Kol Kehillat Kernow 06 09.FH11
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KolKol KehillatKehillat KernowKernow Voice of the Jewish community in Cornwall Issue 15 kehillatkernow.com Elul 5766/September 2006 Summer visitors: liturgy, lecture and Limmud Harvey Kurzfield Elkan Levy, co-director of the United Synagogue Office for Small Communities, together with his wife Celia, visited our community for the weekend of 22nd July 2006. Elkan conducted the Friday night service at Milton & Glorias Harvey Kurzfield and Elkan Levy admiring the ark. This was donated by Estelle Moses, who house using the liturgy from the Singer prayer had it made up by a cabinet-maker to a design by Anne Hearle. Anne also added the Hebrew inscription, which translates as Open my heart to wisdom and understanding and made book, reawakening many memories for those the curtains which depict the stone tablets. brought up in the Orthodox tradition. Elkans enthusiasm really engaged those present and On Sunday, Elkan delivered our annual lecture book shop which elicited a great deal of interest the service was enjoyed by all. Members were at Carnon Downs Village Hall. Leslie had and generated excellent sales. also presented with copies of the The Song submitted a notice of this event to the Coracle, Elkan delivered his lecture, Cromwell and the and Spirit of Shabbat CD, a booklet for the Truro Cathedrals newsletter to all churches in rabbi with a terrific sense of drama so that Grace after Meals service and a What Will Cornwall, and this brought a welcome influx you almost felt as if you were viewing events You Do? booklet subtitled 48 things you can of visitors to the event. as they actually happened. The lecture covered do to make a difference from the Jewish Prior to the lecture Elkan and Celia set up a the events which Continued on page 3... Responsibility Project. The next morning, Elkan joined Harvey in leading our Shabbat service from the RSGB siddur. and presided over the Thats not all... Bat Mitzvah of Natalie Rose. The congregation, including many Rose relatives from various transliterations and notes on the origins of parts of the UK, much enjoyed Elkans the prayers. Feminists will be glad to see presentation and the Kiddush/ lunch the inclusion of our mothers (Imoteinu) afterwards. Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah to accompany the familiar Avoteinu in many of the prayers. David brought down thirty copies Lots more inside, of the new siddur for the communitys use Lots more inside, and talked about the revision process and including...including... how our own comments can influence the new format. On 22nd David took the Shabbat service, Erev Shabbat hosted by Gloria and Milton Venice Jews 1K ............2 Jacobson (front left). Others LgR: Tony and interlaced with much extra information and Mari Woods, Liesl Munden, Harvey Kurzfield, interpretation, and on Sunday morning Animal SacrificE..........3 Hannah and David Jacobs. Hannah Jacobs led an interesting and informative chavruta session at Pat and Suite Book....................4 A month later we were delighted to welcome Leslies house. This gave rise to a terrific David and Hannah Jacobs from Finchley for discussion, much of which centred on the Letters.........................5 what was billed as a mini-Limmud weekend. problems facing Israel now and in the future. David is the Director for Small Synagogues Thanks to Gloria and Milton for their warm Sudoku ..........................6 and works at RSGB Headquarters at the hospitality over the two Friday night services Sternberg Centre in North London. His wife and to Gloria especially for her deliciously Designed and printed by Noah Hearle. Hannah currently works for Jewish Care. tasty Shabbat meals. Thanks also to Pat and Phone: 01273 888898; David led a Friday Night service at Milton Leslie for their hospitality on the morning of and Glorias house using the new RSGB Siddur, 23rd July, where our lovely lunch matched web: www.designextreme.com. which features innovations such as Hebrew Need: newsletter/website/sudoku? Contact me. the gorgeous weather! Do you want to share your Kol Kehillat Kernow?Kernow? Visit: kehillatkernow.com/newsletter for an online version of the newsletter! 