Padua and the Giotto Frescos

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Up and out early.  We left for Padua at 8:00, a trip of only about an hour by bus.  The city is rather small, but holds importance in the history of the Jews in Italy.  We arrived at the Piazza del Signori:

We walked through the town and towards the Jewish Quarter.  Founded in the 1200’s, the Padua Jewish Community was forced into a ghetto when Venice assumed control over the city in the 1500’s.  The Lion of St. Mark is the sign of Venetian control in the central piazza:

We learned that Napoleon’s army captured Padua in 1797, and on August 28, 1797 issued the following decree:

In the Name of the French Republic One and Indivisible:

First, that the Hebrews are at liberty to live in any street that they please.

Second, that the barbarous and meaningless name of Ghetto, which designates the street which they have been inhabiting hitherto, shall be substituted by that of Via Libera.

A copy of these present decisions shall be sent to all the district municipalities so that they may be executed by the respective police departments in the most congenient manner.

A month later the ghetto walls were destroyed.  Unfortunately, Napoleon met his Waterloo, and in 1815 all the old order was restored.

The Padua Jewish Museum is small but has a number of beautiful items.  Here is a Megillah Esther from the early 18^th c.:

Here is a Ner Tamid from the 19^th c.:

Here is an Italian lace Torah binder from the mid 19^th c.:

After viewing a film at the museum relating the history of the lives of a number of prominent Jews of Padua, we went to the “Italian” synagogue which has some absolutely gorgeous ironwork:

We had a study session of the coming week’s Parsha, Lech Lecha, with the spiritual leader of the Padua Jewish community, Rabbi Locci.

Padua is the home of some of the most beautiful and important frescos in Italy, those of Giotto in the Capella Scrovengi.  The frescos are protected by being exposed only to purified air. To visit the frescos one must sit in an antechamber for 15 minutes (they have an entertaining video) while you have the air you are in filtered.  Only after sitting in the clean air for 15 minutes are you allowed into the chapel, and the numbers are severely limited.  It was worth it. The frescos are truly gorgeous,  Of course, no photos are allowed.  You are allowed to remain for 15 minutes while the next group is purified, and then you must leave.   It was truly memorable to see them.  Image from the web:

We then had a three hour bus ride to Florence, during which I gave a presentation to the group on Jewish music of the Italian Renaissance which I had prepared, including eight musical samples played on the bus’s A-V system.  I think it went well.  Dinner was at a Florentine Kosher restaurant and was not up to the quality we’ve become used to.

A Day of Rest in Venice, Noah, and a Song

Saturday, October 17, 2015

We slept in on Shabbat morning, and after breakfast we wandered the city and did some shopping.  A couple of things stand out, first that there are many shops selling masks to be used at Carnival:

Next, I must send a photo of the floods in St. Mark’s Square:

The drainage is poor, and at high tide the piazza is about ½ flooded so that you have to make significant detours to get from one place to another.  After a heavy rain the water can be 12-14 inches deep all over the piazza, and people wear plastic booties which reach the knees!  In addition, they place elevated walkways around the square.  Clearly drainage is not good which makes one worry about the sewers.  But maybe we shouldn’t think about that.

The Parsha this week was Noah, and we met at 5:00 to study, reviewing a writing of Elijah Ben Amozegh (1822-1900), "Noahide Law — Noahism As A Religion”.  We then broke into five groups, each of which had a selection from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice with Shylock as a prominent role in the selection.  Each group studied the lines, and then each group reported on Shylock’s perception of the Venetians, the Venetians perception of Shylock, and what Shakespeare was trying to accomplish.  It was both fun and very challenging.

We then had a surprise.  Haim taught us a popular Venetian song which “everyone” knows just like our children know camp songs, the words of which will resonate with those of us who celebrate Passover.  I’ll post them below in translation.  After this merry introduction to a very special kind of crossover music we went out for a lovely dinner.

AT THE EASTERN FAIR

For two coins my father bought a mouse. 

And the cat came that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the dog came that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the stick* came (*also cane or club) That hit/beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market.At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the fire came that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the water came that put out the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse. 

And the bull came that drank the water that put out the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the butcher came who killed the bull that drank the water that put out the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And the Angel of Death on the butcher who killed the bull that drank the water which extinguished the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse.

And finally the Lord on the Angel of Death on the butcher who killed the bull that drank the water that put out the fire that burned the stick that beat the dog that bit the cat that ate up the mouse that my father bought at the market. At the Eastern Fair for two coins my father bought a mouse. 

