Questmesorah Pride of ARI ARI PIEDMONT'S The shuls from the now-defunct Jews communities of Northern Italy have seen several fates. Either they’ve been transformed into museums, their furnishings have been transferred to Israel or to other shuls within Italy, or they are in their original condition but rarely used. We originally came to Italy’s Piedmont region to perform brissim, but our visit wound up being an adventure in rediscovering the exquisite, abandoned shuls of the last centuries — left intact to tell the stories of their past

BY Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Ari Greenspan PHOTOS Ari Greenspan, Ari Zivotofsky, Yosef Zivotofsky

54 MISHPACHA 5 Cheshvan 5772 | November 2, 2011 MISHPACHA 55 Pride of Piedmont’s Jews

e were on our way to Chicago for another of our Mesorah Din- ners featuring an ar- ray of dishes created from little-known and unusual kosher ani- mals, but the path to the Windy City passed through the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, and it is here that our tale begins.W We were summoned to Piedmont’s regional capital of Turin (Torino) to perform a series of brissim by our host, Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum, the chief rabbi of Turin and Piedmont. He asked us to come to Italy in order to perform brissim for three adults and an infant. We arrived after midnight on a Thursday, and by 8 a.m. the next morning we were on our way to an old Italian villa at the top of a hill overlooking the Alps to perform a bris on a baby whose parents can trace their Jewish roots back over 500 years. Next, we prepared to do brissim on the adults. One was a prospective ger, but he was a no-show. The other two were much simpler halachically, yet quite emotional. They were both Jews who had until then been areilim (uncircumcised), one of them being the son of a Holocaust survivor, a 60-something-year-old Jewish widower, who had been baptized as a youth A Baroque wooden pillar with a gold leaf design Ari G. (L) and Ari Z. analyze the gold leaf aron kodesh in Turin, and who felt a passion to have a bris before he died. supports the cupola of the bimah painted black as a sign of mourning for the king who granted The bris of an adult is a serious matter that re- the Jews their freedom from the ghetto quires local anesthesia, surgical instruments, stitches, bandages, and a sterile environment. We sterilized all of the equipment and proceeded to do for Shabbos. The Turin Jewish com- since matzoh was baked locally, and de- Preserved for the Future We the brissim in the course of two hours. One of the munity is centered around a beautiful spite our best e!orts we were unable to were curious to at least see photos of the men talked about how meaningful it was for him large shul that was completed in 1884 locate any remnants of matzoh-baking old matzoh bakery, and our search led to have his bris at age 30. He felt a need to be part of — a story in itself. However, it was not equipment. us to the communal archives. We have the Jewish Nation. His lack of a bris until now was in this grand shul that we davened on The Piedmont area is in fact dotted been in numerous archives worldwide, a sad testament to the absence of active Yiddishkeit Shabbos, but rather in the “small” shul with numerous villages and towns that but the collections of this small com- in the Italy of the postwar decades, since this man’s in the basement of the adjoining build- previously had small but active Jewish munity are among the most impressive grandfather had been a beloved gabbai and shochet ing that is currently used year-round communities. Of these, only Turin still we’ve ever seen. They include books, only two generations earlier. with the exceptions of Rosh HaShanah, has a Jewish kehillah. The shuls from documents, paintings — all preserved After we finished the surgery and stood up to make Yom Kippur, Simchas Torah, and the these now-defunct communities have in a temperature-controlled room with the brachos and give these men Jewish names, there first day of Pesach. On those days the seen one of four fates: some have been sophisticated sliding walls and shelves was great emotion in the room, as we felt we had done larger crowds make it appropriate to transformed into museums; others are and a computerized database. something historic. There was actually a little sing- give honor to the main shul. in their original condition, although One of the most spectacular items ing and dancing. The 30-year-old has a cousin who The small shul in Turin is a pictur- rarely used; the furnishings of some was a book on the laws of shechitah from is a rabbi in a city about 100 kilometers away. This esque, amphitheater-shaped room that have been transferred to Israel (either 1807. The author of this rare book was rabbi made the trip on Erev Shabbos to give physical was renovated in 1972. We found the to shuls or museums); and some have clearly a creative individual who found and emotional support to his cousin as he was wel- architecture and furnishings magnifi- seen their interior furnishings trans- a unique way to format the laws of tre- comed into the bris of Avraham Avinu. He served as cent, but were disappointed that nothing planted within Italy. This was the case ifos, animals with physical defects in the sandak by holding his cousin’s head, then made was left of its original function — this with the shul in Chieri, a small town the various limbs and organs, which the brachos and gave the Hebrew name. room was the matzoh bakery for the 11 kilometers from Turin. Its splen- render them nonkosher. He inserted And so happened our introduction to the 800-strong community for almost 100 years. Un- did furnishings now grace the small diagrams of each of the animal’s body Jewish community of Turin, which was our base The aron kodesh in the shul in Asti dates back to the 14th century fortunately, it has been many decades Turin shul. parts and organs, visually describing

