Since March, the Jewish Community of Livorno, in Tuscany, has its own “secret garden.” It is a welcoming place where people can enjoy their free time in peace. Soon, educational activities, literary meetings, contemplative walks, and moments of meditation “in full harmony with nature and biblical principles” will be organized there.
The garden belongs to the Marini Yeshiva, which served as the city’s only synagogue from the postwar period until 1962 and is now home to a small but historically significant Jewish museum. The Livorno Foundation and the Jewish Community revitalized the yeshiva’s green space by removing dead trees, planting new ones, and adding signs with biblical text explanations. Additionally, an area dedicated to the sukkah has been prepared and can be set up and used during the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles in the fall. The project originated during the previous council term under the leadership of Vittorio Mosseri and was finalized during the current term chaired by Gianfranco Giachetti.
“All the plants in the garden have meaning,” explained David Balata, the Jewish Community councilor responsible for culture. “We liked the idea of creating a small green haven that connects to the deep meaning of our tradition while contributing to the enhancement of the museum.”
In May, local schools were able to visit the garden and museum free of charge to “encourage knowledge, respect, and appreciation for this important heritage.” The garden is part of the Jewish historical heritage, with many testimonies from the past, but it is also a space of living identity. Livorno’s Jews still celebrate the Tashlich ceremony in its well (the casting off of sins before the new year). Last December, the most recent Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, was celebrated here.
As Chief Rabbi Umberto Piperno explained, the Yeshiva “is first a synagogue and then a museum, not the other way around.” The “secret garden” project included Amaranta Servizi, which has managed visits and activities at the museum for years, as well as botanist Paola Spinelli, curator of the Harborea floriculture event, now in its 13th year. Spinelli described the initiative as “very interesting because it combines science with sociological and cultural aspects. We hope this work can continue to highlight the fundamental role of green spaces in urban centers.”
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Translated by Caterina Mansani and revised by Elizabeth El Khoury, students at the Advanced School for Interpreters and Translators of the University of Trieste, trainees in the newsroom of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities – Pagine Ebraiche.