The Doge Palace and the Venetian Ghetto

Friday, October 16, 2015

We left the hotel at 8:00 (after breakfast) and walked to the Doge’s Palace where we had a tour of this amazing building.  It was effectively the seat of the ducal government, and the doge and his senators took care of themselves very well.  Our readings were from Rabbi Leon Modena (1571-1648) and Isaac Cardoso (~1603-1683) and complemented the tour beautifully.  Cardoso had dedicated his Philosophio Libera to the Doge and the Venetian Senate, and we read a 1679 piece by Cardoso outlining the place of Jews in Venetian life.

Here’s the entrance to the palace:

The first inner courtyard:

The Venetians incorporated gods from ancient Rome into their art and architecture.  I don’t have a full understanding of the place that the ancient gods played in Venetian life and what place they had in the church.  We even saw a Virgin Mary portrayed as Venus!  The Venetian Church, while completely Christian, was not part of the Roman Church and was not subject to the Pope.  It had its own distinct style, and I need to learn more about that.  Here are statues of Mars and Neptune prominently placed in the Doge Palace courtyard:

Here’s a ceiling in the palace:

Here’s a detail from a Titian on a wall:

And here’s the stunning senate chamber:

The Bridge of Sighs connects the palace on one side of a canal with the prison on the other, and takes its name because of the last views of Venice prisoners had as they were escorted from the palace to the dungeon-like accommodations on the other side.

We then toured St. Mark’s Basilica which, again, was not built as a Catholic but rather as a Christian church, starting in the 9^th century.  There are Byzantine mosaics over the front of the church:

No photos are allowed in the Basilica itself, which is very beautiful.  

After touring St. Mark’s, we had lunch and walked to the Venetian Ghetto where we toured five synagogues which were very close to one another.  The ghetto was founded in 1516 and the synagogues were built between 1528 and 1589. The Jews lived with limited contact with the Christian community, and the only work they were allowed was money lending, as doctors, and as sellers of used goods.  They were not allowed to build new buildings but were allowed to add floors to existing buildings, accounting for the many multi-story buildings seen.  Jews were not allowed to join guilds, so the artisans who built the synagogues were all Christian.

Here’s a beautiful Aron Chodesh in one of the synagogues:

Here’s the Bima from another:

The fact that Christian artisans decorated the synagogues led to some unusual things.  Artistic depictions of bible stories generally do not decorate synagogues, but do decorate churches.  Here’s a carving of Egyptians drowning in the Red Sea after Moses had parted it.  Wrecked chariots and swimming Egyptians are easily seen:

We walked back to the hotel, washed up and changed, and walked back to the ghetto where we attended Kabbalat Shabbat services and then had a lovely Shabbat dinner at one of the kosher restaurants in the ghetto.  A day of rest tomorrow!

Arrival in Venice, Cemetery, La Traviata

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Up early this morning, bags out at 6:00 AM to be trucked to Venice and taken to our hotel while we began our study.  So we walked to the nearby main train station of Rome and caught a 7:50 AM fast train to Venice.  We use small radio devices with ear pieces to hear our professor (Haim) and our guides, and we all sat together and used them on the train to study an excerpt from Black Sabbath, A Journey Through a Crime Against Humanity by H. Katz, published in 1969.  We read of the deportation of Jews from Rome during WW II, and related that to the expulsion of Jews from many places during our long history.  The passage we read spoke to the extremely inhumane treatment of the Jews during a train stop and the humanity of the Italians who observed what was happening.

We arrived at the Venice train station late in the morning, and immediately took a boat to Lido Island which houses the Jewish cemetery, founded in 1386.  On the way we passed sights which were quintessentially Venetian, including the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s square:

People are buried underground on the Venetian islands, unlike, say, New Orleans, which has a similar relationship with the water but where people are “buried” above ground.  After lunch on Lido Island, we walked to the new (19^th c.) cemetery where we had a study session reading a sonnet of Sarra Coppio Sullam (1600-1641):

O divine form of mortal life, 

And sublime end of God's works, 

 In which He expresses Himself and His power 

And made you a queen of as much as He created;

Mind that informs man, in whom the immortal 

Adjoins the mortal, and that resides amidst the prime 

Essences in flying from the deepest 

Parts where heaven bends down to you: 

May stupid thought that lives amidst ephemeral objects 

Desist now from investigating you, however, 

For you uncover yourself only when you approach God

And for human breasts to be made content here,  

May it be enough to know that "the angels themselves 

Are appointed to guard and serve you." 

  

We read responses to Sullam’s sonnet, as well as sonnets by other authors who are buried here in the Jewish cemetery.  We were only able to peek through the gate to the old Jewish cemetery as it is not open to visitors:

We then sat in a canal side boat taxi waiting room and had another study session with Shaul Bassi, PhD, who lectured us for about 45 minutes on the history of Venetian Jewry.  Jews had been expelled from Venice, but in 1509, with the city-state in trouble economically, the Jews were invited back as they were perceived to be excellent merchants and traders.  In negotiation with the city, the Jews actually negotiated for a separate place and the word ghetto was invented and used, perhaps as a corruption of another Italian word, perhaps not.  There are, apparently, many versions of the etymology of the word, but all agree it comes from Venice.  The Venetian ghetto was settled in 1516 in an area which had housed a foundry and which had the only square in Venice which did not have a church facing one side.  The talk was full of great information.