2 September 2006 Kol Kehillat Kernow Venetian Jewry: over 1,000 years old and thriving Pat Lipert place now, despite its turbulent and deprived past. One feels a The square of the Jewish Ghetto in Venice is sense of belonging to something an area of remarkable calm containing as it larger and greater than ones does three synagogues discretely tucked away self. so that only those who worship here would Jews have lived in Venice in one know where they were. From the Piazza, one form or another for over a would have to look for five arched, first storey thousand years. Their mer windows to symbolise the Five books of Moses, chants and travellers preceded to detect where they are. Some small shops Marco Polo. (Read The City of selling Jewish articles of faith and the ubiqui Light by Jacob DAcona for a tous tourist mementoes are embedded in the sense of this time period). De walls of buildings on two sides of this square. spite many attempts to dispel Opposite that a plaque is dedicated to Jews, it was the Venetian Giuseppe Jona, the president of the Jewish commercial sense which al community who on 16 September 1943 com lowed the Levantine merchants mitted suicide rather than turn his people in and Ashkenazi moneylenders to when the Nazi deportations began. On the be tolerated. By 1385, the other side in bas relief are two monuments Jewish presence was firmly by the Lithuanian artist, Arbit Blatas, called established when licenses to Synagogue building in the Ghetto. Jewish people knew this was a house of worship because the five windows on the Shoah and The Last Train, dedicated to those lend money were given out. second storey represent the five books of Moses. victims who were murdered during the war. When times became less stable, It is a quiet, reflective kind of place accessible Jews were restricted from conducting business Sara Copio Sullam. There were 5,000 people to specific hours, made to wear yellow circles living in this crowded place. When the Plague sewn to their clothing and to wear caps first arrived in 1630-31, the compacted community of yellow, then of red. In 1516 the first ghetto was hard hit. Mass Jewish graves can be found was established: the island of Ghetto Novo, at the Lido cemetery. A new, larger Ghetto guarded by Christian gatekeepers and paid was established shortly thereafter, the Ghetto for by the Jewish community. Except for Novissimo. becoming a medical doctor, the only occupa With more hard times in subsequent years, tions open to Jews were in second-hand trad and the decline of Venice, deprivations in the ing, money lending, and limited Hebraic Jewish community also ensued. In later cen publishing. turies, Jews began to live outside the Ghetto, Wealthier Levantine (Sephardic) Jews arrived and today, the Jews of Venice contribute a at this time, besides the Italian and German great deal to the educational, cultural and Jews already living in the Ghetto. Conditions commercial aspects of the city. In the original became so crowded that the building of the ghetto, only a couple of Jewish families re worlds first tenements began. When you cant main. The three old synagogues (connected build out, you build up. Each group had its through indoor passages for reasons of security Pat standing by one of the two iron bridges own synagogue with individualistic decoration in more perilous times) are only used about which sealed the Ghetto off from the rest of inside. By the 17th century, Venetian Jewry once a year for particular holidays, while the city. has reached its peak of influence, not only in other synagogues outside the ghetto are reg still by two bridges which kept the Jews of the commercial sense but, as would be typical, ularly used. A museum and informative guided the 17th century contained within the foun in the scholastic, musical, theatrical, and tours, along with the chance to meet many dry, the name from which the word Ghetto literary sense. It was here that rabbis such as other Jews from various parts of the world in derives. It is an island within an island, once Leone da Modena, and Simone Luzzatto the friendly cafes, make a visit to this part of a city within a city. It is a consoling, protective worked and wrote, along with the poetess, Venice a priority. Recipe: Rosh Hashanna Vegetable Dish Pat Lipert ½ lb (250 grams) of chickpeas, soaked in water Cook(steam) for a few more minutes. Stir. Add overnight salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot. Delish! With the High Holidays coming, its always nice 3 large tomatoes, seeded, peeled and chopped to have a new dish to serve. This is an old 1 ½ lbs (750 grams) of fresh or frozen chopped Sephardic recipe from Claudia Rodens spinach cookbook, The Book of Jewish Food. It is perfect 1 jar of red roasted pepper (drained of its for vegetarians and symbolic of the New Year olive oil), chopped as green vegetables represent a wish for joy Salt and Pepper to taste and new beginnings, and beans have been a sign Sauté the onion, garlic and coriander in the of plenty and abundance since Biblical times. sunflower or olive oil until soft. Add the roasted What could be a better tikkvah for 5767! pepper, drained chickpeas, and tomatoes. Cook 2 large onions, chopped gently (simmer), for an hour, adding more tomato 1 clove of garlic, minced juice or water if things dry out a bit.. After boiling 2 tablespoons of sunflower or olive oil and squeezing most of the water out of the 4-5 sprigs of coriander finely chopped spinach, place on the chickpea-tomato mixture.