Italy - Day 8 and 9 - Venice

Before we left Venice on Sunday night....

 On Monday morning, we left our hotel in Mestre on the mainland, for the short ten minute bus ride to Venice. It was overcast and threatening but the forecast indicated that it would clear up in the early morning and then be spotty the rest of the day.

We had been to Venice in 1984 and at that time had visited the Murano glass works, the shuls and the Ghetto. Back then there was no kosher restaurant and as far as we can remember no Chabad presence in Venice. This would be a visit after an absence of 32 years. It would be interesting to see how much we remembered and how different Venice would be be today from the way we remembered it. Here is a picture from our first visit. 

 

Back then, if I remember correctly, the only way to get to the 117 islands that make up Venice was by train or boat. The rail bridge that did connect the islands to the mainland was built in 1846. Surprisingly, when we went in the '80s, the causeway road that was built beside the rail line, which had opened in 1933, was already in existence. But I guess we did not know about it. 

Today busses using the 2.39 mile causeway, deposit thousands of tourists and workers at the Piazza Roma throughout the day. And from there you make your way throughout this city of 177 canals and 409 bridges, to explore one of the most tourist frequented cities in the world. 

Venice is part of the Patreve metropolitan area, encompassing the cities of Padua, Treviso and Venice, with a total population of 2.6 million people, with just 60000 of them living in the archipelago city of Venice. 

 Venice is Europe's largest urban car free area. Venice is unique in Europe, in having remained a sizable functioning city in the 21st century entirely without motorcars or trucks.

Even though this was a relatively quiet period of the year, there is always tourism here and wanting to explore a lot on foot rather than boat, we decided to get there early to beat the tourist traffic on the small meandering lanes and streets. 

Over the more than three decades since we last visited, it was clear to us that the tourism had become much more organized and developed. There were thousands of quaint little touristy shops lining the streets and the canals, and yes, all the big name shoppes had now discovered Venice. 

After a very busy week of visiting small towns and shuls in Piedmont, Verona and Padua and a couple of days touring around Lake Como, we decided that this day would be a day with no itinerary and no organized tours. We spent the entire morning walking through the lanes and shopping districts, slowly winding our way past the Rialto Market and the Rialto Bridge, towards Piazza San Marco, the tourist hub of Venice. 

 

This is how it looked in 1984

 

This vast square was constructed in the 9th century and was laid out in front of St. Mark's Basilica, which at the time was the small chapel of the Doge's Palace. Over the years the square was enlarged and important government buildings and other facilities central to the goings on in Venice were located here. 

The bell tower that stands 98.6 meters tall (323 ft) and is one of the city's most recognizable landmarks was originally built in the 9th century and the current version was rebuilt in 1912 after the original tower collapsed in 1902.

 

Besides tourists and important buildings, Piazza San Marco is best known for its pigeons. And we got to know them on our visit to this amazing square. 

 

 

 

The other thing that people like to do is to sit at a coffee shop or restaurant in the square and have a delicious Italian Cappucino while watching the other visitors to the square. We sat down to enjoy a well deserved Cappucino but when the waiter told us that the cost was 16 euro each, we decided that coffee, though very important, would have to wait. 

 

We took a vaparetto (water taxi) back in the direction of the ghetto and it was good to be off our feet and to enjoy the breeze and the sun.

We continued exploring and made our way back to the Jewish area for an early dinner at GamGam, the Chabad owned fleishig eatery. We had passed it earlier and it seems like it is constantly busy. The food was very good, and like the previous night, we ended up playing Jewish geography with a couple from London England, who, as it turned out had a son married to the daughter of a first cousin from Manchester. 

We then walked up to the kosher bakery and bought some pastry and cheese for the next morning, and outside the bakery met a couple from LA who were friends with the Korobkins. 

And then we bumped into two other couples with whom we had spent Shabbat in Sirmione and another couple who were traveling with their grandchildren and who were connected to a family from Toronto. 

As they say, it is a small Jewish world, or, if two Jews are talking and find that they are not somehow connected, then it is a sign that they have not talked long enough. 

 

 

It was a long and enjoyable day of shopping, walking, boating and good food and we slowly walked back to Piazza Roma and caught our two stop bus ride back Hilton Garden Inn, Mestre. 

