Biella Synagogue
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Biella Synagogue
The Biella Synagogue is an early 17th-century synagogue in Biella, Italy. The synagogue occupies the top floor of a medieval house at Vicolo del Bellone 3, in the heart of the historic Jewish quarter. It is a modestly sized, rectangular room with baroque decoration, a central bimah and an ornate, seventeenth century, baroque Torah Ark.Ruth Ellen Gruber (January 25, 2009"Biella synagogue restored" Jewish Heritage Travel The synagogue possesses the oldest known Torah scroll still in use which dates to the 13th century. In 2009 a 350,000 euro restoration, overseen by the Jewish community in Vercelli and funded from the Piedmont Region and by donations from a number of sources, including a local bank, completed the repair of the roof, and restoration of the Torah Ark, women's gallery and interior. Further restoration work is planned. The Biella Synagogue is one of about sixteen that survive in Piedmont, including the Synagogue of Casale Monferrato and the Vercelli Synagogue. Re ...
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Synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worship. Synagogues have a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels), where Jews attend religious Services or special ceremonies (including Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs or Bat Mitzvahs, Confirmations, choir performances, or even children's plays), have rooms for study, social hall(s), administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious school and Hebrew school, sometimes Jewish preschools, and often have many places to sit and congregate; display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork throughout; and sometimes have items of some Jewish historical significance or history about the Synagogue itself, on display. Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for the purpose of Jewish prayer, study, assembly, and r ...
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Biella
Biella (; pms, Biela; la, Bugella) is a city and ''comune'' in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the capital of the province of the same name, with a population of 44,324 as of 31 December 2017. It is located about northeast of Turin and about west-northwest of Milan. It lies in the foothills of the Alps, in the Bo mountain range near Mt. Mucrone and Camino, an area rich in springs and lakes fed by the glaciers, the heart of the Biellese Alps irrigated by several mountain streams: the Elvo to the west of the town, the Oropa river and the Cervo to the east. Nearby natural and notable tourist attractions include the Zegna Viewpoint, the Bielmonte Ski Resort, Burcina Natural Reserve, and the moors to the south of town. The Sanctuary of Oropa is a site of religious pilgrimages. In 2003, the Sanctuary of Oropa Sacred Mountain of Oropa became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Biella is an important wool processing and textile centre. There is a small airport in the nearby c ...
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Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 19th century. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, and Russia. B ...
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Bema
A bema was an elevated platform used as an orator's podium in ancient Athens. The term can refer to the raised area in a sanctuary. In Jewish synagogues, where it is used for Torah reading during services, the term used is bima or bimah. Ancient Greece The Ancient Greek ''bēma'' () means both 'platform' and 'step', being derived from '' bainein'' (, 'to go'). The original use of the bema in Athens was as a tribunal from which orators addressed the citizens as well as the courts of law, for instance, in the Pnyx. In Greek law courts the two parties to a dispute presented their arguments each from separate bemas. By metonymy, bema was also a place of judgement, being the extension of the raised seat of the judge, as described in the New Testament, in and , and further, as the seat of the Roman emperor, in , and of God, in , when speaking in judgment. Judaism Etymology The post-Biblical Hebrew ''bima'' (), 'platform' or 'pulpit', is almost certainly derived from the Anc ...
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Torah Ark
A Torah ark (also known as the ''Heikhal'', or the ''Aron Kodesh'') refers to an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark, also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' or ''aron ha-Kodesh'' ("holy ark") by Ashkenazi communities and as the ''Heikhal'' ("sanctuary") among Sefardi communities. ''Aron Kodesh'' comes from Hebrew אָרוֹן קׄדֶש ''ʼārōn qōdeš'' (i.e. A''ron Kodesh''), ''Holy Ark''. This name is a reference to the ''’ārōn haqqōdeš'', the Hebrew name for the Ark of the Covenant which was stored in the Holy of Holies in the inner sanctuary of both the ancient Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Similarly, ''Hekhál'', also written ''hechal'', ''echal'' or ''heichal'' — and sometimes also ''Echal Kodesh'' (mainly among Balkan Sephardim) comes from Hebrew הֵיכָל ''hēkhāl'' (palace), was used in the same time period to refer to the inner sanctuary. The ''hekhal'' contained the M ...
