Still Venezia

October 16, 2003-Good Morning Ghettos
(photos:German style synagogue-1528,
Spanish style synagogue-1555,
Italian style synagogue-1575)

St. Mark’s bell tower said “Good morning” to us by tolling its bells sixty times. I don’t know the significance of sixty chimes, but it got our attention. Fortunately, it was only a few minutes before our alarm was set to ring. If it had been much earlier I would have been forced to blow it up. That would have started an international incident and ruined our trip.

We were out bright and early to catch the waterbus for the Jewish ghetto. Sun glinted on pastel facades as Venetians started another day. Commercial barges laden with everything from newspapers to foodstuffs plied their way through the fetid water. Barge operators personalize their boats just as our truckers do with their 18-wheelers. One barge had a teddy bear sitting in the bow. Primary colors ringed barber-like poles marking docks in contrast to the black and green mold that crawled up the buildings from the waterline. This is a Mecca for the black mold mitigation industry. How moldy is it? The bottom step was so slippery with mold that I lost my balance and almost fell in. That would have been as repulsive as the time my hand accidentally dipped into the Ganges. If black mold is as deadly as we’re told, why aren’t Venetians dead?

We wove our way to the ghetto. It’s situated on an island where foundries had been. The Venetian word “gitto” means foundry. The Ashkenazic Jews from Germany couldn’t pronounce it as Italians did and called it “ghetto.” Designations of old, new, and newest ghettos refer to the ages of the foundries there, thus the oldest synagogue is in the “new ghetto.”

There has been a Jewish population in Venice since the 10th century. In 1382 Jews were no longer permitted to be in professions and most businesses. Doctors, printers, merchants, and moneylenders were the exception. That was the beginning of the stereotype of Jews being usurers. The ghetto gate was locked at night and patrol boats paid for by the Jewish community guarded the canal-sides. Only doctors were permitted to leave at night. During the day anyone who left the ghetto had to wear a yellow hat. That factoid is really spooky.

When Napoleon arrived he knocked down the ghetto gate and freed the Jews. By 1939, there were 1670 Jews in Venice. The Nazis transported 226. The rest hid or fled, but after the war only eight returned. There are now approximately 30,000 Jews in Italy with four hundred in Venice. There’s an operating religious school, an old-age home with ten “grandmothers” in residence, and a Chabad House. The old cemetery dates from 1386 and the new from 1700. There’s a head rabbi of Venice and several other rabbis in the community. Napoleon gave the Jews civil rights, but in 1989, the Italian government gave them a guarantee of religious rights. The example given was that if they are hospitalized and want kosher food it’s to be provided. For more information see www.ghetto.it.

Ashkenazic (German) and Sephardic (Spanish) Synagogues were established in the early 1600’s. The former houses a museum with an admirable collection of Judaica. The silver on display could use polishing by the Temple Israel Sisterhood committee that keeps ours in such brilliant condition. Government money may be requested for restoration since the synagogues are considered to be historical monuments.

Of the five synagogues, we saw three. One Ashkenazic synagogue has been only used once a year, for the High Holidays from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, since after WWI. Marble was not used anywhere but in homes of the wealthy and churches so the floor, walls, and columns are all faux finish on wood and plaster. The effect is baroque, ornate, and gilt. The second Ashkenazic synagogue is also only used once a year but may be rented out for bar or bat mitzvahs and weddings. The Venetian synagogue is in the Levantine (Turkish) style influenced by church architecture since there were no Jewish architects. The wood is painted black and the ceiling is white with black painted detailing. It’s used six months a year since it has heat.

The beauty of the whole thing is that this is a living functioning Jewish community. Jews no longer live in the ghetto area, but there are shops, kosher food stores, and a kosher restaurant. An amazing agglomeration of Jews from around the world gathers to see, learn, kvell (be proud), and, of course, shop. It felt so good to buy Jewish things in Jewish stores from Jewish merchants. We even ate lunch in the Chabad owned restaurant. It was comforting to know we could eat anything on the menu. Italians are really into their pork and shellfish. We have seen “lardo” listed on menus. It’s what it sounds like, pure bacon fat. I call it the non-Jewish “gribbinez” (pan-fried chicken fat).

Values and Clarification

In this Catholic country the Church couldn’t be denied. The afternoon found us once again in St. Marks Square just in time to see the interior of the Basilica before closing. We cut it so close that not even the gift shop was open after we toured the church. Karen couldn’t bear to see another fresco so she and Ron sat on the piazza and people-watched.

There were no frescos in St. Marks. It was apparent by the Byzantine design that the 12th century architect was from the East. Mosaic was the predominant art form for the marble and glass floors and the gold and tile depictions on walls and ceilings. I took out our binoculars to be sure and saw close up and intimate that there were in fact millions of teeny-weeny pieces comprising each work. A 10th century altarpiece, the pala d’oro, was displayed on the altar. It consists of 250 enameled gold and jeweled paintings on gold foil in a gilded silver gothic frame. Seeing the wealth of the Church frequently prompts me to conduct a personal value clarification exercise.

It was pizza night again. We’d been without for two whole days. Our antipasto was dried beef with thin slices of Parmesan and arugula. We had pasta fagiole soup, the real deal. We were adventurous with the pizza and ordered it with salmon, egg, and Gorgonzola cheese. The egg was sunny side down and in the center like a bull’s eye. When we were in Australia we found it odd that they served pizza with egg. I guess their pizza is just more Italian than ours in America.

Ron noticed a familiar face at the table next to ours. Lou Pinella of baseball fame just happened to be in Venice dining in the same restaurant. Ron checked the World Series play-off results with him but resisted asking for a photo or autograph.

We leave early tomorrow for Milan with a swing up to the Italian Alps and Lake Como region. Brrr!

Toby