Chabbad Houses: Everywhere You Want To Be

There is only one synagogue in Florence. It was built in the late 19th century by Daniel Levi, an extremely wealthy man who had no heirs. During this time, the Jews in Florence were beginning to enjoy life as emancipated citizens. They were proud of their equality and wanted to show off to the entire world just how emancipated they were. Therefore, Daniel Levi gave all of his money to build a large, grand synagogue, which would be a physical symbol of what the Jews had achieved. However, the Jews had a problem. They wanted to build their synagogue in the "Jewish" way, but they had no traditional art or building style which they could use. Consequently, they took some aspects of the Middle Eastern architecture, and added it to the only building structure they knew: the church. This is why the synagogue looks like a church.

I was lucky enough to attend the Saturday morning services in the synagogue. The building is simply magnificent. I loved the detail in every nook and cranny, especially the design on every wall of the sanctuary, including the ceiling of the many domes. When our entire group came back to the synagogue for a tour, I had another chance to learn about the synagogue's history and stare at the intricacies on the ceiling. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to bring cameras with us.

On Shabbat, the congregation welcomed us. After services, we made our way over to the Chabbad House, which was conveniently located a block from the synagogue. Here we were herded into a small room, where the family of the Chabbad Rabbi were hurriedly setting up more tables. We blessed the food and ate about 3 courses of homemade food, including a chicken chulent, a completely new combination for me. This would be interrupted by divrei Torah from the Rabbi and a round of singing by the guests. After lunch, there was a quick clean up of chairs and tables to make room for the mincha service, with machitsa and all. What amazed me, was that my Saturday afternoon Chabbad experience was the same in Italy as it would be at any other Chabbad House in America, and probably throughout the rest of the world. The Chabbad practices are so constant that it does not matter the geographical location or the language spoken. This makes me feel a little sad, because I would have thought that when in a different country, there would be a type of Jew like I had never known. We did meet Italian Jews at the synagogue who were not members of the Chabad, and it was refreshing to meet Jews with a little different flair. I love the fact that we are all Jews, and all come from the same heritage, but we each can have our own nuances or even large differences. I guess that it just bothers me that there is always this reminder of the pervasiveness of the Chabad movement in every place. However, I will admit that it is nice to know that wherever a Jew might travel, there could be a friendly Chabbad House waiting to welcome them.