The next morning, we left quite early for Piazza San Marco and before the crowds had gathered, we got speedy entry into the Doge's Palace.  It is one of the main landmarks in Venice and was the palace and residence of the Doge, the supreme authority when Venice was a republic. It was opened as a museum in 1923 and today is one of 11 major museums run by the city. 

 

We got in early and spent a couple of hours walking thru the vast grounds and huge meeting rooms that make up the palace. Unfortunately, the apartments were not open for viewing. 

 

 

We also toured the famous jails underneath the complex and the bridge of sighs, so called because it was from there that prisoners had their last view of civilization through the windows on the bridge before their incarceration. 

We returned to the mainland, packed up our things and began our lengthy drive up into the Dolomites, a mountain range located in Northeastern Italy that forms part of the Southern Limestone Alps. 

We had booked two nights in a boutique hotel in a town called Valdidentro just beneath the famous Stelvio Pass, which we will cover in the next post.

The view from our hotel in Valdidentro

 

All the best

Fran and David

Italy - Day 7 - Verona, Padua and Venice

On Sunday morning, after minyan at the kosher hotel, we set out for our first stop of the day, Verona, a short 30 minute drive away. We had spoken to the rabbi, Rav Yossi Labi, on Friday and he said that the ideal time for us to visit should we wish to see the shul, would be before 10 AM on Sunday, as he had meetings the rest of the day. And so we were on our way before 9 AM. 

As is the case in many of the shuls in these Italian towns, they are located in the gentrified old area of the city and that usually means "restricted driving zones" or in Italian "zona traffico limitato". One should be very aware that these exist as getting caught driving into these areas can mean very stiff fines. And so, once you see the sign (see below), look for parking outside this restricted area and proceed on foot. 

 GPS and even Waze does not distinguish between these areas and may prompt you to enter these areas in your car. Be careful (we speak from experience - $$$). The old cities are usually not too big and getting to your destination like the shul will not be difficult in most cases and besides, these villages are all quaint and worth strolling thru. 

We arrived in Verona and parked outside the restricted area and followed Waze to the address of the shul.

 While Jews only came to Verona in large numbers beginning in the 13th century, there are documents that indicate a small Jewish presence as early as the 6th century. As in many of the places that we visited, their profession was restricted to moneylending. They lived in the Jewish Quarter known as Viccolo Crocioni where there was a small synagogue. This area eventually became the Ghetto of Verona. They had to wear special articles of clothing such as a yellow hat or veil to identify themselves as Jewish. 

 

In the last half of the 19th century, the community reached its maximum, comprising over 1400 members, while today the numbers have dwindled to 100.

 The synagogue is a very large imposing structure occupying what looks like one square block in the center of town. Construction began in 1864, but the project was put on hold because of a lack of funds and was finally completed in 1929. The beautiful main facade of the shul is on Via Rita Rosani (named after a Trieste born Jewish woman who was the only Italian woman to have been killed in combat in the resistance against the Nazis). She left her profession as teacher to lead a resistance squad of 15 fighters. She was 24 years old. 

At the end of the street, there was a parked army vehicle with two soldiers on alert to ensure the safety of the community. We had been in Italy for a week and this was the first time that we had seen any security around a Jewish institution. 

 Rav Yosef Labi, who, together with his wife Chana and their young child, arrived in Verona two years ago, greeted us warmly and offered to give us a tour of the shul. It is one of the few shuls that we have visited on this trip that still has regular Shabbat services. It is a beautiful building, with a very tall spacious interior and many arches dominating the interior design of the shul. 

Rabbi Labi is originally from the Milano Chabad Community and he is working hard to maintain a Jewish presence in Verona. He has set up a Kosher shop in the shul to provide much needed supplies to residents as well as tourists, is conducting shiurim, and organizing Jewish life cycle events such as Pesach Sedarim, Purim and Chanukah parties etc. 

Another beautiful shul and this time, at least, one that was being used and seems to have a life. 

 Verona is a city of over 700000 people (metro population) and is made up of the old town and the newer town. There is a presence of remnants of Roman history evident as you drive around town and notice ancient monuments, statues and arenas. The ancient amphitheatre is the third largest in all of Italy. 

 

One of the things that Verona is known for is its connection to Shakespeare who set three of his plays in Verona; Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona. And so good marketing means that even though these plays are fiction, having Juliet's balcony located in downtown Verona, means heavy tourist traffic and substantial profits to owners of the property. The picture to the left is Fran below Juliet's balcony.

