Today we went to visit the Jewish Museum and the two synagogues. Our tour guide took us to the small synagogue first, allowing us to sit in the pews as she told us about where everyone sat and how the services would go. I learned that there used to be five major synagogues in Rome, but all except the two we toured in Rome had burned down.

Everything in the synagogues were so beautiful and ornate. There was not a space left undecorated in shining gold or rich colors. The tapestries that they used to preserve the Torah were very intricate and one from Venice that we viewed in the museum was made with silk and pure silver, along with real jewels. We learned that the silver had not corroded because of the silk that it was used with.

During our tour we also saw the cultural difference between the Orthodox and Reform Jews. It was interesting to see the feelings of the two sides come out right in front of us instead of just reading about them. Surprisingly, the tour guide allowed us to take pictures in the synagogues when in years past I heard that they hadn’t. I captured a picture of the amazing altar.