Jewish Printing in Italy

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Jewish Books in Venice

Yesterday, I got up and walked to the Jewish Center for class and listened to Robby give a lecture about the history of the printing press and the Jewish texts, such as the Tanakh and the Talmud. The talk of the printing press helped me acknowledge that it was useful for printing to happen so that people could read and not be forced to listen solely to the church all the time. It also helped me understand the differences between the texts and what each of them is about. I learned that the Torah consists of five books, all relating to Moses, while the Hebrew bible is called the Tanakh combining the Torah, along with the Nevi'im (prophets) and the Ketuvim (writings) into one. The Talmud is a consolidation of rabbinic law (the mishna) and the gemora: rabbinic discussions and explanations of the mishnah. Until now, I always confused these books with one another, now it makes better sense to me.

After class, I went for lunch in Le Balthasar, a kosher restaraunt near the Center, where I ate a delicious, strictly kosher chicken cutlet and French fries. After that, I went for a walk across the new Constitution Bridge that connects our district to the Piazale Roma and into the Giardini Papadopoli, which had a lot of shade and green trees and plants. I like being around green nature and it made me feel like I was in a forest in an otherwise urban landscape. Then I walked on through the city from there and got pretty sweaty and tired that I walked back to the apartment, watched a movie, and read the texts for class.

This morning, I went for a tour in the Teatro la Fenice, which was a very grand and golden theatre with boxes surrounding the entire auditorium. The chandelier at the top ceiling was lit up so brightly amidst a painted ceiling of angels. Sitting in the boxes and looking at the elegant structure of this theatre made me feel like I was living back in the Baroque period, attending a concert or an opera with luxurious guests. After that, I went for a ride up the Grand Canal in the water bus. When I got off, I walked to the Jewish Center, but no one was there yet, so I walked over to the northern shore overlooking the Canale Delle Sacche and saw the Alps in the far distance. It was amazing to see the mountains so far away stilled capped with snow. It's unusual to see such a sight in Venice when it is full of buildings and villas and less to see of a natural environment. So this gave me a chance to see the beauty of nature from afar.

—Cody Hoskins

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