Romaniotes
Encyclopedia
The Romaniotes or Romaniots are a Jewish population who have lived in the territory of today's Greece
and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and Greek
. They derived their name from the old name for the people of the Byzantine Empire, Romaioi
. Large communities were located in Thebes
, Ioannina
, Chalcis
, Corfu
, Arta
, Corinth and on the islands of Lesbos
, Chios
, Samos
, Rhodes
and Cyprus
, among others. The Romaniotes are historically distinct from the Sephardim, who settled in Greece after the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain
.
A majority of the Jewish population was killed in the Holocaust after Axis powers
occupied Greece during World War II
. They deported most of the Jews to concentration camps, where they were killed. After the war, a majority of the few surviving Jews emigrated to Israel
, the United States and western Europe. Today a total of only 4,500 to 6,000 Jews, of both Romaniotes and Sephardic descent, remain in Greece.
, a small coastal town between Athens
and Boeotia
, which refers to "Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew", who may have been a slave
. The Romaniotes are Greek Jews, distinct from both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Jews have lived in Greece possibly since the Babylonian exile. A Romaniote oral tradition tells that the first Jews arrived in Ioannina
shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple
in Jerusalem in 70 CE.
In the 12th century, Benjamin of Tudela
recorded details about communities of Jews in Corfu
, Arta
, Aphilon, Patras
, Corinth
, Thebes
, Chalkis, Thessaloniki
and Drama
. The largest community in Greece was in Thebes, where he found c. 2000 Jews. They engaged mostly in cloth dyeing, weaving
and making silk garments. At the time, they were known as "Romaniotes".
The Romaniotes had distinct customs, very different from those of the Sephardic Jews, and closer to those of the Italian Jews: some of these are thought to be based on the Jerusalem Talmud
instead of the Babylonian Talmud
. Unlike the Sephardic Jews, they did not speak Ladino, but the Yevanic
Greek dialect and Greek
. Romaniote scholars translated the Tanakh
into Greek. Early printed versions of the Bible
in Thessalonica showed the Hebrew text in the middle of the page, with Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) translation to one side and the Yevanic translation to the other.
Waves of Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain
in 1492; many settled in Ottoman
-ruled Greece. They were richer, and believed themselves more educated and cultivated than the Romaniotes, so they formed separate communities. They also spoke a separate language, Ladino
. Thessaloniki
had one of the largest (mostly Sephardic) Jewish communities in the world and a solid rabbinical tradition. On the island of Crete
, the Jews historically played an important part in the transport trade. In the centuries following 1492 most of the Romaniote communitities were assimilated by the more numerous Sephardim.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Romaniote community of Ioannina
numbered approximately 4000 people, mostly lower-class tradesmen and craftsmen. Economic emigration caused their numbers to dwindle and on the eve of World War II
, there were approximately 1950 Romaniotes left in Ioannina. Centered around the old fortified part of the city (or Kastro
), where the community had been living for centuries, they maintained two synagogues, one of which, the Kehila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue still remains today.
A strong Romaniote community was present in Corfu until the late 19th century, when a pogrom instigated by blood libel
forced most of the Jewish community to leave the island.
During World War II
, when Greece was occupied by the Axis powers, 86% of the Greek Jews, especially those in the areas occupied by Nazi Germany
and Bulgaria
, were murdered despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church
and many Christian
Greeks to shelter Jews. Although the Germans and Bulgarians deported numerous Greek Jews, many were hidden by their Greek neighbours. Roughly 49,000 Jews were deported from Thessaloniki
alone and were exterminated.
The Romaniotes were protected by the Greek government until the Nazi occupation. During the occupation, the Romaniotes could speak Greek
better than the Sephardim, who spoke Ladino
first and whose Greek had a distinct, "singing" accent
. The Sephardim were more vulnerable targets, and their language was one of the factors leading to such great losses among Sephardic communities. In Ioannina
1,860 out of 1,950 Jews were deported to Auschwitz and Birkenau in April 1944. Most of them were exterminated by the Nazis
.
