(JHE) — A fragment of a polychrome painting of a Kabbalistic text in Aramaic was discovered by chance under a layer of plaster in a public utility building in the town of Lipsko, in southeast Poland.
Announcing the discovery on Facebook, the Mazovia Voivodship Monuments Protection office (WUOZ) called the find “sensational” and said steps are expected to be taken soon to enter the building in the provincial list of monuments.
WUOZ said the discovery took place on May 10, when architect Jacek Węcławowicz uncovered the painting — a fragment of a text written in the Hebrew alphabet surrounded by a decorative frame topped with a crown — while carrying out preliminary research before a project to be undertaken in the building of the country family assistance center.
It said that, according to Witold Bujakowski from the Radom branch of the Provincial Office for Monument Protection, the preserved painting and the “layout of the premises” indicated that the room in question had been a prayer house, or beit midrash, that would have been located in the vicinity of a 19th century wooden synagogue that no longer exists.
The Polish hebraist Paweł Chról published a translation into Polish and commentary on the text, on a Polish website devoted to foreign languages.
It is, he wrote, a Kabbalistic text, a fragment from the Zohar.
“This passage is called ‘Kegawna’ (כגוונא – the first word of this text),” he wrote, which is “found in the ‘nusach sfarad’ prayer book and is recited / sung by some Hasidim to welcome the Sabbath immediately before the ‘Baruchu’ prayer (ברכו – “let them bless Him”).” (See his translation here.)
Writing about the discovery in the jewish.pl portal, Jewish heritage expert Krzysztof Bielawski noted that Jews lived in Lipsko from the 17th century and in 1921 constituted 55.7% of the entire population. Most of them in 1942 were murdered by the Germans in Treblinka.
“Today, the presence of Jews in Lipsko is recalled by the cemetery where two fragments of matzevot have been preserved,” he wrote.
He also noted that similar discoveries of polychrome wall paintings had been made in Warsaw, where the prayer house is now incorporated into the Praga Museum, and in Będzin, where local organizations worked to preserve them.
See the announcement of the discovery on Facebook
Read Pawel Chról’s translation (into Polish) and commentary on the text