Precious Synagogues
|
The Jewish people have been wanderers throughout their long history, not usually by choice.
Two thousand years of that history lies in Europe, where they left an extraordinarily rich
cultural heritage that is being rediscovered--and renewed--a half century after the Holocaust. Each year, more of today's 6.1 million American Jews travel to Europe to reconnect with ancestral roots. "Jewish heritage" tours are proliferating. Jews are returning to Spain, Germany, Poland and elsewhere, not only to remember a people nearly extinguished, but to help rekindle the light of a culture thousands of years in the making. In country after country, historic sites are being restored, new Jewish museums created, communities resurfacing and visitors being met with warm greetings. And because the Jewish story is so compelling--and so entwined with that of neighboring peoples--its historic focal points draw many non-Jews as well. From Rome's ancient ghetto (still the center of Jewish life with a cuisine all its own); to the vibrant diamond district of Antwerp; to the hushed remains of Auschwitz, there is much to see--and to experience.
|
