In the Parasha Terumah (תרומה – contribution), Exodus 25:1 – 27:19, Moses receives instructions for the construction of the Mishkan (מִשְׁכָּן – Tabernacle). The children of Israel participate by bringing their contributions, providing necessary materials such as gold, silver, copper, wood, etc.
Exodus 25:3 and 8
וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה אֲשֶׁר תִּקְחוּ מֵאִתָּם: זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחֹשֶׁת[…]
וְעָשׂוּ לִי מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם.
And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and copper […]
And they shall make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.
Jewish presence in Casale Monferrato, beginning in the 1430s, was later than in other regions of Piedmont (1). Under different dynasties, Jews, primarily engaged in lending and commerce, experienced periods of relative security. With the annexation to the House of Savoy in 1708, they were confined to the ghetto. During the Napoleonic occupation, they achieved full equality. From 1933 and the rise of fascism, signs of antisemitism began to appear and intensified over time, leading Jews from Casale Monferrato to seek refuge in major Italian cities or in the countryside, and some even fled to Switzerland.
Although its exterior retains the anonymous character of ghetto synagogues, that of Casale Monferrato, built in 1595 and remodeled several times, represents a baroque masterpiece of Piedmontese architecture. The prayer hall benefits from the lighting provided by fourteen windows, seven on each side, embellished with gilding. Its barrel-vaulted ceiling is beautifully decorated with a blue-green ceiling, where the words “זה שער השמים” (This is the gate of heaven) are inscribed in gold letters. Large copper chandeliers add to its splendor. The finely crafted wooden moucharabiehs of the women’s gallery overlook the hall. The Holy Ark, designed with precious materials and adorned with solid gold, reveals, once its doors are open, a crimson damask and golden ornaments as well as the Ten Commandments sculpted in cobalt blue. On the first floor is the Jewish Museum of Art and History (2), which houses a collection of ceremonial silver objects and embroidered textiles.
(1) Daniel Carpi (1926-2005) was a historian specialized in the history of Italian Jews. He was head of the Jewish history department at Tel Aviv University and also taught at Yeshiva University, the Sorbonne, and St Antony’s College, Oxford.
(2) Known as the Museo degli Argenti (Museum of Silverware).