Finally we took a boat to an area adjacent to St. Mark’s Square and walked from there into the square:

It is beautiful, even overwhelming, and we will have a formal tour tomorrow.  For those who have never been there, on each side of the enormous square are shops and cafes, and there is schmaltzy live music at the cafes, which accounts for a cup of coffee costing 12 euros.  Click here to see:

  

We walked to our hotel, crossing over many bridges and enjoying many sights such as these:

We washed up, had a quick dinner, and walked to the Palazzo Ververigo Minotto where we had a real treat.  There is an opera production called Musica a Palazzo which performs operas in a reduced version in the rooms of the Palazzo.  We saw La Traviata in three rooms of the Palazzo, one act in each of the three rooms. The final act was in a bedroom (as it is in the opera).  The audience was very small, maybe 75 people, and we were in intimate contact with the singers and the piano quartet who played the music.  In between acts we were given champagne as we passed from one room to the next.  A truly unique opportunity.

Rome, the Eternal City

Thursday, October 15, 2015

On the train from Rome to Venice.

Well, yesterday was incredible.  Even overwhelming.  It would take a booklet to describe the day and put in all the photos I would like to share.  So, some choices, sort of random, to share some of the day.

We began this Wednesday at 8:00 with a walk to the church of Saint Peter in Vincoli, slightly off of the usual tourist route, but which contains a masterpiece, Michelangelo’s Moses.  This apparently was Michelangelo’s favorite of his sculptures!  It is set in a mixture of quite lesser sculptures:

It is remarkable:

We then had a study session in the forecourt of the church, looking at parallels between St. Peter and Moses.

We left by bus for the Vatican, and on the bus read some Mark Twain (The Innocents Abroad) which is hilarious, about Michelangelo.  We also read (in translation) a sonnet by Michelangelo.  We arrived at the Vatican Museum where the crowds were unbelievable.  We did not have to wait hours to get in as those not on organized tours did.

The museum is overwhelming.  Miles of corridors, all lined with the most incredible art.  Enormous crowds of people made it hard to really appreciate some of it.  The best I can do is to sample some of what we saw.  Photographs were allowed everywhere but in the Sistine Chapel, where there was another crowd so large that it was hard to appreciate what was there.

So, as an example, here is an entire hall of busts:

And there are fabulous pieces.  Here’s Cicero:

And here’s Sabina, wife of Hadrian, with big hair:

Here is a Roman statue called La Ocoon, discovered during the life of Michelangelo, which he used as an example of anatomical sculpture.  It is magnificent:

In another gallery was this Roman mosaic floor with a bust of Athena:

There is a giant hall of tapestries of such beauty and opulence it is hard to imagine. Here is a detail from a Brussels tapestry of 1524 showing the massacre of the innocents:

The buildings are remarkable.  Here’s the ceiling of one of the galleries:

And there are wonderful paintings on the walls of the galleries.  Here’s a Moses:

It would take a lifetime to appreciate all that is here.  After a hurried lunch, we traveled to the building which houses both the Israeli embassy to Italy and the Israeli embassy to the Holy See.  We had an audience with Ambassador Dr. Zion Efrony, the Israeli representative to the Holy See, who spoke to us about the important issues he faces, with an emphasis on the history of the Church and the Jews.  Prominent in his discussion is the recent 50^th anniversary of Nostre Aetate, the revolutionary Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.  (Of course Haim has a copy of most of the declaration in our reader.)  Ambassador Efrony took questions, and they ranged from the Papal recognition of Palestine to the fact that the embassy of the Holy See is in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv.  Security at the embassy was tight, and only one camera (not mine) was allowed in.

We then returned to the Vatican, where Haim had arranged something truly extraordinary.  Our group had a private tour of the Vatican Library.  We were split into two groups and two of the Vatican’s librarians took us through.  They had pulled from their archives some of their extraordinary holdings and had set them up in a special exhibit just for us.  The library is quite beautiful:

The holdings must be amazing.  I’ll show just a couple of the things they brought out for us.  A Qu’ran written in Hebrew from about 1400:

An illuminated halachic code from 1435, this illumination showing ritual slaughtering:

The library closed at 6:00 PM and we were still going and had to be hurried out.  Exhausted, we returned to the hotel via St. Peter's Square, and went out for a lovely dinner.  

