The earliest attempt to introduce the spirit of the early modern period into synagogue music was undertaken in the early 16th century in northern Italy. The idea came from the Venetian rabbi and cantor Leon (Judah Aryeh) da Modena, who around 1605 organized and led choirs in Ferrara and later in a few other Jewish congregations. He encouraged his Jewish friend Salamone Rossi, a successful composer of madrigals and operas …