Our first Friday night in Israel we attended Kabbalat Shabbat at Kehilat Zion. It is was probably one of the most moving services I have attended in the past many years.
Services there mix Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions and adds old-time Zionist songs about the land of Israel to Kabbalat Shabbat. When we were there we saw people who were clearly secular, and others who were clearly Orthodox all together in one space--davening. It was so good that we went back to Jerusalem for our last Shabbat so we could attend again.
We spent out Florence Shabbat here at the very grand Great Synagogue. The nusach used is Italian both the melodies and the text of the siddur itself are its own mix of Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions.
It's an orthodox synagogue. I was behind the mechitza. I loved seeing how some of the women wore dresses and covered their hair, some wore pants and didn't cover their hair. I had at first assumed that the pants wearing ladies were tourists like me but the warm greetings and chatting among all of the women let me know that there is a wide range of practice in this one community.
I adored the service. The dome can play tricks with the acoustics of the service. My husband had trouble hearing the chazzan but I was able to hear every word.
We were told that the synagogue was built during the brief period of time when Florence was the capital of Italy. The community felt that a capital city needed a grand synagogue so they built it in 1881. It has apparently has always been a bit of a bigger space than the community actually needed.
The synagogue's rabbi in the early 20th century was an ardent Zionist and was close with Theodore Herzl who used to spend time in Florence. A large number of the community made aliya.
I have friends who attended services here during the summers when tourists outnumbered community members and that was a less than ideal experience. We were fortunate to attend in November when there are fewer tourists and it felt like it was truly a rich synagogue community.
Earlier in the week, we walked near the Great Synagogue of Rome.
As we walked we noticed brass markers in the sidewalks across the street from the synagogue.
This plaque on the synagogue notes the names of Italian Jewish partisans who fought the Nazis.
The light still shines out of the synagogue windows.
Our last Shabbat was in Paris. We were staying quite close to the Rue Copernic Liberal synagogue. Before we left to go to services my husband warned me that given that it was a Liberal synagogue, services might be entirely in French and I might feel lost. I was willing to take the risk.
If you Google the synagogue most of the articles are about the 1980 bombing which killed several people. What the articles don't tell you is what a wonderful service it is. The congregation was founded by Liberal German Jews in the 1880's. Now, the congregation is a mix of German formality and Sephardic nusach. I haven't sat in a service with a rabbi and the cantor wearing robes and the cantor wearing a tall hat. The cantor even wore a white lappet.
The services were a melodic rendition of Sephardi nusach and it was egalitarian. It was great. The service was in Hebrew except for the sermon, and the prayer for the State of Israel and the one for the French government. If I lived in Paris, this would be my shul.
This past Shabbat I was back in my own shul. I loved being home but I also loved being in other Jewish communities.
Services there mix Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions and adds old-time Zionist songs about the land of Israel to Kabbalat Shabbat. When we were there we saw people who were clearly secular, and others who were clearly Orthodox all together in one space--davening. It was so good that we went back to Jerusalem for our last Shabbat so we could attend again.
It's an orthodox synagogue. I was behind the mechitza. I loved seeing how some of the women wore dresses and covered their hair, some wore pants and didn't cover their hair. I had at first assumed that the pants wearing ladies were tourists like me but the warm greetings and chatting among all of the women let me know that there is a wide range of practice in this one community.
I adored the service. The dome can play tricks with the acoustics of the service. My husband had trouble hearing the chazzan but I was able to hear every word.
We were told that the synagogue was built during the brief period of time when Florence was the capital of Italy. The community felt that a capital city needed a grand synagogue so they built it in 1881. It has apparently has always been a bit of a bigger space than the community actually needed.
The synagogue's rabbi in the early 20th century was an ardent Zionist and was close with Theodore Herzl who used to spend time in Florence. A large number of the community made aliya.
I have friends who attended services here during the summers when tourists outnumbered community members and that was a less than ideal experience. We were fortunate to attend in November when there are fewer tourists and it felt like it was truly a rich synagogue community.
Earlier in the week, we walked near the Great Synagogue of Rome.
It was a weekday night and the synagogue was closed. We walked around the building.
As we walked we noticed brass markers in the sidewalks across the street from the synagogue.
You don't need to be able to read Italian very well to realize that these markers note residents who were killed in the Shoah.
These are just a few of the homes that had the brass markers in front of their doors.
Our last Shabbat was in Paris. We were staying quite close to the Rue Copernic Liberal synagogue. Before we left to go to services my husband warned me that given that it was a Liberal synagogue, services might be entirely in French and I might feel lost. I was willing to take the risk.
If you Google the synagogue most of the articles are about the 1980 bombing which killed several people. What the articles don't tell you is what a wonderful service it is. The congregation was founded by Liberal German Jews in the 1880's. Now, the congregation is a mix of German formality and Sephardic nusach. I haven't sat in a service with a rabbi and the cantor wearing robes and the cantor wearing a tall hat. The cantor even wore a white lappet.
The services were a melodic rendition of Sephardi nusach and it was egalitarian. It was great. The service was in Hebrew except for the sermon, and the prayer for the State of Israel and the one for the French government. If I lived in Paris, this would be my shul.
This past Shabbat I was back in my own shul. I loved being home but I also loved being in other Jewish communities.
Sarah I am enjoying your posts about visiting other synagogues as you travel, and it sounds much the same as our experience visiting Catholic churches in our travels. The differences and similarities make worship a bonding experience on good days , and enhances appreciation for home on not so good ones. We have met wonderful people and heard awesome stories in those churches as well, especially in small towns and remote places.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sarah, I have really appreciated this description of connecting with others in places of worship. Not just the beauty of those places, but also the spiritual part of being there.
ReplyDeleteYes, the way things are different the way the mix of the elements varies from synagogue to synagogue was pretty wonderful. In Florence the solemnity in which they carried the Torah around the synagogue..I found myself unexpectedly tearing up. There were four bar-mitzvahs the Shabbat we were in Paris, a set of twins their older sister and another young man. The twins were clearly cut ups and were comfortable commenting to the appreciative community through the service...it was nice to see those kids so comfortable. The bat-mitzvah girl 's talk moved her mother to tears and the girl was so moved during her reciting of the blessings over the Torah that she had to stop to collect herself.
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