August 20, 1999/8 Elul 5759, Vol. 51, No.46
Remembering a rich heritage Jewish sites in Greece resonate with the pastVICKI CABOT
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 The bimah of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue in Rhodes is located at the center of the sanctuary in Sephardic style. Photo by Vick Cabot |
Some images chronicle their births and deaths, their weddings and b'nai mitzvah, their Shabbat observances and holiday celebrations. Others catch the exuberance of teenage youth, the joy of a couple under the chuppah (wedding canopy), the respect of a community for one of its teachers.
Photos capture what was good in their lives, what gave their days meaning, what they wanted to pass on to their children and grandchildren. The photographic story hints at the tragic end, but focuses on what they had, not what they lost.
That's left for Lucia Sulam to tell, in Ladino, the lyrical ancient Spanish language brought to the island by Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution centuries ago. Rolling up a sleeve of her simple cotton house dress, Lucia shows visitors the blue number tattooed on her arm. She was one of a handful of Jews who returned to the island after World War II from the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, she says. Now she is the only one left.
Lucia escorts visitors through the shul, showing off the lovingly restored synagogue and adjacent museum which make an eloquent statement, as does she, about the far reach of Jewish life and its capacity to endure.
Jews have lived in Greece since the third century B.C.E. Historical records describe an influx of Jews, most likely from Alexandria or Antioch, to cities including Salonika, Corinth, Patras, Samos and Rhodes at about that time.
According to the Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens, those early Greek Jews became known as Romaniotes during the time of the Roman Empire. Although they retained their distinctive religious identity, they were heavily influenced by the dominant culture, and their fortunes determined by the whims of the prevailing rulers.
In 1492, when Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal by the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella, Greece, which then was part of the Byzantine Empire, welcomed an estimated 30,000 Spanish Jews. They were invited by the empire's Sultan Beyazid II, who saw them as an asset. These Spanish (Sephardic) Jews, soon dominated many of the Romaniote communities. Some locales, such as Salonika, became well-known places of Jewish learning. Others, including Rhodes, evolved as small but important centers of Jewish life.
The Kahal Shalom Synagogue in Rhodes (its full name is Kahal Kodosh Shalom, Holy Congregation of Peace) stands as a reminder of those times. Tucked behind a stone wall off a cobblestoned street in the old city, it is located in what was once the island's Juderia (Jewish Quarter).
Built in 1577, Kahal Shalom once was one of six synagogues on Rhodes. Today it is the only synagogue still in use. Services are held when visitors or former residents and their families visit.
Entered through a courtyard, its sanctuary reflects the Sephardic influence, with a striking wrought-iron bimah (platform) at its center, facing southeast toward Jerusalem. The floor is covered in black-and-white pebbled mosaic characteristic of Greek island design. Greek, too, is the cool pale blue of the room's stucco walls, enhanced with delicate stenciled artwork.
Stone pillars further echo the Greek influence, with gray, black and gold designs at their capitals. Plush maroon drapes hold off the afternoon heat; the same fabric, embellished with thick gold embroidery, covers the ark. A beautiful crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling in the center of the room.
Lucia tells visitors that she was in Auschwitz. After the war she made her way to Italy, and then to Rhodes. Her three daughters live in Israel, she says, but "me queda por la sinagoga" (I stay because of the synagogue).
Many of the island's estimated 4,000 Jews left at the beginning of the 20th century in search of economic opportunity. Even more fled in the late 1930s because of repressive anti-Jewish laws passed by the Italian government then controlling the island.
Rhodes was occupied by Germany and on July 23, 1944, 1,623 community members were deported to Auschwitz. According to synagogue records, only 151 survived the death camps. Lucia says that seven families returned, about 35 people. A memorial plaque on the west entry of the synagogue lists the family names of those who perished.
Although the Jewish Museum in Athens lacks the picturesque charm of the restored Rhodes synagogue, the stunning contemporary multi-level facility, housed in a beautiful building on Nikis Street, contains a fascinating collection of Greek Jewish artifacts. Founded in 1977, and recently installed in its new quarters, the museum chronicles the more than 2,000 years of Jewish life in Greece. Highlights include the restored interior of a typical Romaniote synagogue and a fascinating collection of religious items and traditional costumes. Of special note is a display of tikim (decorative hexagonal wooden boxes) used by Romaniote Jews to encase their Torahs; and an extensive exhibit dedicated to the Holocaust.
Museum officials estimate that 87 percent of Greek Jews perished at the hands of the Nazis. Some 65,000 were deported; approximately 10,000 survived, many immigrating to Israel or other countries overseas after World War II. An estimated 5,000 Jews now live in Greece, including some 3,000 in Athens.
Guides provide an overview of the museum, but wandering alone from level to level reinforces the personal nature of the collection and the universality of Jewish ritual and practice among Diaspora Jews.
Display cases are filled with shofarim (ram's horns traditionally blown on the High Holidays) and prayer books. Candlesticks in silver and thick brass gleam behind glass enclosures. A holiday exhibit contains intricate hanukkiot (Hanukkah candelabras), trays used on the Passover seder table and megillot (cases containing the scroll of Esther, read on Purim).
Distinctive painted designs and embroidered motifs identify many of the items as distinctly Greek. But as at the synagogue in Rhodes, there is an overwhelming resonance of Jewish life.