56 MISHPACHA 5 Cheshvan 5772 | November 2, 2011 MISHPACHA 57 1 2 3 Pride of Piedmont’s Jews

what makes them questionable. and how they didn’t say a particular out of sight, only to be used privately. One popular item in any Jewish ar- Kaddish when they were “supposed The last thing a Jew living in the ghetto chive is the local kesubah. While the to.” I explained to him that in addition wanted was for a Christian to know he text of kesubos is standardized in the to the Sfard and nusach Ashke- was wealthy. US, historically, there were regional naz and possibly Yemenite with which Then when Napoleon emancipated variations. One interesting custom we he was probably familiar, there is also the Jews, they were able to live as they noted in the Piedmont kesubos was that the lesser known “nusach Roma.” Note wanted. But a few years later, with the not only was the city mentioned, but its that it is not called nusach Italia, be- restoration of an Italian monarchy in location was described by the body or cause each of Italy’s cities has its own 1814, the Jews again were relegated to bodies of waters on which it was located. traditions. the ghettos and limited in their profes- This custom more precisely identifies Nusach Roma may be one of the old- sions. Finally in 1848, King Alberto de- the city so that in Israel, for example, est extant nuschaos — and, in fact, it is cided that the Jews should be free, and one would not confuse the Beis Lech- almost identical to that of the from that date onward, the ghettos were em in Yehudah with the Beis Lechem of Rav Saadiah Gaon — but it may also opened and Jews were free to practice in the Galil. This practice is standard contain elements that antedate the religion and work as they wished. So be- in the writing of a get, and often pres- destruction of the Temple in the year loved was King Alberto by the Jews of 4 1. The Mole tower, almost a shul 5 ents a challenge when writing gittin in 70 CE. Nusach Roma, following Rav Piedmont that, when he died, a beautiful new locales due to the di"culty of cor- Saadiah, has special modifications on 18th century aron kodesh, housed today 2. Each city has its own nusach rectly identifying — and spelling the Friday night in the brachos preceding in a niche behind the Torino small shul, 3. A hanging oil lamp in Mondovi Hebrew names of — the local bodies of Shema. Florence preserves a ruling was painted black as a sign of mourning water. We later inquired with the chief of Rashi that Parshas Zakhor is read for him, as was the aron in the nearby 4. Cheder kids left their mark as rabbi of Rome, Rav Riccardo Di Segni, twice: as the last aliyah, and then again town of Ivrea. far back as 1896 who informed us that this is standard as maftir. Some other interesting vari- When the Jews were finally o!ered 5. Round tefillin, according to the practice in all of Italy. Some seforim also ants that we noticed in the Turin siddur freedom and equality, they had an op- opinion that only the base must cite examples such as: “the holy city of are: adding to Acheinu Beis Yisrael the portunity to build this shul, with its bold be square Shechem between the mountains of words acheinu Yisrael va’Anusei Yis- design. Such an undertaking certainly Har Gerizim and Har Eival,” or “the rael; saying she’asani Yisrael instead of reflected their confidence, wealth, and, 6. Small space, but exquisite holy city of Tzfas that sits on the river shelo asani goy; and no aleinu at the end after centuries of chafing under the yoke design Duvlai.” Thus, in Rome, kesubos men- of Minchah. The Italian communities of the Church, was intended to send a 7. What lies behind this menorah? tion the Tevere River, in Florence, the each take their own nusach so seriously message by the mere fact that a shul Arno River, and in Venice and Leghorn that throughout the Shabbos morning would now be taller than any church 8. A heart-shaped kesubah from they write “al kef yama.” davening in Turin, one of the locals in the world. But because of conflicts Turin, 1846 grumbled about the fact that the usual with the architect that arose during Nusach Turin Italy’s Jewish baal korei was away and the one reading the building’s design and construction, population — which originated in the that Shabbos was not using the Turin the building was ultimately given back time of the Second Beis HaMikdash, melody but the melody from Milan, a to the city at a fraction of its cost, and it when Jews lived throughout much of city a mere hour’s drive away. never did become a shul. Construction the Roman Empire — was augmented had begun in 1863, but as it progressed, during the Middle Ages with Jewish The Mole Antonelliana Tu- the architect continued to make modi- 6 7 8 migration from other areas, which led rin’s skyline is dominated by a singular fications that raised the height and the to the creation of unique nuschaos in building called the Mole (mo-leh) An- cost. At one point the Jews told him davening and leining in Rome, Turin, tonelliana which, when built, was the that they wanted a place where they Milan, and other areas. While we tend to tallest brick building in Europe, its spire could “pray to G-d, not whisper in His think that all that exists are the nusach rising an amazing 167 meters in the air. Ear.” Finally, in 1876, the Jewish com- Sfard, , and nusach eidot What makes this building so unique is munity, which had spent almost three haMizrach for Sephardim, in fact there that this massive structure was actually times its allotted budget and still did are many lesser known variants. built by the Jews to serve as a shul! not have a completed shul, announced Once, in the kosher pizza shop in the During the Middle Ages and until that it was withdrawing from the proj- old Jewish ghetto of Rome, a young their emancipation, Jews were allowed ect. The Jews gave it to the city in ex- frum couple spending the day in Rome to work in only a limited number of pro- change for the piece of land on which en route to New York was seated at the fessions, with most becoming money- the current shul stands. The Mole was table next to mine and we began discuss- lenders. They were often very success- finally completed in 1889 and today is ing the community. The husband spoke ful, but since they could not buy land or a municipal museum. disparagingly of the locals’ davening own businesses, they kept their money The current shul was completed in

