The Beirut Synagogue
..... ....But this very attractive synagogue is still to be seen, though neglected and looted. It has been pillaged, the ceiling has fallen down and the woodwork lies about the floor. Wanting a building worthy to be a “House of Prayers” (syn-agoga in Greek means an assembly place for the faithful), Mr. Sasson, his son, and then Joseph David Farhi created a little jewel. There is a spacious nave, with two side aisles separated by elegant colonnades joined to each other by arches. Facing as one stands in the nave is the raised floor of the choir or béma or sanctuary, reached by marble steps, and here there used to be the pulpit of the lector or the commentator on the Bible, which a liturgical server used to put away in a piece of sacred furniture hidden by a veil or sliding curtain (Luke 4/20). Along the walls on a level with the arches joining the columns one sees the Seal of Solomon in colour surrounded by gold and the six-pointed Star of David (two equilateral triangles together). The walls on the side are sadly dilapidated. The whole rectangular layout (30m by 20m in the nave) is orientated north-south towards Jerusalem, as is only appropriate. The lamps, trumpets, carpets, benches and seats have all been looted, except those removed in time, as also the sacred rolls..... ....
Decree
N. 2385 of 17/1/1924 as amended by law N. 76 of 3/4/1999 ( articles 2, 5, 15,
49 and 85 ) lays down as follows:
The author of a literary or artistic work, by the very fact of authorship, has
absolute right of ownership over the work, without obligation of recourse to
formal procedures . The author will himself enjoy the benefit of exploitation
of his work, and he possesses exclusive rights of publication and of the reproduction
under any form whatsoever. Whether the work in question comes under the public
domain or not those persons will be liable to imprisonment for a period of one
to three years and to fine of between five and fifty million Lebanese pounds,
or to either one of these penalties, who
1-will
have appended or caused to be appended a usurped name on a literary or artistic
work;
2-will have fraudulently imitated the signature or trademark adopted by an author,
with a view to deceiving the buyer;
3-will have counterfeited a literary or artistic work;
4-or will have knowingly sold, received, or put on sale or into circulation
a work which is counterfeit or signed with a forged signature.
The punishment will be increased in the event of repetition.