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Before WWII
 Jews lived in Conegliano, then a small village located between the two cities of Padua and Venice, from the sixteenth century.At the beginning of the seventeenth century a Talmudic School (Yeshiva) was founded, which was to serve students both from the local community and from neighboring areas located outside the borders of the Republic of Venice.  Head of the yeshiva was Rabbi Nathan Ottolengo, who died in 1615. Around the first half of the 17th century the Torah Ark (Aron Ha Qodesh) was designed and dedicated to his memory.  In 1701, the Jews of Conegliano erected a new synagogue that was wider than the existing one: wall paneling was fitted and additional furnishings were commissioned.They transferred to the "new" synagogue many of the items that were in the old one, including the Torah Ark after enlarging it and providing it with new decorations.  The design of the synagogue conformed to a typical bipolar plan, with the Torah Ark standing by the eastern wall and the bimah (the elevated platform from which the Torah is read) at the opposite end of the hall. Benches were placed parallel to the long sides of the rectangular room so that worshippers would face its centre in similar way to synagogues of Sephardic rite. The women’s gallery, located on the upper floor, surrounded the hall on three sides. The "new" synagogue served not only as a spiritual and cultural center for academic and religious studies, but also afforded the Jewish community of Conegliano a larger space for social gatherings such as concerts, plays and family celebrations. The synagogue remained in sporadic use until the First World War when there was still a minyan of Jews in Conegliano; after the war only seven Jews remained and the synagogue closed its doors for ever. The last service was held in 1917: the Austro-Hungarian army had conquered Conegliano and a military chaplain, Rabbi Aharon Deutsch, learning that there was a synagogue in the area, organised services for Yom Kippur. He obtained the keys of the building from the municipality, crossed the portals through dust and cobwebs, and stood amazed at the splendor that confronted him. Jewish soldiers in the Austro-Hungarian army heard of the discovery and flocked to the service on Yom Kippur. The synagogue was filled to bursting that day, as never before or since. It was a fitting finale for this glorious synagogue - and the story might well have ended there. But, with its transfer to Jerusalem, the Conegliano Veneto Synagogue received a new lease on life to serve the spiritual needs of new generations of worshippers of Italian descent.After WWII About Conegliano: ITWG: Conegliano (English) Conegliano 2000 (Italian) PrimItaly: Conegliano (Italian) Back To The Top
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