Published: April 2008
Beginning with a worship service at the McMullen Museum’s exhibit Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire, the semi-annual student-faculty Shabbat celebration, sponsored by Hillel of Boston College, attracted some 70 participants on April 4. “This is one of those things that Boston College does best,” said museum director Nancy Netzer in describing the diversity of attendants. “Faculty, students, and staff were there; Jews, Muslims, African-Americans, Christians, Asians—it was a beautiful mix.” It is likely, she noted, that in the 6th century a similarly varied group worshipped in the proximity of items in the exhibit, which include the reconstruction of a synagogue’s mosaic floor (in foreground of photo), created in about 500 C.E. in Hammam Lif, Tunisia. “For all we know, this could be the first time in 1,500 years that a liturgy has been conducted near these parts of the synagogue.”