{"id":3241,"date":"2016-07-03T23:18:50","date_gmt":"2016-07-03T21:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moked.it\/international\/?p=3241"},"modified":"2016-07-03T23:18:50","modified_gmt":"2016-07-03T21:18:50","slug":"italics-celebrating-500-years-of-jewish-history-in-a-venetian-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moked.it\/international\/2016\/07\/03\/italics-celebrating-500-years-of-jewish-history-in-a-venetian-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Italics – Celebrating 500 Years of Jewish History in a Venetian Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"italics\"<\/a>By Joe Freeman*<\/strong><\/p>\n

After climbing the famed golden staircase at Venice\u2019s Palazzo Ducale, I came upon the princely apartment of the bygone Doge (chief magistrate) and was greeted by a rumbling, clanking sound from within. The noise was the audio component of a dome-shaped installation that glowed a fiery orange. The piece, which greets visitors upon entering an ambitious new exhibition called \u201cVenice, the Jews and Europe 1516-2016,\u201d hosted in the very apartment, was meant to evoke a foundry, where metals are poured and cast.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, which opened June 19, is described by organizers as \u201cthe highlight\u201d of dozens of events commemorating the 500th anniversary of Venice\u2019s Jewish Ghetto.<\/p>\n

On March 29, 1516, the Venetian Senate ordered the Jews of Venice to move to the site of an old foundry to prevent them from \u201croaming about at night.\u201d In the Venetian Italian of the time, \u201cfoundry\u201d meant \u201cgeto,\u201d initially pronounced with a soft \u201cg.\u201d And so, if the etymology is indeed correct\u2014some aren\u2019t so sure\u2014the world\u2019s first Jewish ghetto was born.<\/p>\n

Five hundred years later, the ghetto still stands; in 2014, millions were pledged in restoration efforts. While some of the five extant synagogues are used for services and even weddings for foreign Jewish couples, the ghetto is mainly the province of tour groups and kosher bakeries. And, in a sad testament to the resurgence of anti-Semitism in Europe, armed Italian soldiers are permanently stationed in the central square.<\/p>\n

To the exhibition\u2019s credit, it is not a never-ending sob story dissecting the persecution of Venetian Jews. Walking through the rooms on opening day, I noticed how different it was from the tour of the ghetto itself, which I\u2019d gone on a few days earlier. The tour guide strongly corrected someone who called the events of 2016 a \u201ccelebration.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I too felt more celebratory than commemorative while going through the exhibition, which featured intricate laser scans of the synagogues, beautiful silver ritual objects, music, paintings, some early examples of Hebrew printing and publishing that flourished in Venice, a series of clips showing actors portraying Shylock in filmed versions of The Merchant of Venice, and an entire section dedicated to an unsung woman named Sara Copio Sullam, also known as the \u201cpoetess of the Ghetto.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curator, Donatella Calabi, told me in an email that it took three years to collect all the materials from museums, libraries and archives around the world. Given the breadth of the display\u2014there were original books with Hebrew typography and old sketches of the slim apartment buildings built in the confined spaces of the ghetto\u2014I wasn\u2019t surprised.<\/p>\n

Through this cornucopia of research, the exhibit tells the story of the Venetian Jews, migrants from Germany, Spain, France, Portugal, and the Levant, who lived in the ghetto. They had to pay for their own Christian guards who circled the northern, canal-enclosed island in an area called Cannaregio, locked the gates at midnight, and opened them at dawn with the toll of a bell in St. Marks church, which signaled the start of the business day. Once on the outside, Venice\u2019s Jews were forced to wear yellow hats and engage in a limited number of professions, including, of course, moneylending.<\/p>\n

In 1797 with the arrival of Napoleon, the Venetian Republic fell, along with the gates of the ghetto. However, by the start of World War II, the population had decreased significantly from a peak of approximately 5,000. Italy\u2019s race laws must have caused further damage, and hundreds also perished during the Holocaust. Today, around 450 Jews remain in Venice. Most of them do not live in the ghetto.<\/p>\n

\u2018Venice, the Jews and Europe 1516-2016\u2019 runs until November 13. The cost is 21 euros when combined with a general entrance fee to the Palazzo Ducale.
\n
\n*This article has been published in Tablet Magazine on June 24, 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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