The water Synagogue

José Javier Lozano LemusAlfonso Rodríguez Sánchez

Manuel Jesús Marín Sabariego

IntroductionO To deepen in the Jewish culture and religion in

order to understand their influence nowadays.O To discover the construction techniques used by

the ancient Jews in their religious buildings and symbology.

O To discover the construction techniques used by the ancient Jews in their religious buildings and symbology.

O To introduce various current buildings around its symbolism.

SummaryO Sefarat: It was the name the Jews gave to the

Iberian Peninsula.O It had many hidden places as the Water

Synagogue, which was one of the only that had a mikveh inside (ritual bath).

O This proyect deepens on the synagogue, its structure and the water traditions.

SefaratO Jews made a cultural connection between the

religions in Spain.O The Jews were expelled from the Iberian

Peninsula in 1492.O There were no Jews until 1967, they spent about

475 years out of the peninsula.

Sefarat (II)O Hasdai Ibn Shaprut created a rabbinical school.O Shaprut, born in Jaén, had a great influence.O Jews were brilliant in Medicine and translations. O The traditional Jewish poetry was written both in

Hebrew and Arabic.O Jews and Muslims moved to Córdoba where

Abderramán I reigned.O Jewish centers were formed South in Peninsula.O Sefarat, and specially the school in Córdoba,

became important points for the Jews worldwide.

XI CenturyO Jews had to flee to the northern christians

territoriesO In the second half of the eleventh century, the

mystical poetry is created (Yehudah Halevi).O In the late eleventh century, the Taifa kingdoms

come to an end. Christians reconquered the whole Spanish territory after winning in Granada.

O Toledo became an important Jewish center of knowledge because of the translations.

O Coexistence between Jews and Christians was very uneven. With the arrival of wars, pestilence and famine, Jews were blamed for them.

ExpulsionO The Catholic Kings conquered Granada and then

they forced the conversion of Jews to Christianity. O The converted Jews began to reach a great

importance in Christian.O The Catholic Kings created the Inquisition, his

goal was to see if the converts continued practicing their original religion.

XIX CenturyO Despite not having a Jewish community for

centuries, anti-Semitism kept present in the Spanish culture.

O The Inquisition was removed in 1813 but restored by Fernando VII and not removed at all until 1834.

O At last, in 1869, the new Constitution allowed the freedom of religions.

XX CenturyO Ángel Pulido Fernández tried to create a

relationship between Spain and the european and north-african Jewish communities.

O In 1910 it was created the Spanish-Hebrew Union and almost 4000 people subscribed to it in Morocco.

O In 1915 was established in Madrid the first chair of Hebrew for the professor Abraham Yahuda.

O In 1916, a group of liberal intellectuals and politicians asked the king to intervene in Palestine to help the Jews threatened by the anti-Semitic policies of the government of Turkey .

XX Century (II)O In 1920, it was created the Universal House for

the Sephardic Jews.O During the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, some

members of this community had the opportunity to acquire the Spanish nationality, during the World War II.

The water SynagogueO It was discovered by Fernando Crespo Valenzuela

during the contruction of some apartments.O It dates from the XIII century when the one of the

most numerous Jewish communities was located in Úbeda.

O It was buried when the Jews fled so that it wasn’t destroyed as a sacred place.

The water SynagogueO It occupies the space of three houses. The

Synagogue is on the first room, the Inquisition room, (called like that for a shield on the front of the building).

The water SynagogueO The second house corresponds to the courtyard

of the synagogue and the rabbi's house.O To go to the Synagogue itself from the courtyard,

people have to go through the “Soul door”, with a Star of David above it.

The water SynagogueO From the Synagogue there is a pomegranate

above the “Soul door” with 613 grains, as the mitzvot (the number of Jewish precepts).

O The synagogue is facing East (Jerusalem) as most synagogues. It is divided in two galleries, the men and women's gallery (mechitsa).

The water SynagogueO The inside could have been richly decorated.O The room also contains 4 wells and a Genizah, a

well-like structure where sacred damaged documents awaiting decomposition were deposited, because its destruction is against Jewish precepts.

The water SynagogueO Under the synagogue there is a mikveh, a

traditional Jewish bath. Each summer solstice the mikveh is directly illuminated by sunlight for 20 minutes, giving this room a great religious and architectural significance.

O Under the rabbi’s house, we find the clay pot room or pantry. The clay pots are in perfect shape due to the burial.