The balcony is close to one of the main squares which has a daily market, located within a two minute walk of the shul. The pedestrian - only area is filled with many visitors, who usually combine their visits with an evening at the opera, staged in the Roman Amphitheatre. The narrow streets surrounding the square are lined with cafes, restaurants and quaint boutiques. 

 

We enjoyed our visit to Verona and decided that if time would permit, we would return for a more leisurely stroll through the city.

We had to leave after touring the shul as we had an appointment to visit the ancient shul of Padua, just a 40 minute drive from Verona in the direction of Venice. 

   

The Jewish community dates back to the 13th century but real growth began in the mid -14th century when the University in Padua opened and became the first university in Europe to readily admit people of all faiths which included Jews. So this was a major attraction for Jews to make their way to Padua.

 

The shul is located in the old Ghetto area of the city, comprised of numerous narrow winding streets, once again in a restricted driving area. The former Ashkenazi or German shul built in 1682 was almost entirely destroyed by fascist gangs in WWII and was lovingly restored by the community after the war. It is now the site of the Museum of Jewish Padua. The museum contains many Judaica items and the text of the ketubah below caught my eye.

 

 It has a number of knowledgeable guides who will explain to you the collection of Judaica that fills the main hall which was the sanctuary of the old shul. 

You can also watch a film by Italian Director Denis Brotto entitled Dor Holech v'Dor Ba. In it, you get to meet 10 famous former citizens of Padua who speak to you in the film about the community, its customs, its history and their contribution to Jewish Padua. 

Included in the film are actors who play the roles of Rav Judah Mintz, Rav Meir Katzenellenbogen, Rav Isaac Abarvanel and Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto and narrate their roles from important locations in the Padua community such as the synagogues, the ghetto and the cemetery. 

 

The shul currently in use in Padua (picture above) is the Italian synagogue built in 1548. It is a long narrow room with the Aron Kodesh and the bimah facing each other halfway down its length. 

 

The unique bimah (above) or pulpit was carved from a single elm tree that once stood in the Botanical Garden in Padua and was struck by lightning. 

Here too, there is regular Shabbat minyan in this very small 170 member Jewish community. And the nussach is Italki specific to the area around Paduah. Take a look at the difference in the text on the Friday night davening.

 

We wanted to go to the cemetery which dates back to the 1500s and which contains the final resting places of Rav Meir Katzenellenbogen known as the Maharam Mi Padua and his son Rav Shmuel Yehuda. It is customary to visit the grave of a tzaddik, as the location is seen as the appropriate place to be inspired by the holiness of the tzaddik and therefore any prayers there will have enhanced levels of concentration and devotion. 

But while in Padua, we were told that one needed to make prior arrangements to gain access to the cemetery, and besides, it was pouring rain and as such, we elected to continue on our way to Venice. 

It was a short 30 minute drive to Venice. Rather than stay on the island itself, we opted to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mestre, on the mainland. Right outside our hotel was a bus stop and ten minutes later, you are dropped off at Piazza Roma, the main transportation depot in Venice. 

We unpacked and then we were off to Venice for dinner at the recently opened dairy restaurant Ghimmel Garden which is right in the main square of the Ghetto. 

When we arrived at Piazza Roma, it was clear and sunny and by the time we made our way over to the Ghetto, it was pouring rain. 

The menu at Ghimmel Garden features many specialties of the region and it was really a very good eating experience. And we had the chance to play one of our favorite games, Jewish Geography. Seated near us was a young couple from Israel, travelling thru Italy by RV with their twin 1 year old babies. When I asked them where their English was from, the husband said that his grandparents were from Windsor Ontario and when I asked for the family name, I told him that my finance professor in my MBA program at Windsor had the same name and that we taught a couple of kids in the Talmud Torah in Windsor with that last name. 

Well, his grandfather was my professor 45 years ago and we taught his cousins in the Cheder. Very small Jewish world, and now with Facebook and other social media, within minutes, we were in conversation with our former students telling them that we had met their family.

By the time we finished dinner, it had cleared up and we had a very pleasant leisurely walk back to the bus that took us back to the hotel and a well deserved good night's sleep on very comfortable Hilton Garden Inn beds. 

