Scope and content:

Many of Moshe Lazar's areas of interest and expertise are grouped together in the series "Special Subjects," although there is considerable overlap with the other eighteen series. The seven boxes which comprise this series cover many topics including Samuel Beckett, Hieronymus Bosch, Marc Chagall, Courtly Love, Heaven and Hell, Italian Jewry, Jewish History, Arnold Schoenberg, and many other subjects. One particular subject of note is referred to simply as "Girona" from Lazar's own files. The medieval town of Girona had a small Jewish quarter called The Call (from the Hebrew "Cahal," meaning "center.") It was the area restricted to scholars and known as the birthplace of the Jewish Kabbalah. This neighborhood had been literally buried since the Spanish Inquisition and the land was to be developed as a shopping center when the story came to Lazar's attention in the 1980s. Lazar spearheaded a major acquisition and restoration project which resulted in rescuing the excavated community and preserving the oldest Jewish city in Europe. For his efforts, Lazar was awarded the insignia of the Orden del Mérito Civil by the consul general of Spain. The group of folders pertaining to the Girona project contain newspaper clippings, construction documents, correspondence related to the Friends of Girona Museum and Institute, a calendar and other ephemera showing photographs of the restored town, etc.

Contents

Access and use