How this 650-year-old French synagogue withstood centuries of anti-Semitism – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Posted By simmons on July 17, 2017
Women from the Jewish community of Carpentras chatting while preparing for Shabbat at the towns synagogue, July 7, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz )
CARPENTRAS, France (JTA) The synagogue in this Provence town is Western Europes oldest functioning Jewish house of worship and one of theprettiest on the continent.
The Synagogue of Carpentras, which this year is celebrating its 650th anniversary,has a Baroque-style interior and a gold-ornamented hall with a blue domed ceiling. The rabbis pulpit is, unusually, on a balcony that overlooks the pews and the Torah ark the work of thenon-Jews who built the synagogue in a Christian style in the16th century atop its earlier structure, which was first established in 1367.
Most impressive of all is that the synagogue is housed withina larger building that once functioned as an ancient Jewish community center of sorts. The space boasts spectacular facilities, including a 30-foot-deep ritual bath, or mikvah, fed by turquoise waters from a natural spring, another heated bath, a kosher abattoir and a bakery with large ovens that burned year round.
Yet the architects did their best to conceal the buildingssplendor. The small, wooden front door is buta drab opening in a simple facade that unlikeEuropes other majestic synagogues does not even hint at the bling inside.
The juxtapositionbetween the majestic interior and basic exterior is theresult of French Jewrys long-held desire to celebrate its greatness without attracting too much attention.
A view of the Synagogue of Carpentras, July 7, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
The Synagogue of Carpentras is, to French Jews today, a testament to that conflicted sentiment and tangible proof of their deep roots in a country where many of them nonetheless feel they are treated as outsiders.
At a time when on some streets in France people are shouting Jews, get out, France is not yours, the Synagogue of Carpentras and its 650th anniversary are proof of just how deep our roots run here, CarineBenarous, the communications officer of the Fleg Jewish Community Center in Marseille, 80 miles south of Carpentras, told JTA last week.
Benarous was referring to a slogan that shocked many in France in 2014, when the media reported its use at anti-Israel protests in several cities.
In May,the chief rabbi of France, Haim Korsia whom many French Jews treat with the kind of adoration typically reserved for rock stars traveled more than six hours from Paris tospend Shabbat with the Carpentras Jewish community of 125 members. Alongside a regional archbishop, an influential imam and other rabbis from across the Provence region, Korsia also attended a ceremony marking the 650th anniversary.
Here we acknowledge how deeply our history and our roots are anchored in the soil of France, he said, noting that a Jewish presence has been documented in Provence since the first century.
In his speech, Korsia recalled a different slogan one used several times by Frances former prime minister, Manuel Valls, following a wave of terrorist attacks on Jews. Valls had said that without Jews, France isnt France.
The Synagogue of Carpentras, Korsia said, is proof of that.
Meyer Benzecrit, the president of the Jewish community of Carpentras, delivering a speech at the towns synagogue, May 28, 2017. (Courtesy of the municipality of Carpentras)
I still have goose bumps from his speech, said Franoise Richez, a Carpentras Jew who gives tours of the synagogue.
But Carpentras, she added, is also a testament to the long and, unfortunately, unfinished history of anti-Semitism.
Carpentras was one of only four locales in present-day France where Jews were allowed to stay even after the Great Expulsion of French Jewry, decreed by King Philip IV of France in 1306, according to Ram Ben-Shalom, a historian and lecturer at theHebrew University of Jerusalem specializing inthe Jewry of Provence.
Jews were allowed to live in closed, guarded and crowded ghettos, known as carrieres, in Carpentras, Avignon, Cavaillon and LIsle-sur-la-Sorgue because these locales in Provence were on lands owned by the pope, who took in Jews in exchange for payment. Additionally, he said, Jews were made to wear distinctive clothing, often a cape.
As for the synagogues serving the carrieres, they were designed by Christians because the Jews were only allowed to work as traders or moneylenders, according to Yoann Rogier, a guide at the Synagogue of Cavaillon, which was built in 1494 but now functions as a museum of the towns historic Jewish population, its door frames lacking a mezuzah.
As such, in both Carpentras and Cavaillon, congregants must turn their backs to the Torah ark if they want to face their rabbi, and vice versa. (In most synagogues, the rabbis pulpit sits on a bimah, or platform, situated in front of the ark or in the middle of the sanctuary.) To read from the Torah, the rabbis of both synagogues had to carry the Torah scroll up to their balcony. The Cavaillon synagogue still has a portable ark with wheels for this purpose.
