In a moving ceremony in Palermo, Italy, on Thursday, the local archbishop announced that the site containing the ruins of the city's ancient synagogue was being returned to the local Jewish community. The community plans to build a new synagogue -- the first in the Sicilian city in 524 years -- near the ruins of the old one. The Jews of Sicily were expelled on Jan. 12, 1493. The synagogue was destroyed, and the site on which it stood was taken over by the Roman Catholic Church and the monastery of St. Nicolo Tolentino. Since then, there has been no Jewish activity in Palermo. Thursday's ceremony was held at the Historical Archives of Palermo, which like the monastery, was built on the ruins of the synagogue. The decision to return the site to the Jewish community was made in response to a request by the Shavei Israel organization, a group dedicated to helping "lost" Jews worldwide reclaim their roots and re-embrace Judaism, and the Sicilian Institute for Jewish Studies (ISSE). Hundreds of descendants of anusim -- Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity but continued to practice Judaism in secret -- interested in researching their Jewish roots were in attendance. Archbishop of Palermo Corrado Lorefice said: "Locating the new synagogue on the ancient ruins of the Great Synagogue of Palermo makes this historic moment especially exciting." The church's historic decision to assist in reinstating Jewish life in Palermo came after more than five years of intense work by Shavei Israel founder and chairman Michael Freund, who aspires to revive the vibrant Jewish life that existed in the city until the expulsion of the Jews. Freund said on Thursday that "the ceremony was particularly important and moving because it is the first real step in the process of building the first synagogue and beit midrash in Palermo since the expulsion, which will be next to the place where the great and glorious Palermo synagogue once stood." In addition to the synagogue and beit midrash, the new compound will include a center for research and teaching and a Jewish heritage center. Shavei Israel will take on the main responsibility for operating it, and the Shavei Israel representative in Sicily, Rabbi Pinchas Punturello -- who also serves as the rabbi of Palermo and as a member of the ISSE board of directors -- will supervise the activity.
Palermo to build first new synagogue in over 500 years
After five years of lobbying by the Shavei Israel organization, church decides to return site of ancient synagogue to local Jewish community • New synagogue compound to include research and teaching facility and Jewish heritage center.
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