Next post will be Venice.

All the best

Fran and David

Italy Day 4 - Thursday on Lake Come, Italy

Before telling you about Lake Como, let me share with you an interesting fact about one of the Piedmont communities that we did not visit, Turin, or Torino, the capital and principal city of Piedmont.

As was told to us by our guide Baruch Lampronti, the Jewish Community of Turin today, in recognizing that the dwindling numbers have made it difficult to maintain a daily minyan, has adopted the practice of trying to have a minyan in shul every day of the week and they have come up with the novel solution of having a minyan for Monday morning, Tuesday mincha and Maariv, Thursday morning, Friday Kabbalat Shabbat and of course Shabbat morning and mincha/maariv. In this way, there is a tefillah service there at least once each day. How, you ask? Well the Maariv on Shabbat covers Sunday, the Maariv on Tuesday covers Wednesday and therefore on every day, there is at least one minyan in Turin. 

He also shared with us the fascinating story of the Mole Antonelliana, which totally dominates the skyline of Turin (see pic below).

It was originally designed in the 1860s to be the Great Synagogue of Turin and its name comes from its designer Antonio Antonelli (his parents must have had a great sense of humour)! It is the tallest unreinforced brick building in the world (ie; built without a steel girder skeleton underneath). But cost overruns, delays (begun in 1863 and completed in 1889!), a decline in the Turin's Jewish population and other factors caused the Jewish community to pull out of the project. They traded the project at a loss to the city of Turin for a piece of land upon which they built the present (not too shabby) Grand Temple of Turin, where services are still held "every day of the week"!

 

But I guess a full report on Turin will happen iy"h when we finally get to visit that city in the not too distant future (we hope). 

Now on to Lake Como.

We arrived in Lake Como on Wednesday night and we were staying in a small boutique hotel in the town of Lenno, strategically located on the western side of the lake about midway between Como at the southern end and Domaso at the northern end. We chose Lenno as it has boat service to Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio, three little villages that we wished to visit. 

The magic of Lake Como is the synthesis of crystal clear lakes surrounded by mountains that are filled with lush greenery and dotted with charming little villages. 

 

These villages began as fishing villages but now owe their existence to cafes, restaurants, shops featuring designer clothing and jewellery and many, many tourists. We were hoping that by coming here in late May/early June, that we would beat the tourist busy season and not be stuck in traffic jams and overloaded boats. 

The way to visit the villages is by boat and the excellent ferry service that shuttles tourists around runs on time and has a frequent schedule. There is some hiking to do as well as some gardens and old villas to visit, but we really just wanted to come and spend a relaxing day, enjoying a walk through the beautiful and well maintained villages of Lake Como. 

And if it is sunny, it can be a photographer's dream. The forecast was calling for sunny with cloudy periods and we were hoping that the cloudy periods would come between the wonderful "Kodak moments"!

 We mapped out a route of Lenno to Bellagio to Ravenna to Mennagio and back to Lenno, leaving by 10 AM and back by 5 PM. 

Of the three that we visited, we enjoyed Bellagio the most and while it clearly is the most visited, the crowds were light while we were there and we had the time and space to enjoy a leisurely walk through the town and the hills upon which it is built.

 
 

On Friday morning, we got the break we were looking for; a couple of hours of totally clear, sunny weather. We wanted to visit the Balcone d'Italia, the Balcony of Italy. We had read about this panoramic spot high atop Mount Sighignola, overlooking Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano in Switzerland, providing a breathtaking view of the entire region. And our good friends Josh and Liz Gordon had gone there and had confirmed that it was well worth seeing. But it had to be a clear day as any cloud cover could mean a long drive for nothing. 

For those who might do this drive, be aware that the phrase Balcone D'Italia does not appear on any signs on the roads to the site. The name of the mountain does appear and occasionally you see a sign telling you in Italian that you are on the road to a panoramic viewpoint, but unless you have a great map or Waze, you will never find this place. It is amazing to me that the local tourist board is not promoting this place and when you finally get there, there is no tourism infrastructure at all (which in many ways is great) and it is quiet, peaceful and no crowds (which makes this place heaven)! 

To get there you have to watch for the turnoff on the Como road to Argegno and then you begin climbing the mountain on narrow switchback roads for 21 Kms. That is a lot of driving and it will take you half an hour to reach the summit. Again, there are no signs telling you to turn right or left, so Waze it is! The ride is not difficult but it is mountain driving so you have to be careful. 

