From Conegliano to Jerusalem: The Conegliano Synagogue

Abstract

This thesis analyses the significations of the architectural features, décor and furnishings of the Conegliano Synagogue. Built in its current form in Conegliano between 1701 and 1719, the Synagogue's furnishings were relocated to Jerusalem in 1951, where they continue to serve as an active space of worship for Jerusalem's Italian-Jewish community (Italkím). By charting the Synagogue's trajectory, this thesis examines the role of place, space and visual display in the construction and reflection of community identity, with specific reference to early modern Italy, and modern and contemporary Jerusalem. This enquiry is encompassed within the growing interest in Jewish spatial studies advocated for by Anna Lipphardt, Julia Brauch and Alexandra Nocke (2008). The thesis envisages the Synagogue as an organic space that has evolved over time to meet the needs of its communities, developing scholarship analysing the cultural-constructedness of synagogues by Dominique Jarassé (2001), Carol Herselle Krinsky (1985) and Augusto Levy (1985). The thesis envisions the Conegliano Synagogue's visual features as being inextricably intertwined with the socio-historical contexts in which they were produced and experienced and, as such, argues that the Synagogue's visual display is integral in understanding how and why the Synagogue's functions have evolved, and to what effect. This is, to my knowledge, the first sustained investigation of this kind into one particular synagogue. By confirming that Synagogue's visual features are firmly ensconced within the sociohistorical contexts experienced by the Italian-Jewish communities in Conegliano and Jerusalem, this thesis interrogates the Conegliano Synagogue's significance in reflecting, expressing and projecting collectivities, exploring the influence of time and place on the construction of a Jewish space for communities.