum site explains

"The synagogue from Vittorio Veneto, a small town in northern Italy, was built in 1700. Its interior is elegantly decorated in typical Italian Baroque style, reminiscent of a reception room in an aristocrat’s palace. 

The Kadavumbagam synagogue from the town of Cochin in southern India, built in the 16th century is a wooden structure, with an exquisitely carved and painted ceiling directly influenced by the decorations of mosques and Hindu temples.

The wooden synagogue from Horb, southern Germany, was built in the first half of the 18th century. Its walls and the ceiling were completely covered with paintings and inscriptions, thus being one of the rare testimonies of an old tradition of painted Synagogue common in Poland and Germany.

The Tzedek ve-Shalom synagogue from Suriname, northern South America, was built in the 18th century, and it tells the story of the Spanish-Portuguese Jews who came from Europe to the New World. 

The synagogue route is accompanied by a rich display of ritual objects such as Torah mantles and cases, shields and finials, as well as Torah ark curtains, all of them originating from communities around the world; from Morocco to Poland; from Afghanistan to the Netherlands."

As well as photographs of the life size synagogues, there are also a few photographs of scale models of impressive synagogues from around the world.

























































Let's hope that Palestine is free soon, so the visit to these preserved synagogues can be enjoyed in a free country.



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