Synagogues in Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern Period

Chapter 10 Synagogues in Central and Eastern Europe in the Early Modern Period

Batsheva Goldman-Ida

To a great extent, Jewish life in early modern Europe revolved around a distinc- tion between the inner life of the Jewish minority and its broader interaction with the larger society. In Jewish thought, “the holy … is concealed and glowing within the dross.”1 This phenomenon is well expressed in the architecture of synagogues. The often fabulous interiors of wooden synagogues in the Polish-Lith- uanian Commonwealth (Fig. 10.1) were concealed from the street by plain exte- riors (Fig. 10.2). The tiered or hipped roofing may have provided an intimation of the domed interior to the professionally trained eye. According to Maria and Kazimierz (1919–2010) Piechotka: “Their powerful exterior forms, resulting from the external dimensions of the square main hall and the adaptation of the inner roof framework to accommodate mock vaulting, particularly as a series of suc- cessive roof-tiers, were reflected in their horizontal divisions, widely project- ing cornices and decoratively boarded friezes.”2 Yet, no part of the outer façade of the synagogue would have prepared the visitor for the fully painted interior. Jews, wary of antagonism, often kept exterior decoration to a minimum. Restrictions on the height of synagogues placed on Jews by the Christian authorities led, following medieval precedent, to the main floor being lowered to increase the height of the synagogue from within, with steps leading down from the entrance, a practice related to the verse from Psalms “I call to you from the depths, O Lord” (Ps. 130:1). For example, following an order from Rome dated July 13, 1743, the walls of the Carpentras synagogue were lowered from 14.63 to 12.80 m., so as not to overshadow the Church of the White Penitents and the Cathedral of St. Suffrein.3 Rabbinic sources assert that the synagogue

1 Gershom Scholem, “Sitra Ahra: Good and Evil in the Kabbalah,” On the Mystical Shape of the Godhead: Basic Concepts in the Kabbalah, tr. Joachim Neugroschel (New York: Schocken, 1991), 73. My thanks to David Cassutto, Sergey Kravtsov, Ilia M. Rodov and Vladimir Levin, who read the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions. 2 Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka, Heaven’s Gates, Wooden Synagogues in the Territories of the Former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Krupski I S-ka, 2004), 45–46. 3 I. Loeb, “Les Juifs de Carpentras sous le Gouvernement Pointifical,” Revue des Études Juives 12 (1886), 231–222, in Wischnitzer, European Synagogue, 72–73.

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Figure 10.1 Isidor Kaufmann, Portal of the Rabbis (entrance door and west wall, view from the prayer house, Gwoździec Synagogue, mid-17th century; polychromy: 1650–1729). Painting c. 1897/1898, Magyar Nemzeti Galeria, Budapest Photo: magyar nemzeti galeria should ideally be built higher than all the courtyards in the city (based on the proof text Prov. 1:21).4 In the ghettos of Italy, synagogues were built on the up- per stories of tenements as, for example, the Scuola Grande Tedesca (1529) in the Ghetto Nuovo. Their modest outer entrances gave no indication of the rich gilt Baroque decoration of the interior. In Central Europe, masonry synagogues were sometimes purposely hidden by courtyards or by other buildings. A synagogue in Dusseldorf designed by Peter Krahe and built by Peter Koehler in 1803, was entered through the vestibule of a residential building, a semi-circular court and a closed porch in the rear.5 The Jewish City Temple of Vienna, built in 1826 by Josef Georg Korn- häusel (1782–1860) was hidden as part of an apartment complex behind other buildings; the synagogue at Lunéville in 1785, was authorized by the king on

4 See Steven Fine’s article in this volume for a discussion of rabbinic sources. 5 See Wischnitzer, European Synagogue, 154–161.