When you reach to top, you are at an altitude of about 4000 feet, which is high enough so that the view below is easily seen and it is not that high where everything inevitably becomes hazy. Our day was clear as can be and even so at this altitude, it was slightly hazy. 

But the view is beautiful. And as they say...it was well worth the drive to Balcone D'Italia. 

 

 

 We continued on our route to Sirmione which is at the southern end of another of Italy's Lake District, Lake Garda. Sirmione is a small town built on an isthmus into the lake. Just outside of town, right on the shore is a mehadrin kosher hotel, Hotel Olympic, which would be our base for our two shabbatot in the area. We are staying right next door to the hotel at Villa Onofria, a small condo apartment complex, which was recommended to us by our friends in Hashmonaim, Avi and Robin Schreiber. 

The hotel next door has a restaurant where you can get delicious pizza as well as other dairy and meat options during the week and for Shabbat you can have meals there, even if you are staying elsewhere in the area, and if desired, they provide prepared take out meals. They also have a small grocery carrying kosher basics. And when there are at least ten men staying there or in the area, there is a minyan. 

 Our Shabbat in the area was relaxing and enjoyable. We ate at the hotel on Friday night and at the apartment on Shabbat morning. We also enjoyed meeting a number of the other guests staying at the hotel. There were minyanim for Shabbat and Sunday morning and I davened and lained for the shul. At mincha on Shabbat, there were a number of Israelis at the minyan and because the Israel and diaspora laining is out of sync (due to the fact that the last day of Pesach in chutz la'aretz was a regular Shabbat in Israel), I was asked to lain the entire Parsha of B'chukotai as the mincha Torah reading, so that they would not miss a week of Torah reading when they returned to Israel during the week. There is a first time for everything. 

Sunday we are off to continue exploration of Italy's shuls in Verona and Padua and then it is on to Venice for a couple of days.

All the best and Shabbat Shalom to all

Fran and David

 

Italy - Day 3 - Wednesday and three more shuls in Piedmont

On Wednesday morning we left the hotel in Alessandria and headed north to the town of Casale Monferrato. 

At this point let me share with you our gradual entry into the 21st century and the recent acquisition of our first smart phone. On our trips so far, we have always used maps. I am a big believer that by using and consulting a map, you learn much more about your surroundings, you are aware of the geography and you develop an inate sense of the direction that you must turn to reach your destination. The robotic use of aids like Waze and GPS take away any of your own personal attachment to the act of navigation. As well, on many of our driving trips, we have taken a wrong turn and lo and behold have discovered something new that we never would have seen had we been prompted by "at the next roundabout take the third exit direction Milano"!

Prior to our recent trip to Japan, we knew that we would need Waze or some aid to get us in the right direction. No one speaks our language there and sure enough, we were able to do Japan as independent travelers primarily because of the acquisition of our iPhone. And so while I have resisted for long, I am now pleased to say that we appreciate what technology has brought to the table. 

On arrival in Italy, we went to Vodaphone in Milan to get our Italian Sim Card. It was an easy process and the agent said to us that in a couple of hours we would get a text message indicating that our service had been activated. Two hours later we were in our hotel in Alessandria and the text message arrived saying that we had used all our credits and that we needed to refill....and we had not yet used the iPhone at all. We called the service centre and got a recording in Italian. And so we asked Baruch to try to help and he spoke with an agent who said that it appeared that no credits had been registered on our account in the office in Milan, and since we were going to Milan on Wednesday evening, we would do without our Waze on Wednesday and get the Sim Card problem fixed that evening in Milan.

So Wednesday morning we are off to Casale Monferrato, a short 32 km. drive, following the map that I still carry with me. We have lots of time, we think, until we pay our toll entering the Autostrade and then see that the ramp going west (which we needed) was closed to all traffic because of an accident. Thankfully, we had a map, and thankfully, I still look at the overall route and instinctively headed in another direction to get to Casale. And so because of all the backtracking we arrived at our destination (where we had a local synagogue guide waiting for us) 30 minutes late and yes, had we had Waze, it likely would have led us in the right direction straight from the hotel. The lesson: always carry your smart phone but always look at a map as well. 

