Stone witnesses to Jewish heritage

The ShUM communities welcome community centres containing synagogues, mikvehsan d cemeteries, which have a significant influence on the ritual buildings and burial culture of Jewish communities in Ashkenaz. The separate prayer rooms for women set up in the centres, known as women’s shuln, document the high social status held by women in the ShUM communities. They grant women the right to participate in services. The buildings and cemeteries are destroyed and recovered several times over. The traces of these developments reflect the history of Christian-Jewish encounters, with periods of participation, cultural exchange but also violent persecution.