History of Jews in India

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The first Jews in India are believed to have settled on the Malabar coast around the middle of the 9th century BCE –  some 2,800 years ago.

After the death of King Solomon [931 BC],  Israel split into two Kingdoms, Israel and Judah, ruled by rival kings for more than 200 years, until the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom and carried off most of the population. These are the Lost Tribes of Israel, and some of them are believed to have fled to India and settled on the Konkan coast and in Kerala.

–  Jo Cohen, April 24, 2007, Excerpts from her speech, “Traders from the Middle East: The Jewish Community in Calcutta”

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Of all the Diaspora communities, the Jews of India are among the least known but perhaps among the most interesting. This post introduces us to three of India’s major historical Jewish communities: Bene Israel, a 2800 year old community settled mainly in and around Mumbai; Cochin Jews, an ancient 2000 year old community whose members have mostly emigrated to Israel; and Baghdadi Jews, a 300 year old community based in Calcutta that originated from Jewish business people who came from Baghdad beginning in the 17th century..

Judaism is one of the first foreign religions to arrive in India with history dating back to King Solomon’s reign in 970-931 BCE. The population of Jews remaining in India is very small, but their cultural history is vast.

The story of the Bene Israel (“Sons of Israel”) ancestors tells of members from the “Ten Lost Tribes” of Israel that escaped persecution from Greek ruler Antiochus Epihanes in the year 175 BCE. They landed shipwrecked on the shores of Navgaon, now the site of a historic Bene Israel cemetery. They are the oldest and largest group of Indian Jews.

Despite the loss of their holy books when they arrived in India, they persevered and continued to observe the sabbath, celebrate the major festivals, circumcise their sons and perform most of the prescribed offerings mentioned in the Bible.

Settling in Konkan, the Bene Israelis learned the native Marathi language and adopted local customs. They took up oil pressing and became known as “Shanwar Telis” (Shabbat-observing oilmen.) To assimilate into the local culture they gave themselves Hindu names similar to their Biblical first names, but became known by their “-kar” surnames, which indicated the village in which they lived; for example, Navgaonkar came from the village of Navgaon. More than one hundred village surnames can be found among members of the Bene Israel community today. Due to years of intermarriage between Jews and Indians and assimilation into the culture,the Jews began to resemble the Maratha people in appearance and customs.

It wasn’t until the eighteenth and nineteenth century that teachers from Baghdad and Cochin taught them mainstream Judaism. It was then that they were finally able to read the Torah, and build on their Jewish teachings and culture.

In the mid-18th century, developments in transportation and opportunities for jobs in the army brought many Bene Israelis to Bombay. Under the rule of Governor Gerald Aungier, Bombay was very tolerant of different religions and Jews were able to practice freely. The Bene Israelis were a strong driving force for the British army at this time, known for their spirit and valor.

Commandant Samaji Hasaji Divekar was a legendary Bene Israeli soldier who was captured while fighting for the British against the kingdom of Mysore in South India. He was ordered to be executed by the King of Mysore, Tipu Sultan, when the king’s mother miraculously intervened and argued that he was protected by the Koran as one of the Chosen People and therefore should not be killed. Afterwards, Divekar went on to build the first Bene Israeli synagogue in India. Built in 1796, the synagogue was named “Shaar Harahamim,” or “Gate of Mercy”.

Bene Israelis were a large presence in Mumbai, known for excelling in the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as holding high positions in government. The first Bene Israeli school was built in 1875 by Samuel Haeem Kehimkar and was named “Israelite School,” although it was renamed in 1934 to Sir Elly Kadoorie School. Dr. E. Moses, a Bene Israeli, was mayor of Bombay in 1937. Bene Israelis also worked as doctors, lawyers, engineers, writers, educators, architects, and social workers.

By the time of Indian Independence in 1947, the Bene Israeli population stood at about 20,000. When Israel was established in 1948, however, this number dramatically dropped due to the high amount of immigration to the new state. The Bene Israeli community in India now lives primarily in Mumbai, with the population remaining in India only about a thousand.

Here’s an article on the immigration of Indian Jews to Israel:

https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-72-arrivals-from-india-make-their-home-in-the-jewish-state/

Cochin Jews, also known as the Kerala Jews, are a diverse group, beginning with the so-called “Black Jews” who are said to have settled on the Malabar coast during the times of King Solomon of Israel, arriving as sailors who came to India for trade. It is also said that many Jewish exiles fled to India following the destruction of the First Temple during the Siege of Jerusalem in 587 BCE. Records show that after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, thousands of Jewish settlers arrived in the ancient port of Cranganore, near Cochin. They formed many small communities in coastal towns surrounding Cochin, speaking a Judeo-Malayalam tongue. Much later, in the fifteenth century, Pardesi, or “White Jews” arrived from western European countries such as Holland and Spain. They spoke the ancient Sephardic language of Ladino.

In 1524, the Moors, backed by the ruler of Calicut (Kozhikode) attacked the Jews believing they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja, who granted them an area to create their own town which later acquired the name “Jew Town,” by which it is still known today.

Unfortunately for the Jews of Cochin, the Portuguese occupied Cochin in this same period and persecuted the Jews until the Dutch displaced them in 1660. The Dutch protestants were tolerant and the Jews prospered. British influence then came to Cochin in 1795, and Cochin Jews once again lived peacefully. In 1891, there were 1,142 Jews living in Cochin.

The vast majority of Cochin Jews have since emigrated, intermarried, and converted. Today’s population has withered to approximately 50.

