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JEWISH LIFE
IN VENETO AND FRIULI-VENEZIA-GIULIA

June 25-July 5, 2012
    Led by Professor Yom Tov Assis and Shalom Sabar, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem


Photographer: Yehoshua Weidhorn

Jewish life in Italy was concentrated in the southern part of the Italian Peninsula and in Sicily until late in the Middle Ages. North of Rome Jewish life was practically non-existent until the 14th century. A major factor for the settlement of the Jews in northern Italy, including the Veneto area, was the Jews' ability to provide credit to the general population. A later factor was the deterioration of the conditions in the south. The beginnings of the Jewish communities in the Veneto area was due to the condotte granted to rich Jews to settle there on condition they provided credit to the population. The new conditions attracted Jews of different backgrounds: Italian, Apulian, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Levantine. This variety of backgrounds is reflected in the unique communal system that developed whereby side by side there existed different congregations that were independent, with their distinct traditions and rituals. In the communities in the Veneto area there developed a very rich Jewish culture with rabbinic scholarship that reached a very high level of expertise and sophistication and at the same time an exciting and fascinating involvement in the Renaissance cultural efflorescence. The result was a unique type of Jewish culture that enriched immensely the Jewish cultural legacy.   

 

Monday June 25	Arrival in Venice and transfer to hotel in Padua, a city with a wealth of art treasures and famous for one of Europe's oldest universities. Late afternoon: One hour orientation in the hotel. PADUA
Tuesday June 26	Lecture: Venice, the Republic of Venice and the Jews, Y. Assis Lecture: Italiani, Ponentini and Tedeschi - The Magnificent Ketubbot of the Veneto, S. Sabar Tour Padua with its many piazzas and arcaded streets. Visit the ghetto, near Piazza delle Erbe, which has preserved much of its original appearance. Proceed to the Italian-rite synagogue and the remains of the Sephardi synagogue. There were seven cemeteries in Padua. We will visit one that was established in 1862 and another if time permits. Travel to Verona to visit the Ashkenazi-rite synagogue where the Sefardi-rite synagogue's furniture is also found. PADUA
Wednesday June 27	Lecture: The Ingathering of the Exiles - Italian, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Portuguese and Levantine Jews, Y. Assis Lecture: Prophet Elijah Visits Venice: Jewish Ceremonial Art in the Veneto, S. Sabar Travel to Bassano to visit the Jewish Ghetto. Continue to Conegliano to visit the site of the synagogue and the Jewish cemetery. Travel to Vittorio Veneto to visit the ghetto from the first half of the 18th century. PADUA
Thursday June 28	Lecture: Jews in the Economy of the Republic of Venice, Y. Assis Visit the Cappella Scrovegni in Padua, a masterpiece in the history of painting in Italy containing the most complete series of extraordinary frescoes made by Giotto. Travel to Venice, which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks among 150 canals and 409 bridges. Tour the city with its historical sites including St Mark Square and the Doges Palace. VENICE
Friday June 29	Lecture: A Roaring Lion: Rabbi Leone Modena of Venice and his World, S.Sabar Visit the Lido cemetery which dates back to 1386. The oldest gravestone is from 1389. In the cemetery there are many crests of rich families. Services in the synagogue followed by a kosher dinner. VENICE
Saturday June 30	Shabbat services in the synagogue Kosher Shabbat lunch. VENICE
Sunday July 1	Lecture: Rabbinic Scholarship, Renaissance Culture and Jewish Identity, Y. Assis    Lecture: The Queen of Hebrew Printing: Hebrew Books in Venice and its Environs, S.Sabar Visit the ghetto, the first in Italy, to be followed in all cities. It consists of three different ones: the first was the Ghetto Novo where the Italian and the Ashkenazi Jews had to settle; then in 1541 the Ghetto Vecchio was allocated to the Levantine Jews; the last was Ghetto Nuovissimo where wealthy Sephardi Jews lived. Our visit of the Jewish Museum will be followed by visits of some of the synagogues in the ghetto: The Tedescan (Ashkenazi) synagogue founded in 1528, the Canton synagogue (1531), the Spanish (1550), the Italian (1575), the Levantine synagogue (late 16th century). VENICE
Monday July 2	Depart for Cividale del Friuli, one of the most picturesque towns in the region with its small medieval center. Tour the Giudaica, the Jewish quarter where Jews began to settle in the 13th century. In Porta San Pietro we find a Hebrew inscription from 1465. Visit the Museo Archeologico Nazionale set in a beautiful palace which gives great insight to the Lombard civilization. Continue to Gorizia to visit the ghetto and see the synagogue inaugurated in 1756 in which there is a small museum. Proceed to the cemetery, crossing the Slovenian border. Travel to Trieste, the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy and the largest port on the Adriatic. TRIESTE
Tuesday July 3	Lecture: The Jews of Trieste - Between the Venetians and the Austrians, Y. Assis Lecture: The Venice Haggadah of 1609: Images of the Jewish Past, Present and Future, S.Sabar City sightseeing by bus including a breathtaking view from the 15th century hilltop Castello di San Giusto. Visit the Civici Musei di Storia I Arte. Continue to see the Jewish cemetery that was established in 1843. TRIESTE
Wednesday July 4	Lecture: Ritual, Custom and Law in Communities on the Adriatic Coast, Y. Assis TRIESTE
Thursday July 5	Transfer to the airport for departure.

PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Lecturers:
Prof. Yom Tov Assis, Dept of the History of the Jewish People, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Prof. Shalom Sabar, Depts. of Jewish and Comparative Folklore and Art, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Organizers:
Prof. Yom Tov Asis and Debbie Zuberi          

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