The creation of the state of Israel in 1948, combined with the violence and anarchy of the Greek Civil War
, was the final episode in the history of the Romaniotes in Greece. The majority emigrated to Israel or the U.S.
, Ioannina
and Athens
. About 3,500 people live in Athens
, while another 1,000 live in Thessaloniki
. There are alo many in Israel
and the U.S. (mainly New York
). These communities, though they identify as Romaniotes, now use the Sephardic rite: the distinctive Romaniote rite does not survive except in the form of certain hymns used by communities such as Corfu.
, the remaining Romaniote community has withered to a number of 50 mostly elderly people. The Kehila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue remains locked, only opened for visitors on request. Immigrant Romaniotes return every summer and open the old synagogue. The last time a Bar Mitzvah (the Jewish ritual for celebrating the coming of age
of a child) was held in the synagogue was in 2000, and was an exceptional event for the community.http://www.edwardvictor.com/Ioannina.htm
The synagogue
is located in the old fortified part of the city known as "Kastro", at 16 Ioustinianou street. Its name means "the Old Synagogue". It was constructed in 1829, most probably over the ruins of an older synagogue. Its architecture is typical of the Ottoman
era, a large building made of stone. The interior of the synagogue is laid out in the Romaniote way: the Bimah
(where the Torah scrolls
are read out during service) is on a raised dais
on the western wall, the Aron haKodesh
(where the Torah scrolls
are kept) is on the eastern wall and at the middle there is a wide interior aisle
. The names of the Ioanniote Jews who were killed in the Holocaust are engraved in stone on the walls of the synagogue.
. Built in 1906, it has services only during the High Holy Days
, but is opened for visitors on request through the Jewish Community office.
The Jewish identity of a building found in the excavations of the ancient Agora in Athens, is questionable. It is believed that the Metroon
, found in 1930 at the foot of the hill Hephaestion
(Thesion) was used as a synagogue during its construction at the end of the 4th century CE (396-400). This view was expressed by the archaeologist H. Thompson, from the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, but was not developed into a complete theory. The Jewish identity of the Metroon was based on the small piece of marble found near the Metroon, that had two Jewish symbols carved on one side, and the resemblance of the building to the synagogue of Sardis in Asia Minor.
.jpg)
One hour boat ride from Piraeus, the port of Athens, one can visit the Romaniote synagogue of Aegina. The synagogue was discovered in 1829 in the city of Aegina, near the ancient military port. The synagogue was originally discovered by the German historian Ludwig Ross, from the royal court of Otto. The floor was covered in order to be protected and was studied again by Thiersch in 1901, Furtwängler in 1904, E. Sukenik in 1928, and finally by the German archaeologist Dr. G. Welter, in 1932. The studies were completed by the National Archaeological Service.
Based on the quality of the floor's mosaic, the building is believed to have been constructed in the 4th century CE (300-350 CE) and was used until the 7th century CE. The mosaic floor of the synagogue still survives (see photo below) and is made up of multi-colored tesserae, that create the impression of a carpet, in a geometric pattern of blue, gray, red and white. Two Greek inscriptions were found in front of the synagogue's entrance, on the western side of the building. Today, only part of the synagogue's mosaic floor is extant, and it has been moved from its original location to the courtyard of the island's Archaeological Museum.
Only one Romaniote synagogue
is in operation in the entire Western Hemisphere
: Kehila Kedosha Janina
, at 280 Broome Street, in the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
, where it is used by the Romaniote emigrant community. While it maintains a mailing list
of 3,000 persons, it often has difficulty meeting the minyan
or quorum
for worship
on Shabbat
and Jewish holidays. It is open for guided tours to visitors
on Sundays.
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and neighboring areas with large Greek populations for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. They derived their name from the old name for the people of the Byzantine Empire, Romaioi
Byzantine Greeks
Byzantine Greeks or Byzantines is a conventional term used by modern historians to refer to the medieval Greek or Hellenised citizens of the Byzantine Empire, centered mainly in Constantinople, the southern Balkans, the Greek islands, Asia Minor , Cyprus and the large urban centres of the Near East...