Despite the imperfect circumstances, the Jews of Carpentras ingeniously turned their synagogue into a labyrinthine community center, making maximum use of the limited space allotted to them thanks to partitions, underground passages and interior courts that offered facilities for every aspect of Jewish life. The synagogue complex even had a special matzah bakery.
Gilberte Levy, another member of the Carpentras Jewish community, is among the many local Jews who can trace their lineagenearly to the year that the synagogue was established.
They call me the communitys Brontosaurus, she said, laughing.
To Richez, whose husband is descended from a Jewish family forced to convert to Christianity in Spain during the Inquisition, the Carpentrassynagogue shows that despite everything, we prevailed, she said.
Yet Carpentras also is symbolic of more recent struggles for French Jews.
Franoise Richez talking about the ritual bath, or mikvah, of the Jewish community of Carpentras, July 7, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
In 1990, it saw one of the worst cases of anti-Semitic vandalism in France after the Holocaust: Neo-Nazis smashed dozens of tombstones in the ancient graveyard. The incidentpredated the current wave of anti-Semitic violence that is causingmany thousands of Jews to leave France and was particularly shocking.
Today, Carpentras is one of the few active synagogues in France without army protection. Unlike most French synagogues, visitors may enter without first undergoing a security inspection. While this is good for tourism, the important thing is that the tourism stops at 6 p.m. and this returns to being an active Jewish synagogue, said Richez, a mother of two. We dont want to end up with just a museum, like in Cavaillon.
There used to be more incidents, anti-Semitic shouts and such around the synagogue, Richez added, but matters improved after the municipality closed the synagogues street to vehicles.
All in all, she said, I think were pretty privileged here.
More here:
- Soho Rep. Gala Evacuated After Building's Support Beam Cracks [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Synagogue textile stolen by Nazis returns to Czech Republic after it was discovered in US [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Synagogue seeks court sanctions against Jewish groups [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Synagogues, Shuls & Temples - Home | Jewish Virtual Library [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Hundreds flee historic synagogue after column cracks [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- 2014 03 29 Islam Is A Joke - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Jewish Rabbi Against Anti-Muslim Preaching in Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Man brutally beaten by NYPD for sleeping on a couch in a synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Gospel of Jesus Shared in Israel Synagogue! - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Cops Beat Man Asleep in Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- A Rabbi, A Synagogue in Israel, & THE GOSPEL! - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Fouilles la Synagogue de Thann - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- No 6 La Synagogue de Capernaum - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Purim Spiel @ Beit Shofarot Messianic Synagogue 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- TRIBECA SYNAGOGUE GALLERY - Lisa M Zilker - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Russian Protestants sings so beautifully in the synagogue at Masada, Israel - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- Synagogue of jerusalem the law walter veith - Video [Last Updated On: April 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 1st, 2014]
- DOB: Former Synagogue Forced to Evacuate Monday Will Remain Vacant for Now [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Church restores Cape Girardeau synagogue after years of abandonment [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Synagogue Sponsors Smashing Walnuts Walk-A-Thon Sunday [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Cantor Haim Ischakis sings Psalm 130 in the Synagogue of Ioannina, Greece - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Myanmar's last synagogue becomes a top tourist attraction - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Cantor Haim Ischakis sings Psalm 14 in the Synagogue of Ioannina, Greece - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Cantor Haim Ischakis sings Psalm 121 in the Synagogue of Ioannina, Greece - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Dohony Synagogue Tour Guide Budapest Hungray - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Dohony Synagogue Tour Guide Budapest Hungary - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Who is the Synagogue of Satan??? - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- A Rabbi, A Synagogue in Israel & THE GOSPEL! - Video [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2014]
- Brooklyn's Congregation Beth Elohim Lays Off 12 Amid Fiscal Crisis [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- Mosque, synagogue partner for Inn From the Cold community meal [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- Cantor Haim Ischakis sings Psalm 83 in the Synagogue of Ioannina, Greece - Video [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto's New York Synagogue Faces Foreclosure [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- Derek Korff-Korn, You Raise Me Up, Park East Synagogue Part 2 - Video [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- The Mosaic Zodiac of Zippori Synagogue - Galilee Israel - Video [Last Updated On: April 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 3rd, 2014]
