The museum
Garden of questions

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A labyrinth to know and learn the rules of Jewish nutrition.

Sweet bay, myrtle, thyme, lavender and marjoram grow in the MEIS Garden of Questions; these are the herbs used in the havdalah, the prayer recited at the end of the Sabbath or Shabbat, to symbolically mark the end of a holiday and day of rest and usher in the new week.

Opening times

Tue-Sun: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Access to the Garden is included in the price of the museum entrance ticket.

General info

Concept
Sharon Reichel

Planning, direction and work coordination
Monica Bettocchi

Construction
Expoworld (Torino)

Size
32 m2

The work was also carried out through funding from the Ministry of Cultural Activities and Tourism and Ales S.p.A.

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We thought of a space where you can make mistakes without being judged and where learning was a game

Sharon Reichel (garden curator)

These herbs have been planted and arranged so as to trace out an itinerary – a learning path – where explanatory panels help provide an understanding of the rules of kasherut, the Jewish dietary laws, with particular reference to the use of meat, milk, fish and eggs.

Each of these four types of food is associated with a different point of entry into a small labyrinth. As they proceed, the visitors answer questions about the use of these elements in Jewish cuisine. A wrong answer sends them back, but an explanation of the correct rules gets them back on track.

Through a playful, interactive approach, the Garden thus brings the public closer to Jewish culture through its smells and flavors, answers certain rather widespread questions  for example, why Jews do not eat pork. It forces us reflect on our differences  as well as our many similarities  with other traditions.

The Garden also has an olive tree  one of the seven species mentioned in the bible along with the fig tree, pomegranate, grape vine, wheat, barley and date palm. It is a modular, environmentally-friendly place that extends over an area of thirty-two square meters, partially covered. It is an original, one-of-a-kind project in Italy.

Plan a visit
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In these gardens, the trees are arranged like walls between which many intersecting and confusing paths flow, all similar to each other. Their purpose is to lead to an exedra that is in the center of the garden. However, while some of these paths are straight and really lead to the exedra, others, by misleading, move away from it. Of course, those who walk the paths are unable to see or know if they are really on the right path or on a false one, because they all look alike and there is no difference between them for those who look at them.

Rav Moshe Chayim Luzzatto