. Large communities were located in Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
, Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, Chalcis
Chalcis
Chalcis or Chalkida , the chief town of the island of Euboea in Greece, is situated on the strait of the Evripos at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from antiquity and is derived from the Greek χαλκός , though there is no trace of any mines in the area...
, Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...
, Corinth and on the islands of Lesbos
Lesbos Island
Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island. It is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait....
, Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
, Samos
Samos Island
Samos is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of Asia Minor, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate regional unit of the North Aegean region, and the only municipality of the regional...
, Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, among others. The Romaniotes are historically distinct from the Sephardim, who settled in Greece after the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain
Alhambra decree
The Alhambra Decree was an edict issued on 31 March 1492 by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ordering the expulsion of Jews from the Kingdom of Spain and its territories and possessions by 31 July of that year.The edict was formally revoked on 16 December 1968, following the Second...
.
A majority of the Jewish population was killed in the Holocaust after Axis powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
occupied Greece during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They deported most of the Jews to concentration camps, where they were killed. After the war, a majority of the few surviving Jews emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, the United States and western Europe. Today a total of only 4,500 to 6,000 Jews, of both Romaniotes and Sephardic descent, remain in Greece.
History
The earliest reference to a Greek Jew is an inscription dated c. 300-250 BCE, found in OroposOropos
Oropos is a small town and a municipality in East Attica, Greece.-Geography:It is situated on the southern Euboean Gulf, opposite Eretria. Oropos is located N of Avlona and Athens, E of Thebes and SE of Chalcis. Oropos is linked with the road linking Nea Palatia and Sikamino...
, a small coastal town between Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
and Boeotia
Boeotia
Boeotia, also spelled Beotia and Bœotia , is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. It was also a region of ancient Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, the second largest city being Thebes.-Geography:...
, which refers to "Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew", who may have been a slave
Slavery in antiquity
Slavery in the ancient world, specifically, in Mediterranean cultures, comprised a mixture of debt-slavery, slavery as a punishment for crime, and the enslavement of prisoners of war....
. The Romaniotes are Greek Jews, distinct from both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Jews have lived in Greece possibly since the Babylonian exile. A Romaniote oral tradition tells that the first Jews arrived in Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
in Jerusalem in 70 CE.
In the 12th century, Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela
Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
recorded details about communities of Jews in Corfu
Corfu
Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...
, Arta
Arta, Greece
Arta is a city with a rich history in northwestern Greece, capital of the peripheral unit of Arta, which is part of Epirus region. The city was known in ancient times as Ambracia . Arta is famous for its old bridge located over the Arachthos River, situated west of downtown...
, Aphilon, Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
, Corinth
Corinth
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Corinth, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit...
, Thebes
Thebes, Greece
Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. It played an important role in Greek myth, as the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus and others...
, Chalkis, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and Drama
Drama, Greece
Drama , the ancient Drabescus , is a town and municipality in northeastern Greece. Drama is the capital of the peripheral unit of Drama which is part of the East Macedonia and Thrace periphery. The town is the economic center of the municipality , which in turn comprises 53.5 percent of the...
. The largest community in Greece was in Thebes, where he found c. 2000 Jews. They engaged mostly in cloth dyeing, weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
and making silk garments. At the time, they were known as "Romaniotes".
The Romaniotes had distinct customs, very different from those of the Sephardic Jews, and closer to those of the Italian Jews: some of these are thought to be based on the Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
instead of the Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. Unlike the Sephardic Jews, they did not speak Ladino, but the Yevanic
Yevanic language
Yevanic, otherwise known as Judeo-Greek, was the dialect of the Romaniotes, the group of Greek Jews whose existence in Greece is documented since the Hellenistic period. Its linguistic lineage stems from the Hellenistic Koine and includes Hebrew elements as well. It was mutually intelligible with...
Greek dialect and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. Romaniote scholars translated the Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
into Greek. Early printed versions of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
in Thessalonica showed the Hebrew text in the middle of the page, with Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) translation to one side and the Yevanic translation to the other.
