Florence, Italy As the Middle Ages drew to a close, the city of Florence became Europe’s center of culture and the arts as the Age of the Renaissance came to the fore. The Jews of Italy were important contributors to the development of Renaissance philosophy and thought. Although few if any became painters or sculptors of note, Jewish writers and intellectuals flourished … [Read more...]
LEGACY OF THE SPANISH GOLDEN AGE
Several Locations, Spain During the centuries when the Moors ruled the Iberian Peninsula, southern Spain, or Andalusiam, became the most important center of Jewish life in Europe. The various Islamic dynasties which ruled in Spain were, on the whole, more tolerant of Jews than in other places, and the Jewish community rose to a level of political and cultural influence that … [Read more...]
PARADESI SYNAGOGUE
Ernakulam, Kerala Of all of the places in the world that Jews settled in pre-Roman times, no location is so unlikely or improbable as distant India. And yet, a Jewish community in India did exist as early as the 6th century BC, as surely as there were Jews in Mesopotamia, Persia, Central Asia, Yemen, Ethiopia and North Africa. While the exact time and means of their … [Read more...]
CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE OF ALEPPO
Aleppo, Syria For nearly three millennia, Syria boasted the oldest community of Jews outside of Israel. For most of this time, the center of Jewish life in Syria was city of Aleppo. The Central Synagogue of Aleppo is one of the world’s oldest, its original foundations having been established by the Israelite General Joab during the reign of King David in the 10th century … [Read more...]
BEN EZRA SYNAGOGUE & CAIRO GENIZA
Cairo, Egypt The Ben Ezra Synagogue is one of the surviving remnants of the once great Jewish community of Egypt. A synagogue has stood on this spot since the 9th century, more than a hundred years before the Fatimids made Cairo their capital. Because of the relative security of the Jews in Egypt, Cairo became one of the biggest repositories of Jewish knowledge during the … [Read more...]
TOURO SYNAGOGUE
Newport, Rhode Island Around the middle of the 17th century, the first Jewish immigrants began arriving in the American colonies. Although they settled primarily in New York and Charleston, the first permanent Jewish community in America was that of Newport, Rhode Island. The Touro Synagogue of Newport has the honor of being the oldest synagogue still in use in both the … [Read more...]