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After the end of World War II, Jews who had come to Palestine from Italy had difficulty finding suitable venues to hold religious services. The worshippers sought a place that would serve as a synagogue and be appropriately furnished.
In 1944, Alfonso Pacifici suggested moving the Conegliano Veneto Synagogue to Palestine. The community and the Bezalel Museum joined forces to bring Jewish religious objects from various communities in Italy.
In 1946, a suggestion to purchase a synagogue was made to the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. On October 7, 1948, the Venetian Jewish community decided to donate the synagogue to the Association of Italian Jews and the Association of Italian Immigrants in Israel.
The synagogue’s interior was in serious disrepair after many decades in which no regular worship had taken place. The dismantling of the Ark, the pulpit, and the rest of the furniture and wall ornaments – and preparing them for shipment – was entrusted to Federico Luzzatto, Guido Bassan and Angelo Fano of Kibbutz Givat Brenner.
It took another three years to turn the plan into reality. In April 1951, the ship Abazzia docked in Haifa Port bearing her precious cargo. For a year, the pupils of the Ma’aleh School watched as the craftsmen and artists from Italy and Israel installed the synagogue in its new abode in Jerusalem. The dedication of the synagogue took place before a large gathering on April 4, 1952.
At the end of the year, a gala service was held following the completion of the illuminated drawings on the synagogue walls created by Miriam Bolaffio Morpurgo. On this occasion, memorial plaques commemorating Dr. Renato Jarach and Prof. Moshe David Cassuto, early worshippers who did not live to attend the dedication ceremony were unveiled. A plaque was also put up to memorialize those members of the community who died in Israel’s War of Independence.
Today, the building houses the synagogue and the U. Nahon Museum of Italian Jewish Art and is known as the Italian Jewish Cultural Center. On weekdays, the building serves as a museum; on Shabbat and Jewish holidays, it is a place of worship and convergence for community members. The synagogue brings to life the traditions brought over by the Italian Jewish immigrants from the late 1930s to the present day.
Source: Italian Synagogue of Jerusalem