Waves of Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1492; many settled in Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
-ruled Greece. They were richer, and believed themselves more educated and cultivated than the Romaniotes, so they formed separate communities. They also spoke a separate language, Ladino
Ladino
Ladino may refer to:*Ladino is the name used primarily in Israel for Judaeo-Spanish, a Sephardic language, primarily spoken among Sephardic Jews, or for the written form used in religious texts and translations; compare to Ashkenazic Jews' language, Yiddish*Ladino is also used for the variety of...
. Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
had one of the largest (mostly Sephardic) Jewish communities in the world and a solid rabbinical tradition. On the island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, the Jews historically played an important part in the transport trade. In the centuries following 1492 most of the Romaniote communitities were assimilated by the more numerous Sephardim.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Romaniote community of Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
numbered approximately 4000 people, mostly lower-class tradesmen and craftsmen. Economic emigration caused their numbers to dwindle and on the eve of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, there were approximately 1950 Romaniotes left in Ioannina. Centered around the old fortified part of the city (or Kastro
Kastro
- Places :*Kastro, a town in the municipality of Kastro-Kyllini in Greece*Kastro, a Late Bronze-Early Iron Age settlement near the modern village of Kavousi in eastern Crete*Kastros, a Neolithic settlement on the island of Cyprus- People :...
), where the community had been living for centuries, they maintained two synagogues, one of which, the Kehila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue still remains today.
A strong Romaniote community was present in Corfu until the late 19th century, when a pogrom instigated by blood libel
Blood libel
Blood libel is a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, usually Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays...
forced most of the Jewish community to leave the island.
Holocaust
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when Greece was occupied by the Axis powers, 86% of the Greek Jews, especially those in the areas occupied by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, were murdered despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
and many Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Greeks to shelter Jews. Although the Germans and Bulgarians deported numerous Greek Jews, many were hidden by their Greek neighbours. Roughly 49,000 Jews were deported from Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
alone and were exterminated.
The Romaniotes were protected by the Greek government until the Nazi occupation. During the occupation, the Romaniotes could speak Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
better than the Sephardim, who spoke Ladino
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
first and whose Greek had a distinct, "singing" accent
Accent (linguistics)
In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation.An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside , the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language In...
. The Sephardim were more vulnerable targets, and their language was one of the factors leading to such great losses among Sephardic communities. In Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
1,860 out of 1,950 Jews were deported to Auschwitz and Birkenau in April 1944. Most of them were exterminated by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
.
The creation of the state of Israel in 1948, combined with the violence and anarchy of the Greek Civil War
Greek Civil War
The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...
, was the final episode in the history of the Romaniotes in Greece. The majority emigrated to Israel or the U.S.
Present day
Today a small number of Romaniotes live in Greece, approximately 4,500 to 6,000 Jews living in Greece today, both from the Romaniotes and the Sephardi subgroups; mainly in ThessalonikiThessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
, Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
and Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. About 3,500 people live in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, while another 1,000 live in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
. There are alo many in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and the U.S. (mainly New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
). These communities, though they identify as Romaniotes, now use the Sephardic rite: the distinctive Romaniote rite does not survive except in the form of certain hymns used by communities such as Corfu.
Ioannina
In IoanninaIoannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, the remaining Romaniote community has withered to a number of 50 mostly elderly people. The Kehila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue remains locked, only opened for visitors on request. Immigrant Romaniotes return every summer and open the old synagogue. The last time a Bar Mitzvah (the Jewish ritual for celebrating the coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
of a child) was held in the synagogue was in 2000, and was an exceptional event for the community.http://www.edwardvictor.com/Ioannina.htm
The synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
is located in the old fortified part of the city known as "Kastro", at 16 Ioustinianou street. Its name means "the Old Synagogue". It was constructed in 1829, most probably over the ruins of an older synagogue. Its architecture is typical of the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
era, a large building made of stone. The interior of the synagogue is laid out in the Romaniote way: the Bimah
Bimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
(where the Torah scrolls
Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
are read out during service) is on a raised dais
Dais
Dais is any raised platform located either in or outside of a room or enclosure, often for dignified occupancy, as at the front of a lecture hall or sanctuary....
on the western wall, the Aron haKodesh
Ark (synagogue)
The Torah ark or ark in a synagogue is known in Hebrew as the Aron Kodesh by the Ashkenazim and as the Hekhál amongst most Sefardim. It is generally a receptacle, or ornamental closet, which contains each synagogue's Torah scrolls...
