(JHE) — A 400-year-old wooden Aron HaKodesh has undergone full restoration and will be installed in a prominent place in the grand synagogue in Vercelli, in northwest Italy’s Piedmont region. The restoration is the latest of a number of Jewish heritage projects coordinated by the Vercelli Jewish community in recent years.
The elaborate synagogue, a Moorish-style temple built in 1878 – which also houses a small Jewish museum — is currently closed because of COVID-19 restrictions, but the Vercelli Jewish community said it hoped to hold a festive inauguration of the Ark in May or June. Special lighting will also be installed to highlight it.
“In the year of ‘lockdowns,’ and despite the delays, the community has now taken back a precious witness of its history and culture,” the Jewish community said in a statement.
There was a resident Jewish community in Vercelli from the early 15th century. The baroque-style Ark is believed to date from 1600, well before the imposition of the Vercelli ghetto in the 1720s, the Jewish community said. Its decoration includes faux marble, columns and capitals, and carved vegetation motifs and geometric elements. Its two wooden lateral panels with golden Hebrew inscriptions were placed later, around middle of the 18th century.
The community said the Ark was probably used in one of the first Jewish prayer houses in the Ghetto period and was in continuous use in various prayer rooms until 1943. Exhibiting damage suffered over the centuries, it has long been stored in the synagogue awaiting restoration.
The €50,000 restoration of the Aron was funded by two Bank foundations – Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Vercelli and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino – and the Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo.
Under the leadership of its president Rossella Bottini Treves, the Vercelli Jewish community has been active since the early 2000s in promoting the conservation and restoration of local Jewish heritage – including the monumental synagogue, which long stood neglected. Over the years, among other things, centuries-old synagogue textiles, ritual objects, and the synagogue’s stained-glass windows were renovated. In 2016, a sefer Torah dating back to 1250 was returned to the synagogue in Biella, which comes under the jurisdiction of Vercelli, after a four-year restoration. It is believed to be the oldest European Torah in the world still in use by a congregation.
The community has also been active in promoting local Jewish heritage tourism. A website launched in 2020 provides extensive information about the Jewish community and Jewish heritage sites — as well as on the 18th century synagogue and Jewish cemetery in Biella. A smartphone app on local Jewish heritage can be downloaded from the web site.
Web site of the Vercelli Jewish Community
Facebook page of the Vercelli Jewish Community