I’m looking at the Valley of the Temples— Greek temples, in Agrigento, Sicily. this morning, Griffin and I took a tour of the lower levels of the church next to our hotel in Siracusa- on the Via Della Giudecca. Three(!!) levels down was the miqveh made out of the Ancient Greek cistern. It’s the only current entrance to the tunnels dug by the ancient Greeks when they built Siracusa, then used as bomb shelter by civilians during the bombing of WW2. There were scribbles on the wall left by someone marking all the planes that dropped bombs: German, British, American, plus parachuters. During the war, 10,000 people sheltered there for three years, and there were 22 entrances all over the island of Ortigia.
Then, the other side of the plaza held this incredible book store owned by a Jewish publishing house based in Krakow. So many beautiful posters and notebooks, plus books in Polish, Italian and Hebrew. Yiddish alphabet posters, as well as other alphabets: Chinese and Japanese. But the thing I bought was a collection of Freylakhs from Ukraine. The publisher also gathers klezmer from around Eastern Europe.
My family is gathering for an early Seder right now as I write this. They’re in my aunt Susan’s house, where we’ve held countless Seders in the past. But she’s selling the house, so it will probably be the last one there. A lot of feelings at this moment.