(where the Torah scrolls
Sefer Torah
A Sefer Torah of Torah” or “Torah scroll”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah or Pentateuch, the holiest book within Judaism. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish services...
are kept) is on the eastern wall and at the middle there is a wide interior aisle
Aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...
. The names of the Ioanniote Jews who were killed in the Holocaust are engraved in stone on the walls of the synagogue.
Athens
The Ioanniotiki Synagogue, situated above the Jewish Community of Athens offices at #8 Melidoni St., is the only Romaniote synagogue in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. Built in 1906, it has services only during the High Holy Days
High Holy Days
The High Holidays or High Holy Days, in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim , may mean:#strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;...
, but is opened for visitors on request through the Jewish Community office.
The Jewish identity of a building found in the excavations of the ancient Agora in Athens, is questionable. It is believed that the Metroon
Metroon
Metroon was the name given to a building dedicated to the mother goddess, Cybele, Rhea, or Demeter, in Ancient Greece.- Agora, Athens :...
, found in 1930 at the foot of the hill Hephaestion
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus, also known as the Hephaisteion or earlier as the Theseion, is the best-preserved ancient Greek temple; it remains standing largely as built. It is a Doric peripteral temple, and is located at the north-west side of the Agora of Athens, on top of the Agoraios Kolonos hill....
(Thesion) was used as a synagogue during its construction at the end of the 4th century CE (396-400). This view was expressed by the archaeologist H. Thompson, from the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, but was not developed into a complete theory. The Jewish identity of the Metroon was based on the small piece of marble found near the Metroon, that had two Jewish symbols carved on one side, and the resemblance of the building to the synagogue of Sardis in Asia Minor.
Aegina
Based on the quality of the floor's mosaic, the building is believed to have been constructed in the 4th century CE (300-350 CE) and was used until the 7th century CE. The mosaic floor of the synagogue still survives (see photo below) and is made up of multi-colored tesserae, that create the impression of a carpet, in a geometric pattern of blue, gray, red and white. Two Greek inscriptions were found in front of the synagogue's entrance, on the western side of the building. Today, only part of the synagogue's mosaic floor is extant, and it has been moved from its original location to the courtyard of the island's Archaeological Museum.
United States
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
is in operation in the entire Western Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere or western hemisphere is mainly used as a geographical term for the half of the Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian and east of the Antimeridian , the other half being called the Eastern Hemisphere.In this sense, the western hemisphere consists of the western portions...
: Kehila Kedosha Janina
Kehila Kedosha Janina
Kehila Kedosha Janina is a Romaniote synagogue situated in Chinatown, in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.-History:Kehila Kedosha Janina holds the distinction of being the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere. The congregation was founded in 1906 by Greek Jewish...
, at 280 Broome Street, in the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where it is used by the Romaniote emigrant community. While it maintains a mailing list
Mailing list
A mailing list is a collection of names and addresses used by an individual or an organization to send material to multiple recipients. The term is often extended to include the people subscribed to such a list, so the group of subscribers is referred to as "the mailing list", or simply "the...
of 3,000 persons, it often has difficulty meeting the minyan
Minyan
A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum of ten Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. According to many non-Orthodox streams of Judaism adult females count in the minyan....
or quorum
Quorum
A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly necessary to conduct the business of that group...
for worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
on Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and Jewish holidays. It is open for guided tours to visitors
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
on Sundays.