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the many villages in the Piedmont region that have diminutive but exquisite shuls. Often there were not more than 30 to 40 seats in these houses of worship; some had a balcony with a few seats for women, while others had a small outside area from which women could observe the services through a window or screen. Yet, despite their size, an extraor- dinary amount of money and attention was lavished on beautifying these small mikdashei me’at. It seems that no expense was spared to employ non-Jewish artisans who were experts in woodwork, painting, and gold leafing, which is almost a lost art today, but was considered to be the ultimate in Renaissance- era elegance. Shabbos innovation: keeping track of contributions with a The Mondovi shul is on the top floor of a Jewish- board and string inhabited building near the highest part of town, with no external indicators that a shul is within. We had been told that nothing remains of the mikveh that had existed in the basement, but we were shown an be done lishmah, with intent of doing unusual stone on the balcony that fed into a channel it for a mitzvah. Yet most production, that supposedly fed the mikveh. The view from the which involves the extremely delicate top floor is amazing, overlooking a verdant valley. As work of unspinning the silk cocoons in many of the shuls in this area, the aron was not a and spinning the almost microscopic cabinet or ark, but rather a small room that could be fibers, is done by non-Jewish experts entered, with the Torahs resting on shelves. For this As we went into the old, in China. When poskim have addressed reason, what Ashkenazim called an “aron kodesh,” these halachos over the last few hun- meaning an ark, Sephardim referred to as “heichal,” cobweb-filled room, dred years, it has often been in direct which was often a small room. response to Italian Jewish practice. In Mondovi, we saw an ingenious solution for how we wondered about In Silk All around On Shabbos afternoon we walked donations could be recorded on Shabbos. A big wooden Piedmont, we continued through the ancient Turin ghetto, cre- slat was drilled with holes going down and across in the generations of on our search for rem- ated in 1679. Everything about Jewish lines. Along the top was a list of coin values, one over nants of once-vibrant Jew- life in this period was understated. No each column and along the side was the name of each Jews who had used this ish life. extravagance could be displayed publicly member of the community. In each hole was a short One of the marks of for fear of the Christians. In fact, Jews length of leather knotted on the front and back. All structure these communities is the could not buy land or businesses, and of the leather was pulled back and when somebody Italian Jewish custom of as a result, the Jews had few things on made a donation on Shabbos or Yom Tov, the piece making exquisite talleisim which to spend their money. That fact of leather corresponding to the amount was pulled 1884 and is crowned by four onion domes out of silk. This unusual custom has its explains the preponderance of spec- forward and left that way until after Shabbos. That on corner towers that can be clearly roots in the region’s economic history. tacular Jewish synagogue art in such a way, on Motzaei Shabbos, the gabbai would know seen from the Mole observation deck. Often a wealthy prince would come small concentrated area over a several- how much each person had pledged. It is located in a complex that houses a into a Jewish moneylender with a fancy hundred-year period. As we explored the In a number of the shuls we found a room with Jewish elementary school, a prestigious expensive silk garment and pawn it for shuls, we found that many of them were benches used for teaching the kids of the commu- rabbinical college, an old-age home, the cash. When the loan was not repaid, located in completely unmarked, unre- nity. For kids, sitting for hours on a wooden bench archives, a small museum, and the com- the Jews would repair, embellish, and markable buildings so as not rouse the can be challenging, and it was sweet and comical munity o"ces. In 1942, during World resell the piece, creating a tradition of ire of the Church. The synagogues were to see the engraved gra"ti of the names and dates War II, the shul was hit by a bomb that fine sewing crafts, particularly in silks, on the top floor of housing structures, that generations of cheder children had inflicted was supposedly intended for the central which ultimately gave them a foothold based on the view of many poskim that on the wood. railway station a few blocks away. While in the international silk trade. one should not live directly above a shul, While we were in this shul, now an o"cial mu- the bomb did not explode, a miracle in The use of silk for a tallis, however, as well as in an e!ort to covertly make seum, an old neighbor came by and told us proudly and of itself, the ensuing fire completely raises unique halachic questions. Firstly, the shul the tallest building in the city, that he had been friendly with the town’s last Jew, destroyed the interior of the shul. The can the tzitzis on the tallis be made of which the Church prohibited. who had died some years ago. When he saw our cu- magnificent interior of the rebuilt shul anything but wool? Secondly, if they can We were fortunate to visit the shuls riosity about the community, he said, “Would you is said to be a mere shadow of what it had be made from silk, then the spinning in the four towns of Mondovi, Asti, Car- like to see something interesting?” He produced a been before the war. and string production processes must magnola, and Cherasco, from among big, old skeleton key, took us to a locked cabinet and