- Bloomfield Synagogue Welcomes Hungry To Seder Meal [Last Updated On: April 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 5th, 2014]
- Elizabeth and Paul's Ezra Bessaroth Synagogue Wedding - Video [Last Updated On: April 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 5th, 2014]
- pt2 Who is the Synagogue of Satan??? - Video [Last Updated On: April 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 5th, 2014]
- mosque and synagogue side by side in paramaribo- surinam - Video [Last Updated On: April 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 5th, 2014]
- CONCERT REVIEW: The Internet at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 6th, 2014]
- Derek Korff-Korn, You Raise Me Up Part 1, Park East Synagogue Dinner Kick Off Party - Video [Last Updated On: April 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 6th, 2014]
- Rabbis Issue United Call To Establish Synagogue On Temple Mount! - Video [Last Updated On: April 7th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2014]
- La Jolla synagogue exec guilty of fraud [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2014]
- Radlett synagogue given defibrillator by bridge club donations [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2014]
- Shul shopping for a Tampa synagogue? [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2014]
- Anti-Semitic Salute: French court convicts Moroccan for quenelle salute outside synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2014]
- How to Say or Pronounce Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 8th, 2014]
- Jewish congregation keeps century-old schoolhouse alive [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Ex-synagogue leader faces 20 years for embezzlement [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Neighbors: Northbrook synagogue violates city code [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Ex-synagogue head admits to embezzlement [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Former official at La Jolla synagogue admits theft [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Jesus in Nazareth synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- New archaeological excavations below the Ohel Yitzchak Synagogue (Muslim Quarter, Jerusalem) - Video [Last Updated On: April 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 9th, 2014]
- Judge rules synagogue services can be held in North Dallas home [Last Updated On: April 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2014]
- pt3 Who is The Synagogue of Satan? & It's Covered By Witchcraft!!! - Video [Last Updated On: April 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 10th, 2014]
- AJN TV: Orphaned Land: 'A big synagogue of rock and roll' - Video [Last Updated On: April 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 11th, 2014]
- Conflict in the Synagogue // - Video [Last Updated On: April 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 12th, 2014]
- Synagogue a spiritual respite on St. Thomas [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2014]
- More from the Synagogue. - Video [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2014]
- The Way of Yah Synagogue: Bro Brandon Impromptu performance - Video [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2014]
- Synagogue lawsuit - Video [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2014]
- Jewish Wedding at Western Marble Arch Synagogue & Renaissance St Pancras | Bloomsbury Films - Video [Last Updated On: April 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 14th, 2014]
- Passover brings hope and renewal [Last Updated On: April 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2014]
- Central Synagogue - Pesach: Go Down Moses - Friday, April 11th, 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2014]
- Judge Rules Synagogue Services Can Be Held In Dallas Home - Video [Last Updated On: April 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2014]
- La Grande Synagogue de Budapest - Hongrie - Video [Last Updated On: April 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 16th, 2014]
- Man pleads guilty to shooting at Salt Lake City synagog [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2014]
- Salt Lake man pleads guilty to 2012 attack on synagogue [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2014]
- The Way of Yah Synagogue: Bro Duval performs "Yah you are my Nutrition". - Video [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2014]
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin - Shabat HaGadol Drasha - Jerusalem Great Synagogue April 12 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 17th, 2014]
- Join Us for Earth Day 2014: Learning to "Green" Your Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 18th, 2014]
- A Whole Heart: Living in the New Testament Synagogue - Video [Last Updated On: April 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 18th, 2014]
- Church and synagogue share sacred traditions [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2014]
- Keneseth Eli Yahoo Synagogue, Mumbai, India - Video [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2014]
- Ukrainian synagogue firebombed [Last Updated On: April 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 21st, 2014]
- 2014 04 18 F.U.B Concubine of Bethlehem-judah Parallels With Yeshua - Video [Last Updated On: April 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2014]
- 2014 04 17 F.U.B The Greater Light Rules The Day - Video [Last Updated On: April 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2014]
- 2014 04 17 F.U.B The Lamb Is The Light Thereof - Video [Last Updated On: April 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 22nd, 2014]
- Tampa Conservative synagogue Mekor Shalom celebrates move to new space [Last Updated On: April 23rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 23rd, 2014]
Comments