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Bologna Torah Scroll
The Bologna Torah Scroll (also known as the University of Bologna Torah Scroll, circa 1155–1225 CE) is the world's oldest complete extant Torah scroll. The scroll contains the full text of the five Books of Moses in Hebrew and is kosher. The scroll was returned to the Biella Synagogue during a ceremony on March 6, 2016. Background The scroll was discovered at the University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...'s library by Mauro Perani, a professor of Hebrew. While updating the university's catalogue, Perani came across a Torah scroll that he believed to have been erroneously dated to the 17th century after a textual analysis. Two independent carbon-dating tests were performed (one at the University of Sorrento and another at the University of Illinoi ...
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Vercelli
Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. The city is situated on the Sesia River in the plain of the Po River between Milan and Turin. It is an important centre for the cultivation of rice and is surrounded by rice paddies, which are flooded in the summer. The climate is typical of the Po Valley with cold, foggy winters ( in January) and oppressive heat during the summer months ( in July). Rainfall is most prevalent during the spring and autumn; thunderstorms are common in the summer. The languages spoken in Vercelli are Italian and Piedmontese; the variety of Piedmontese native to the city is called ''Varsleis''. The world's first university funded by public money was established in Vercelli in 1228 (the seventh university founded in Italy), but was closed in 1 ...
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Ezrat Nashim
The Ezrat Nashim () or Vaybershul (), commonly referred to in English as the women's section or women's gallery, is an area of a synagogue sanctuary reserved exclusively for women. The ''Ezrat Nashim'' could be either a separate annex, as observed in synagogues like the Altneuschul in Prague and the synagogue of Worms, or an elevated gallery situated within the synagogue sanctuary. If the latter, it is typically located on the west side of the building, though variations exist with some galleries positioned on the north or south sides. In larger synagogues, it is common to find two galleries, one above the other. In the mid-19th century, Reform synagogues in Germany and Austria introduced separate pews for men and women on the same floor. Later, Reform congregations in the United States introduced "family seating", whereby congregants sit together irrespective of gender. Many Orthodox synagogues built in the 20th and 21st centuries do not have a separate ''Ezrat Nashim'' area, in ...
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Piedmont
it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 = , demographics1_info2 = , demographics1_title3 = , demographics1_info3 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = CEST , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code_type = ISO 3166 code , area_code = IT-21 , blank_name_sec1 = GDP (nominal) , blank_info_sec1 = €137 billion (2018) , blank1_name_sec1 = GDP per capita , blank1_info_sec1 = €31,500 (2018) , blank2_name_sec1 = HDI (2019) , blank2_info_sec1 = 0.898 · 10th of 21 , blank_name_sec2 = NUTS Region , blank_info_sec2 = ITC1 , website www.regione ...
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Synagogue Of Casale Monferrato
The Synagogue of Casale Monferrato is a 16th-century synagogue located in Vicolo Salmone Olper in the traditionally Jewish quarter of Casale Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, region of Piedmont, Italy. History The synagogue was built in 1595 and is particularly known for its exquisite Baroque interior with walls and ceiling embellished with elaborate painting, carving and gilding. It is located in a narrow alleyway in the traditionally Jewish quarter of Casale Monferrato, which in the eighteenth century became the city’s ghetto. The plain building houses a clandestine synagogue, giving no indication of its purpose as a Jewish house of worship. As in most early modern European synagogues, the synagogue was entered not directly from the street, but via a courtyard: both for reasons of security and to comply with laws requiring that the sound of Jewish worship not be audible by Christians. Casale Monferrato is one of the few synagogues that survived in Piedmont, which once had ...
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Vercelli Synagogue
The Vercelli Synagogue ( it, Tempio Israelitico) is a synagogue in Vercelli, Italy. The synagogue, located at Via Foà 70, was built in 1878. It was designed by Marco Treves, an architect born in Vercelli who also designed the Great Synagogue of Florence. The Moorish Revival synagogue features red-and-white masonry courses and a flat, tripartite facade with a raised central portion, that resembles a number of other European and American synagogues with designs inspired by Vienna's Leopoldstädter Tempel, by architect Ludwig Förster. A major restoration project was launched in 2007. On 23 November 2013, in an antisemitic act, two swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...s were found sprayed on its walls. References {{Coord, 45, 19, 32.69, N, 8, 25, 33.1, E, ty ...
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Baroque Synagogues In Italy
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including the Iberian Peninsula it continued, together with new styles, until the first decade of the 19th century. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep colour, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to France, northern Italy, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, and Russia. By ...
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