60 MISHPACHA 5 Cheshvan 5772 | November 2, 2011 MISHPACHA 61 Pride of Piedmont ’ s Jews

opened it. Inside was a treasure trove of tefillin made according to the opinion pray, and not for tourists. Therefore, a Over the Coast When we were in Italy on a previous seforim and old documents, many writ- that such tefillin are kosher. new entrance has now been opened on “halachic adventure” researching the esrog industry, we learned ten on parchment, among which were The absolutely exquisite shul in Car- the other side of the building, and the about exciting developments taking place in Trani, and decid- some old illuminated kesubos. Next, we magnola is located on the top floor of original entrance has been sealed. ed to make the four-hour cross-country trek to witness these put our hands into the cabinet and pulled an 18th-century building. It features The recently restored Cherasco shul changes firsthand. out amazing objects that appeared to chandeliers from the 18th century, and classroom is located on the top floor What was happening in Trani? A veritable Jewish revolu- be round tefillin! These round, or more gold-leafed wood, and a magnificent of an otherwise nondescript building. tion, the significance of which is laced in its history. Trani is a precisely, cylindrical, tefillin are so dif- teivah from 1766. The community was This small Jewish community believed seaport on the southwestern coast of Italy in which, for most ferent from what we are used to seeing never large, reaching a maximum of in giving its children a general as well of the 12th and the first half of the 13th centuries, the Jews that they raise immediate questions. 171 members in the early 19th century, as a Jewish education, as evidenced by a enjoyed a measure of self-rule and governmental protection, The halachah states that all parts of and there are no longer any Jews in the most unusual 200-year-old globe found leading to a thriving Jewish quarter. By the end of the 13th tefillin must be perfectly square, but town, and so for many years the syna- in the classroom. century, however, the situation had deteriorated, leading to how precise must the square be? It is gogue remained abandoned and decay- The Torino Jewish community has confiscations, forced baptisms, and blood libels. Many Jews clear that there is no obligation to use ing. About 30 years ago the Turin com- undertaken the preservation of at least fled over the years, although for several centuries there re- a micrometer, but rather it must look munity undertook its restoration, and 16 shuls in the Piedmont area, along with mained a strong Neofiti (the name by which Italian Anusim square. Yet here were round tefillin. Just today it serves as a museum of even more cemeteries, and it is doing so were known) community alongside the vestiges of the Jew- a mere few generations ago, there was through which local tourists and school even as it struggles for its own survival. ish community. In 1510, the Jews were expelled from all of no way to shape thick cowhide and thus, children can learn about Judaism and The Turin Jewish old-age home has Puglia, Italy’s southern “boot heel” that includes Trani, and most tefillin were made from thinner the local community’s history. about two dozen residents, the majority the Jews left Trani entirely in 1541 because of a decree that sheep or goat skin. Perhaps, over time, Since we were accompanied by the of whom are Jewish. Its kitchen provides obligated them to choose between baptism or exile. Most of the tefillin wore down and what was left