Coliseum, Catacombs and Persecution

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

We started the day at the Coliseum, a truly colossal structure which held 60,000 for the entertainment of the aristocracy and the masses.  Gladiators fought animals (exotic one—lions and tigers) as well as each other.  The floor is missing now and the rooms below where the animals and the gladiators were kept are in view:

There were stalls behind the stadium grandstands which sold food and drink, much like our current football stadiums, and we had a study session in one.  We studied the clash of values between the Jews and the Romans, reading from a Tosefta, the parallel writings alongside the Talmud.  One reading:

 One who goes up into the theaters of the nations, and cries out for the needs of the state — it is permitted. If he conspires with them (mit'hashev) — behold it is prohibited. One who sits in the stadium (itstarton) — behold he is guilty of bloodshed.

So for the Jews, participation as a spectator in the bloody and brutal contests was prohibited.

It was not until the days of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, that the terribly brutal contests in the Coliseum were halted.

From the Coliseum we traveled just outside the city to the Jewish catacombs.  These date from 200-300 C.E. and were used in a parallel fashion to the burial catacombs for the Romans.  Here’s the entrance:

The catacombs used by the Jews had originally been pagan burial grounds, and there were many pagan decorations there.  Here are some decorated burial niches:

A Pegasus:

And the goddess Tieche, the Goddess of Prosperity:

There were far fewer Jewish grave markings, but here is one of the more remarkable, with a menorah, a lulav and etrog, and a shofar.

We returned to Rome center, and after lunch, we had a study session on Hadrian and his conflict with the Jews.  From one of the readings (Eicha Rabba 3:60):

 A Jew passed in front of Hadrian and greeted him. The king asked, "Who are you?" He answered, "I am a Jew." Hadrian exclaimed, "How dare a Jew pass in front of Hadrian and greet him?" and ordered, "Off with his head!" Another Jew passed and, seeing what happened to the first man, did not greet him. Hadrian asked, "Who are you?" He answered, "A Jew." He exclaimed, "How dare a Jew pass in front of Hadrian without giving a greeting?" and again ordered, "Off with his head!" His senators said, "We cannot understand your actions. He who greeted you was put to death, and he who did not greet you was put to death!" Hadrian replied, "Do you dare advise me how I am to execute those I hate?" And the holy spirit kept crying out, "0 Lord, Thou hast seen my wrong. . . . Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their devices against me" (Lam. 3:59-60)

We next walked a street filled with shops where you might buy all the garments and appurtenances you would use if you were a priest.  Window shopping here was fascinating, but we didn’t see things we might use.  Here’s one window:

Our next visit was to the most remarkable building we’ve seen yet, the Pantheon.  Built by Hadrian between 118 and 125 CE, it is rectangular on the outside and perfectly round on the inside.  Of course it had been converted to a church, the Basilica Santa Maria ad Martyres, but the incredible architecture and engineering are still easy to see:

Exhausted, we stopped at a lovely café for coffee and gelato, and in the café we read some poetry of Immanuel of Rome (c. 1261-1332).  Here’s a sample in translation:

THE WIFE'S COMPLAINT 

Two years have already passed since I took a husband, but he is still alive, and I can have no pleasure. If only he would die of lightning's dart or thunder's roar, I would be queen among the charming ladies. 

Day after day I call for Death to come, for my soul longs for a change of fare. 

I do not know how this outrage will end. Oh, perish the day when I came into his house! 

I see that my neighbour, within the span of thirty months, has three times buried a husband. All the neighbourhood wives exclaim: 'How happy she must be!' 

She spurned heroes and princes [for the sake of lovers]. Like a lioness, she made her lair among young lions, and she lay in their midst, bearing her cubs.

Our next-to-last stop of the day was in the Piazza Navona, which has in the center of it a giant Bernini sculpture incorporating an Egyptian pyramid with a cross on top.  What amazing imagery of the power of the church:

Finally we went to the Piazza Navona, a large busy plaza, in the center of which is a small plaque:

The plaque was placed in 2011 to commemorate the events of 1553 when wagonloads of copies of the Talmud were burned here.  Haim also traced the history of the intolerance of the Church to science, as in this square also, Giovanni Bruno was burned at the stake for persisting in the belief of his scientific discoveries during the Inquisition.  We read aloud the words spoken at the dedication of the plaque, some of which I’ll use to close this post:

In Rome, the Inquisition raged while in the Benedictine monastery at Camaldoli near Arezzo, sat the Florentine humanists who studied the Talmud and Kabbalah together with rabbis. Giordano Bruno's own martyrdom, some 20 years after that of the Talmud here, was in large part owing to his having been influenced by those humanists and their interest in Jewish holy books. The placing of this plaque today thus closes the circle and indicates to us that it is not the Inquisition that has won the day, but the spirit of Camaldoli. Today in Rome, Jews and Christians study the Talmud and others of our shared holy books, not only with each other but with Muslims as well. Bruno might have dreamed that this would happen.