Cordoba, Spain

1315

The parasha Mikets (Genesis 41:1-44:17) highlights the wisdom of Joseph, and the haftarah (1 Kings 3:15-28) emphasizes that of King Solomon, the author of the Song of Songs.

Song of Songs 4:4
כְּמִגְדַּל דָּוִיד צַוָּארֵךְ, בָּנוּי לְתַלְפִּיּוֹת; אֶלֶף הַמָּגֵן תָּלוּי עָלָיו, כֹּל שִׁלְטֵי הַגִּבֹּרִים.
Your neck is like the tower of David, built for trophies of arms; a thousand shields hang upon it, all the shields of the mighty warriors!

This verse from the Song of Songs is carved on the north wall of the medieval synagogue of Cordoba, a jewel of Mudéjar style (1) erected in 1315 (2). The entrance is through a patio on the south side, leading to a prayer hall in the shape of an almost perfect cube, adorned with stucco decorations featuring geometric patterns surrounding inscriptions in Hebrew (3). A staircase leads to a gallery reserved for women. In 2008, a mikveh and a Talmudic school were discovered.

(1) Mudéjar is an artistic and architectural style between the 12th and 16th centuries resulting from the coexistence of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim cultures in Spain, characterized by polylobed arches, alfiz, stucco, etc.
(2) Declared a Cultural Heritage site in 1885 and a World Heritage site in 1994
(3) Psalms 104:31, 144:15, Proverbs 21:30, 1 Samuel 2:2. During a restoration in 1884, an inaugural inscription in Hebrew revealed that the building was constructed in 1315 (5075 in the Hebrew calendar) by the master builder Isaq Moheb.

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