chief rabbi, we were granted a special kosher meals for shul functions and the Jews chose exile, fleeing to places such as Salonika and was what we were seeing? tour of the Carmagnola shul. Access to communal meals, such as the Friday Corfu. They left carrying memories of their city of origin as But there is a shocking alternative. the shul was originally via a staircase night dinner that we enjoyed together attested by the family name Mitrani, meaning “from Trani,” Commenting on the mishnah in Megillah on the side of the building facing the with members of the community and a not uncommon name in Israel. that seems to disqualify round tefillin, ghetto. When the Jews were permitted Israelis who are studying and working In 1290, four synagogues were confiscated and converted Tosafos make clear that only the base of to leave the ghetto, the egress to that in the thriving city. Although very few into churches. Two of these, Scolagrande and Scolanova, still the tefillin needs to be square and not the staircase was sold to a non-Jew, who of the community members actually stand, and for 700 years, these two majestic buildings — with entire bayis. This is a major debate among bought it with the understanding that keep kosher, there is an ice cream parlor the mezuzah space still in the door frames, the indentation in the Rishonim, but other significant au- Jews could pass through his property under kosher supervision. The Jewish the wall for the Torah scroll, and remnants of a mikveh in the thorities hold like this as well. Thus they on their way to shul. But when the com- school runs a day camp in the sum- basement — have born witness to the tragedy of Jewish life on held that as long as the stitching on the munity disappeared and tourists began mer that, when we visited, had about a Catholic continent. ollow the crowd... base is square, the bayis itself could be using it merely to visit the museum 15 kids, only one of whom was Jewish. Although Italy was freed from the shackles of the Church in 'Go with the cylindrical. The Jewish Encyclopedia shul, the descendants of that non-Jew Nonetheless, the bentsching out loud 1861, there was no way for a community to reconstitute itself in has such a picture of tefillin from 1725. barred access, arguing that the agree- compared favorably with that of any Trani or its neighboring towns — Jews hadn’t practiced Juda- eader! It could thus be that we were holding ment was only made to enable Jews to New York day camp. ism openly in southern Italy for well over 300 years. However, Neofiti Jews continued to practice their unique hidden brand - of religion in the region. The mini-miracle of Trani’s resurrec- Piedmont, the land of castles tion began with Professor Francesco Lotoro, a pianist and con- and vineyards ductor, who had been researching the music of concentration What was happening camps. In 1995, he founded the Orchestra Musica Judaica and in 2004, he and his wife, Grazia Tiritiel, o"cially converted to in Trani? A veritable Judaism through the Rome rabbinical court and began living Bringing you a fully observant Jewish life in Trani. We were privileged to the most value Jewish revolution meet them on our visit. for your money! After converting, the Lotoros approached the Trani munici- pality to request permission to use the Scolanova synagogue, which was no longer being used as a church and had been standing empty for the past 50 years. When their request was granted in BEDROOMS November 2005, they immediately assembled a group of Jews 718.438.1334 DINING ROOMS

