Córdoba Synagogue

7 October 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, UNESCO World Heritage Reading Time:  8 minutes

West wall © Américo Toledano/cc-by-sa-3.0

West wall © Américo Toledano/cc-by-sa-3.0

Córdoba Synagogue (Spanish: Sinagoga de Córdoba) is a historic edifice in the Jewish Quarter of Córdoba (part of the UNESCO World Heritage “Historic centre of Córdoba“), Spain, built in 1315. The synagogue’s small size points to it having possibly been the private synagogue of a wealthy man. It is also possible that Córdoba’s complex of buildings was a yeshivah, kollel, or study hall. Another possibility is that this was the synagogue of a trade guild, which converted a residence or one of the work rooms into the synagogue. The synagogue was decorated according to the best Mudejar tradition.   read more…

Babyn Yar

30 September 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Soviet POWs covering a mass grave after the Babi Yar massacre, October 1, 1941 © history.kby.kiev.ua - Johannes Hähle

Soviet POWs covering a mass grave after the Babi Yar massacre, October 1, 1941 © history.kby.kiev.ua – Johannes Hähle

Babiyn Yar (Ukrainian) or Babi Yar (Russian) is a ravine in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany‘s forces during its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The first and best documented of the massacres took place on 29–30 September 1941, killing some 33,771 Jews. Other victims of massacres at the site included Soviet prisoners of war, communists and Romani people. It is estimated that a total of between 100,000 and 150,000 people were murdered at Babi Yar during the German occupation.   read more…

Geula in West Jerusalem

26 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  < 1 minute

Malkhei Yisrael Street © Yoninah/cc-by-sa-3.0

Malkhei Yisrael Street © Yoninah/cc-by-sa-3.0

Geula (lit. Redemption) is a neighborhood in the center of West Jerusalem, Israel, populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Mea Shearim on the east and the West Jerusalem city center on the south.   read more…

Portrait: Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery officer

23 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  13 minutes

Alfred Dreyfus © bildindex.de

Alfred Dreyfus © bildindex.de

Alfred Dreyfus was a French artillery officer of Jewish ancestry from Alsace whose trial and conviction in 1894 on charges of treason became one of the most polarizing political dramas in modern French history. The incident has gone down in history as the Dreyfus affair, the reverberations from which were felt throughout Europe. It ultimately ended with Dreyfus’ complete exoneration. The case remains interesting to this day because it is based on allegations, assumptions and circumstantial evidence without any real probative value, making it a political issue, including in the Jewish community of France itself, which has an impact into modern times. No matter from which direction you look at the affair, there is always a residual doubt and thus an indissolubility. The material for exciting, entertaining and complex cinema films with the possibility of shooting numerous sequels, but for Alfred Dreyfus himself and his family, of course, pure disaster.   read more…

Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi

20 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Abrahamic Family House model © flickr.com - U.S. Embassy Jerusalem/cc-by-2.0

Abrahamic Family House model © flickr.com – U.S. Embassy Jerusalem/cc-by-2.0

The Abrahamic Family House is an interfaith complex on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The undertaking was inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis on behalf of the Catholic Church and Ahmed El-Tayeb on behalf of the al-Azhar Mosque on Feb. 4, 2019 in Abu Dhabi. It houses the St. Francis Church, Imam Al-Tayeb Mosque and Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue in separate structures.   read more…

Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah in Ferrara

11 August 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Lungoleno/cc-by-sa-4.0

© Lungoleno/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (MEIS) (Italian: Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah) is a public history museum in Ferrara, Italy. It opened in 2017, and traces the history of the Jewish people in Italy starting from the Roman empire through the Holocaust of the 20th century. Chartered by the Italian government in 2003, MEIS contains over 200 artifacts and exhibits that proceed chronologically through the periods of Jewish history in Italy. The museum is continuing to expand through the year 2021.   read more…

Portrait: Salman Schocken, a German Jewish publisher, co-founder of the Schocken Department Store chain, and Zionist

26 July 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait, Shopping Reading Time:  11 minutes

Salman Schocken © haaretz.co.il - Alfred Bernheim

Salman Schocken © haaretz.co.il – Alfred Bernheim

Salman Schocken was a German Jewish publisher, and co-founder of the large Kaufhaus Schocken chain of department stores in Germany. Stripped of his citizenship and forced to sell his company by the German government, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1934, where he purchased the newspaper Haaretz (which is still majority-owned by his descendants).   read more…

Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels

7 June 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - Miguel Discart/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – Miguel Discart/cc-by-sa-2.0

The Jewish Museum of Belgium (French: Musée juif de Belgique, Dutch: Joods Museum van België) is a museum in the Sablon/Zavel neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium, focusing on the history of the Jews in Belgium.   read more…

Union Libérale Israélite de France in Paris

11 May 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Paris / Île-de-France Reading Time:  5 minutes

© GFreihalter/cc-by-sa-3.0

© GFreihalter/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Union Libérale Israélite de France (ULIF), commonly referred to as the rue Copernic synagogue, is a Liberal Jewish synagogue, located in Paris, France. Inaugurated on the first of December 1907, it is the oldest Reform synagogue in France.   read more…

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