When we arrived in Casale, we parked outside the old city as driving in that area is restricted. We proceeded on foot based on a little map that someone outlined for us near the place where we parked. One of the things that we noticed in our first two days here is that there is very little signage in these towns indicating the presence or location of the synagogue. We were also worried that showing up 30 minutes late would mean that we would find the shul locked and our guide who we were supposed to meet would have left by now.

Well, surprisingly, when we got there the door was open and there was a school group inside. In fact, this was the first shul that seemed to have regular hours for tours; open most days of the week etc. And when we walked inside and saw the main sanctuary, the only word that we could think of was AWESOME! This was one of if not the most beautiful shul that we have seen.  

 

The room looks like it has been painted in gold. It is a very tall rectangular room, illuminated by 7 windows and gold plated chandeliers. 

 

To give you perspective as to the massive size of the shul, look for me in the next picture. 

 

The walls, painted in gold, cobalt blue and white are covered with two levels of inscriptions which are framed in intricately carved stucco frames painted in gold. The upper level commemorates historical events that affected the city and its Jews, while the lower level recognizes contributions to the synagogue. On the upper level and on the third level are gold framed grates which allow women in the Ezrat Nashim to see what is occurring in the shul below.

 

The ceiling is beautifully painted to read "this is the gate of heaven".

 

The former women's gallery is now used as a museum of Jewish life and many local school groups make their way to this small town to learn about Judaism.

Casale Monferrato's Jews came in the 16th century and established themselves as moneylenders, jewellers, grain merchants, fabric dealers and spice merchants. Over time, it became a major center of Jewish life in Piedmont. When other areas gradually imposed restrictions on Jews, Casale was free of those restrictions. It's greatest Jewish population was 850 in the mid 1800s and now there are 8 Jews who actually live in Casale. 

The synagogue which is recognized as a national monument of Italy was built in 1595 and while it is no longer used for regular services, it occasionally has a minyan for Pesach and the high holidays and is often used for weddings. 

 

While we were there the chuppah frame was being prepared for a wedding later that day. It is on a very small street and originally was designed so that it was not recognizable as a shul from the street. Today there is a sign outside indicating that it is a synagogue. 

David and Rebecca Leibowitz had told us that while in Casale we should go to the kosher bakery and taste the vanilla shortbread cookies that are manufactured in town. We expressed surprise that in a town with no Jews there could be a kosher bakery. And so we asked our guide in the shul if it was true and he had one of the local residents escort us to the bakery. 

 

 

The cookies are called Krumiri Rossi and they are the only product baked in this small bakery in town. We met the owner and after giving us a copy of the teudah, he graciously offered to give us a tour of the operation. 

 

The only cookie he makes is made from flour, sugar, eggs and vanilla. It is actually extruded on a little cookie extrusion machine, very similar to the plastic extrusion machinery that I knew so well during my career in the plastics industry. Quite delicious and quite amazing.

It was time to drive to our second stop in Vercelli, 30 Kms. away. I had read in my research that Vercelli would be a surprise since the community had never numbered more than 400 to 500 Jews and they had clearly built something so large that all the Jews in town plus many guests could be comfortably seated. But I had no idea what would await us when we turned down the small street housing the shul.

 

It was massive, cathedral like, with a facade of grey and white stone, tall towers at the corners and topped by onion domes that reminded me of some of the "duomos" or cathedrals that we had seen in cities like Florence, Rome, Milan and other European cities. Clearly impressive but cold looking. And when we were ushered inside by Sara, the local non Jewish custodian, the feeling of coldness just increased. It was truly impressive, huge, tall, massive and any other adjective that connotes largeness. But unlike the warmth, the neshama, and the inspired feelings that we felt as we walked into each of the previous six shuls, this one left us feeling cold.  It might have been the lack of colour or just the size, but we both had the same feeling. 

 

Jews first came to Vercelli in the 1400's. In 1601, a prayer room was established and as the community grew, the community acquired property belonging to local monks and the first shul was established. The present synagogue, located on a small street in the old city, was built in 1878. It took four years to build because of size and the cost of the project. It was designed by Marco Treves, an architect born in Vercelli who also designed the Great Synagogues of Florence and Pisa. 