to pray there and organized a community. As they entered the Calligraphix CUSTOM ancient building for the first time, they were dumbfounded to TABLES & CHAIRS see that in the niche where the ark had originally rested, there FREE BOOKCASES was a medieval oil painting of Mary. The Catholic Church re- BOOKCASE w/ purchase of fused to remove it, even if it would be preserved and displayed Bedroom & Dining Room Package Not to be combined in a museum, and as a protected historical site, it was prohib- with any other offer. Restrictions apply. ited for the nascent Jewish community to touch the painting.      !718.686.7421 6gZejiVi^dcWj^aidcHinaZ!FjVa^inHZgk^XZ 62 MISHPACHA 5 Cheshvan 5772 | November 2, 2011 MISHPACHA 63 Pride of Piedmont ’ s Jews

The local Jews turned to Rabbi Shalom He remembered his grandmother leaving Bahbout who in turn posed the question to former Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai church and kissing the spot where the Eliyahu ztz”l. He ruled that they could leave the picture in its place but were mezuzah should have been required to cover it with something appropriate, and until this day, a poster of the Menorah covers the painting and decorates the niche. The existence of the synagogue in Trani has reawakened Judaism in the region, and from the most unusual sec- tors. One group are the spiritual heirs of an uneducated non-Jewish, disabled World War I veteran from Sannicandro Garganico, a town north of Trani, who received a Bible from a Protestant chap- lain. That gift started him on an odyssey to observance of the written command- ments. He attracted a few dozen follow- ers who eventually converted, most of them moving to Israel and settling in Birya, near Tzfas. The descendants of some of those who remained behind have now started observing the com- mandments and have connected with the emerging Trani synagogue. In villages such as Asti, no expense was spared to bring in the most Rabbi Bahbout, founder and dean talented artisans of Beit Midrash Tifereth Yerushalay- im — the Italian Academy for Hebrew Studies in , and rabbi of the male was born, the family would go to The northern Italian communities Panzieri Fatucci Synagogue in Rome, the church and would get a special se- have seen their highs and lows in travels from Rome every two weeks to cret blessing from the Anus priest. He the last half millennium. Yet during teach classes in Trani. moved to Israel, formally converted to the eras of restriction and then of Some of the Neofitis, the Italian Judaism, and served in the IDF. He then emancipation, they managed to build Anusim, have joined the shul as well. returned to Trani to participate in the magnificent, exquisitely furnished, Avraham Zecchillo, a ger tzedek who rebirth of the Jewish community, while decorated structures. Most of those passed away just four months ago, his four children reside in Israel. When communities are now extinct, but related to us that he remembered his the government authorities prohibited their centuries of love for Judaism can grandmother leaving church and kiss- the removal of the bell tower that had still be seen through their religious ing the spot where the mezuzah should been added to the Scolanova during its artifacts, discovered so many decades have been. He also remembered a ritual years as a church, Zecchillo stealthily and centuries later. In hundreds of that faintly evoked a pidyon haben, in removed the cross from the top and years, what will people dig up in our which on the 30th day after a firstborn replaced it with a Magen David. synagogues? —

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