Homepage Ralph Häussler |
|
A magical place! 1,000 years of history!
And a centre of pilgrimage since the Middle Ages. Just some impressions from Germany's oldest SYNAGOGUE which is at the heart of the Jewish Quarter in WARMAISA (Worms), also called 'LITTLE JERUSALEM'. Together with the Jewish quarter and Europe's oldest surviving Jewish cemetery, the synagogue is part of a unique testimony of Jewish life in Europe between the 11th and the 20st century. The original building dedication dates from 1034 CE (or 4795 after the creation of the world). The synagogue was re-built in Romanesque style after the destruction during the crusades. There's also a Mikveh (an underground bath for ritual bathing in ground water, dating to 1186 CE), plus the Women's Synagogue built in 1212 CE. Worms was an important centre for Talmudic studies; the so-called "Rashi Chapel" (Talmudic study room) on the western side of the synagogue was built in 1623-24, dedicated to Rashi (rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) who was one of the most important Talmudic scholars in the Middle Ages; he was a disciple at the yeshiva in Worms in the 1060s CE. |
Together with Mainz and Cologne, Worms is among the oldest Jewish communities in Germany: whether or not they were already present in Roman times, like in Cologne, is likely (considering the Jewish diaspora across the Roman empire after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE), but difficult to proof at the current stage of research, though it was one of the reasons why the Jews from Warmaisa had so many privileges during the Middle Ages (which unfortunately did not prevent them sufferings from the progroms during the crusades, the plague and the 30-year war).
The synagogue was burnt down by the Nazis in 1938; faithfully rebuilt on the surviving walls after WKII. By contrast, the large Jewish community of Worms was completely destroyed by the Nazis: those who didn't emigrate were murdered in the Nazi's concentration camps, among them the school teacher Herta Mansbacher who tried to prevent the Nazis from burning down the synagogue in 1938 before being murdered in 1942... Despite the lack of a Jewish community for many years after the 2nd World War, the Jewish Heritage remained an important part of the city's heritage; among others, a new Jewish museum was opened c.40 years ago. |
MIRACLE | WUNDER | RASCHI
Mythen und Wunder gibt es ja viele in Worms
Und diese Geschichte kennt ja jeder, nicht nur in Worms, sondern - zumindest im Judentum - auch weltweit: Eines Tages im Jahre 1045 spazierte die Mutter des berühmten Talmudkommentators Rashi (1045-1105) mit ihrem ungeborenen Kind durch die enge Hintere Judengasse als ihr eine Kutsche entgegenkommt und sie fast zerquetscht hätte. Sie lehnt sich an die Mauer der Synagoge, die durch ein Wunder nachgibt: noch heute sieht man die Nische, in der die Mutter mit dem noch ungeborenen Rashi Schutz fand. Natürlich nur eine Legende, aber diese Art von Legenden und Wunder findet sich häufig für wichtige Persönlichkeiten, wie hier Raschi. Und man kann ja heute noch die Nische und die Enge der Gasse erleben. (Und wie sonst könnte man die Nische erklären...) Comic aus dem Buch "Rashi Hakadosh" von Rabbi Berel Wein & Aryeh Mahr (publiziert vom amerkikanisch-orthodoxen Verlag Feldheim), Bild heruntergeladen von: http://dafyummy.blogspot.com/.../berachot-32b-rashis... |
This is the site where the famous miracle involving Raschi's mother is said to have taken place in the year 1045 CE. You can still see the niche in the wall of the synagogue that gave way - by miracle(?) - to protect the mother and her unborn child from a horsedrawn carriage. Just a story? The niche is still visible today, almost 1,000 years later - and how else could we explain its existence...?
And yes, Rashi was born in Troyes some time after the event, but it is feasible that his mother was in Worms since the family had connections with both Worms and Mainz. I was surprised to find a cartoon telling this story. See images above: it comes from the book "Rashi Hakadosh" by Rabbi Berel Wein & Aryeh Mahr - downloaded from: http://dafyummy.blogspot.com/.../berachot-32b-rashis...? |