 

Those who designed and implemented the construction likely envisioned the growth of the Vercelli community. However,  emancipation in the mid 1800s brought migration and assimilation and by the 1930s less than 300 Jews remained in Vercelli with a shul that could not be supported by the community. Eventually, the synagogue was in a very dilapidated condition and abandoned. 

In the early 2000s, a group of local citizens led a drive and raised money to restore the synagogue. The work is ongoing. The only regular event held in the shul these days is an annual public address featuring one of the rabbis from Milan and the local Bishop. We were told that this draws a crowd.

We left feeling very sad. An amazing building with no one left to fill it.

Back on the road to our final shul of the day in Biella, 49 Kms. northwest of Vercelli. We were told by Baruch Lampronti that we would meet Pietro who would be our guide in Biella and we were also told that he was a volunteer guide. We were not sure what that meant.

When we entered the city, we were not sure how to get to the shul. So we stopped at the tourist info booth and were informed that the shul was in the upper city which could be accessed either by a funicular railway from the lower town, or by driving around the back of the town and then driving up a steep road to access the city. We chose the latter. 

After parking, we began walking up the steep very rough cobblestone path in the direction that we were given by the info booth. After walking 50 metres, we saw a man waiting for us, wearing a kippah and with tzitzit hanging out of his shirt. We figured this must be Pietro. He greeted us with a very happy smile and welcomed us warmly. 

 

Once agin, from the outside it looked like any other house on the street. But after entering a hallway and climbing to the top level of the three storey structure, we entered the shul. 

 

This one was very small, had a circular wooden bimah in the centre and an ornately carved greenish wooden Aron in the front. There was a small women's section in a balcony facing the Aron. 

 

There are records of Jews living in Biella in the 1300s, with the maximum Jewish population reaching 100 in the 1800s. The shul dates back to the 1700s. The most famous Jewish citizen of Biella is Camillo Olivetti of the famous typewriter and computer Olivettis. He is buried in Biella's Jewish cemetery. 

Today, there are 6 Jews living in Biella, three men and three women. I remarked that it was odd to see someone from such a small town wearing a kippah and Tzitzit whereupon Pietro began to tell us his remarkable story which left us awestruck.

 

He had not found out until he was 23 that his maternal grandfather was Jewish and from that point on had some interest in learning more about Judaism. It was a long journey with many challenges and with much intense learning about Judaism, but finally last year, some 30 years after his discovery, he travelled to Israel to the Bais Din in Efrat and formally converted. And so, as I joked with him, where else in the world can you go and find 33% of all the males in a city who are not only Jewish but Shomer Shabbat and Shomer Torah UMitzvot? 

He spoke about the shul and about his involvement in Jewish life and how against all odds in this remote city, he continues to be Shomer Shabbat and kashrut. It brought tears to his eyes and to ours and he was truly an inspiration to us with his dedication, devotion and immense love of Judaism and Jews. And when I spoke to him as Pietro, he gently said, I am no longer Pietro, I am Eitan and I worked very long and hard to earn my new name, my Jewish name. 

He then told us about the treasure that the shul in Biella owns, the oldest kosher Sefer Torah in existence today. 

See the following Times of Israel article:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/oldest-torah-scroll-still-in-use-found-in-italy/

After carbon dating the Sefer Torah, it was certified to be from the 1200s and it was subsequently checked by a sofer and declared kosher. 

 

There was a gala hachnosat Sefer Torah in the shul in March of this year. 

 

When I asked him where the Torah was currently, he told me that the shul in Vercelli has it safely stored in a bank vault, something that definitely disturbed Eitan who felt that such a treasure is the property of the entire Jewish people and should not be kept as a museum piece in a vault; it is meant to be used and should be. 

We left the shul completely amazed by our encounter with this wonderful person, who exudes Ahavas Torah, Ahavas Hashem and Ahavas Yisrael. He was truly an inspiration. We hope that our paths cross again soon.

How do we sum up the day? The majesty of Casale Monferrato, the emptiness of Vercelli and the rebirth of Judaism in our new friend Eitan. Once again very mixed feelings and once again, pleased that we had made the effort to do this trip.

After returning to Milan and getting the SIM card problem sorted out, we rewarded ourselves with a very nice dinner at Re Salamone in Milan and then drove to our next location in Lenno on the shores of Lake Como.

Our report of Thursday's activities will be on the beauty of Lake Como and the surrounding area. 

All the best

Fran and David