The depressing news (via LGF) that Notre Dame has been “Hit With Anti-Semitic Graffiti” created a sad echo for me:
Anti-Semitic graffiti, including a sign saying “death to Jews,” was found Saturday scrawled on the grounds of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.
From Toni Kamins’ excellent Jewish Guide to France:
Other than the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame is Paris’ most identifiable landmark. This symbol of French Catholicism also is emblematic of the centuries old conflict between Christianity and Judaism. On either side of the central portal, in tall niches, are two female figures, Ecclesia and Synagoga. On the left as you face it is Ecclesia, a beautiful woman wearing a crown. She represents the Roman Church. On the right is Synagoga, a woman blinded by a serpent around her eyes, with her head bowed, and her staff shattered; the tablets of the law slip from her hand. She represents Judaism. Variations of these figures are common in church architecture all over Europe and in medieval art as well.
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