I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.
This is a line from Genesis and it is God's promise to Abraham, that his descents will be as numerous as the stars in the sky or the sands on the beach.
Why do I care about this?
Well, along with visiting Venice and other places in Italy, Rick Steves (who I met the other day) takes us into the former Jewish Ghetto in Trastevere, Rome. He has a wonderful tour guide for this journey and she explains many things and puts them into context, for the viewer. I knew nothing of any of this, but after seeing the program many times, I am quite well versed in the history.
There is a Temple, known as The Great Synagogue, in Trastevere. The Synagogue was built by Christian builders and yet, the Jewish population managed to bring their religion into the building. There is a rainbow, to symbolize God's promise to never flood the world again. Then there is this photo, which shows off a part of the ceiling of this Temple and it is the symbolic reference to the line in Genesis.
Roman Jews are neither Ashkenazic or Sephardic, since they left the Holy Land before the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The Jewish population are known as Roman Jews.
If you have time, I highly recommend digging into the history of this time and this place. It is indeed, fascinating.
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