Israel
The Yanina Synagogue is located in the Ohel Moshe neighbourhood, in Nahlaot, Jerusalem.Notable Romaniotes
- Elijah MizrachiElijah MizrachiElijah Mizrachi was a Talmudist and posek, an authority on Halakha. He is best known for his Sefer ha-Mizrachi, a supercommentary on Rashi's commentary on the Torah...
, Hakham BashiHakham BashiHakham Bashi is the Turkish name for the Chief Rabbi of the nation's Jewish community.-History:The institution of the Hakham Bashi was established by the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II, as part of the millet system for governing exceedingly diverse subjects according to their own laws and authorities...
of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. - Mordehai FrizisMordehai FrizisColonel Mordehai Frizis was a Romaniote Jew, officer of the Greek Army who reached the rank of Colonel and was killed during the Greco-Italian War on 5 December 1940, fighting against the Julia Division. He was one of the first senior officers of the Hellenic Army to be killed in action during the...
, officer of the Greek Army during the Greco-Italian WarGreco-Italian WarThe Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...
. - Rae DalvenRae DalvenRae Dalven was a Romaniote author living in the United States of America since 1909...
, a prominent Romaniotissa, particularly noted for her translation of modern Greek poetry. - Amalia Vaka, a singer of Greek traditional and rembetiko songs with a successful career in the United States.
- Gabrielle CarterisGabrielle CarterisGabrielle Anne Carteris is an American actress known for her role as Andrea Zuckerman on the early seasons of the 1990s television series Beverly Hills, 90210.-Personal life:...
, actress. - Jack H. JacobsJack H. JacobsJack Howard Jacobs is a retired colonel in the United States Army and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions during the Vietnam War. He currently serves as a military analyst for MSNBC and previously worked as an investment manager....
, Vietnam War veteran. Medal of Honor recipient. - Albert CohenAlbert CohenAlbert Cohen was a Greek-born Romaniote Jewish Swiss novelist who wrote in French. He worked as a civil servant for various international organizations, such as the International Labour Organization...
, Swiss French-speaking writer.
See also
- Jews in Greece
- Greek citronGreek citronThe Greek citron variety of citrus medica was botanically classified by Adolf Engler as the "variety etrog". This is remarking on its major use for the Jewish ritual during Sukkot, due to its supposedly extraordinary natural beauty. It was also called Pitima, or the Cedro - Citron with a Pigolo -...
- ThessalonikiThessalonikiThessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
and IoanninaIoanninaIoannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
, the two cities in Greece with the most prominent Jewish communities - Yanina Synagogue
External links
- Vincent Giordano, Before the Flame Goes Out: A Document of the Romaniote Jews of Ioannina and New York, sponsored by The International Survey of Jewish Monuments.
- Kehila Kedosha Janina, Romaniote Synagogue in New York (official site)
- Edward Victor, Ioannina, Greece: account of the Kehila Kedosha Yashan Synagogue in Ioannina, with photos. (personal site)
- Deborah S. Esquenazi, The pre-Ashkenazi and Sephardi Romaniote Jews, Jerusalem Post Magazine, October 5, 2006.
- Isaac Dostis Farewell My Island
- Siddur Tefillot ha-Shanah le-minhag kehillot Romania, Venice 1523, Romaniote prayer book Marie-Élisabeth Handman , « L’Autre des non-juifs …et des juifs : les romaniotes » (The Other for Non-Jews … and Jews: the Romaniots), Études balkaniques, 9 | 2002
Sources
- Connerty, Mary C. Judeo-Greek: The Language, The Culture. Jay Street Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-889534-88-9
- Dalven, RaeRae DalvenRae Dalven was a Romaniote author living in the United States of America since 1909...
. The Jews of Ioannina. Cadmus Press, 1989. ISBN 0-930685-03-2 - Fromm, Annette B. Folklore and Ethnic Identity of the Jewish Community of Ioannina, Greece. Lexington Books, 2008, ISBN 9780739120613
- Goldschmidt, Daniel, Meḥqare Tefillah u-Fiyyut (On Jewish Liturgy), Jerusalem 1978 (in Hebrew): one chapter sets out the Romaniote liturgy.