The Baghdadi Jewish community consists of Jews who are descendants of immigrants from Baghdad, Iraq and surrounding areas. The history of Jewish tradesmen from Baghdad traveling to India dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The city of Surat (present day Gujarat) was previously a main commercial city in India and where many Baghdadi Jews originally settled. They operated many small businesses and became important figures in the Indian economy. The Sassoon family is a Baghdadi family known for their business activities as well as their contributions to India, including hospitals, schools, libraries, and monuments.

The city of Calcutta (present day Kolkata), was also a commercial hub that attracted many visitors, including Jews. It was previously the capital of British India, and many Jews would visit for trade. The first recorded Jew to settle in Calcutta was Shalom ben Aaron ben Obadiah Ha-Cohen, who arrived on August 1, 1798 from Aleppo, Syria. He had first visited Surat, where he met his business partner Jacob ben Semah ben Nissim, and started establishing trade operations. Shalom Cohen was very successful in not only business, but in establishing a thriving Baghdadi Jewish community in Calcutta.

The wealthier Baghdadi Jews became more assimilated into British culture, speaking mainly in English and adopting British customs. In the late 19th century, many wealthy Baghdadis moved to England. Those who remained in India became more assimilated into Indian society as well as other Indian Jewish communities. In the 1940s, the number of Baghdadi Jews in India was 7,000. Today, that number has lessoned dramatically to only about 50. The community in Calcutta is small, but still thriving with three synagogues, a cemetery, and the legendary bakery, Nahoum’s.

Here’s an interesting Times of India article about Kolkata’s 115-year-old Jewish bakery, Nahoum and Sons

In December of 2020 Israel welcomed over 250 members of India’s Bnei Menashe Jewish Community to move to the holy land. You can read about it here.

For examples of delicious cuisine, check out our recipes for Indian Charoset and Indian Jewish Sangria.

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Sources:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/india-virtual-jewish-history-tour

http://www.bh.org.il/bene-israel-mumbai-india/

http://adaniel.tripod.com/baghdadi.htm

http://www.firstpost.com/living/the-bene-israel-and-baghdadi-jews-of-india-a-history-of-this-minority-community-2869860.html

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4435-cochin

Who Are the Jews of India? By Nathan Katz 

Spice & Kosher: Exotic Cuisine of the Cochin Jews by Dr. Essie Sassoon, Bala Menon, and Kenny Salem

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I would like to thank my cousin, David Goldfarb, who was the spokesman of the Israeli Embassy in Delhi from 2010 to 2013 and provided us with helpful sources. I would also like to thank Jo Cohen from the Jewish community in Calcutta. You can read her full speech here, and Sinhora Sassoon from the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee who provided information on Bene Israelis.

Peak Population of Jews in India: 30,000 in 1948

Population of Jews in India Today: 5,000

Population of Indian Jews in Israel: >70,000 in 2015

History of Jews in Italy

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I asked an Italian Jewish friend to describe the essence of Italian Jews in his experience. He wrote the following:

“Growing up as an Italian Jew in the town of Borgosesia, and celebrating aspects of both traditions, my family often bridged the metaphorical gap with food – something which has tied together the two cultures in a harmony which has existed for well over two thousand years. In both cultures, food represents ways we communicate, share, love, and celebrate tradition. Aside from their culinary impact, the Jews have a long and storied history, intertwined with Italy…including the first Jewish ghetto which was a cultural epicenter in and of itself. It is safe to say Italy would not be the same country we see today without the contributions of the Jewish people – one which has striking similarity to that of the Jewish people as a whole – a story with peaks and valleys, resolve and resilience.”

For Breaking Matzo: Succot edition, we have made an Italian Feast to celebrate the Festival of Booths. We also feature Italian Charoset and Chocolate Matzo Mousse Cake (like a tiramisu) during Passover.

***

The history of Italian Jews is a case study in religious resilience. From their earliest days, Italian Jews set out to spread their religion and strengthen their communities. Despite every conceivable obstacle thrown in their way, Italian Jews continue to flourish today. The history of Jews in Italy actually hearkens back to the creation of a beloved holiday: Hanukkah. Judah Maccabeus, Hanukkah’s hero and a Jewish leader, made the move to the “Eternal City,” Rome, in the second century BCE. Many Jews followed Maccabeus to Rome. These Jews, while regarded uneasily by the Romans, grew significantly in Rome, even successfully converting many Romans. It should be noted that not all Jews in early Rome were free: there was a large slave population. However,

in 70 CE, the Romans destroyed the second Temple in Jerusalem, and began imposing harsher measures on Italian Jews. Jews were forced to pay a “Fiscus Judaicus” to fund a Roman temple devoted to Jupiter in lieu of their earlier payments for the now-destroyed temple. There were some sporadic expulsions. Nonetheless, Jews both free and enslaved founded several synagogues, and significant communities grew in Southern Italy.

With the advent of Christianity, Italian Jews began to see more oppressive regimes. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, establishing Christianity as a legal religion in Rome. Constantine’s rule marked an oppressive era for the Jews, but conditions fluctuated with each successive emperor. In 380 CE, with the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the empire through The Edict of Tessa Lonica of Teodosia, conditions worsened for the Jews. There was very little tolerance for this decidedly unofficial religion. It wasn’t until the fall of the Roman Empire in in 476 that Jews had some opportunity for tolerance and recognition. Conditions truly depended on whichever army controlled the region. While Jews were treated better under the Ostrogoths and the Lombards, later Byzantine rule proved to be oppressive.

The installment of Charlemagne in 800, followed by the Ottoman Empire, provided a period of peace and growth for Italian Jews. Schools and communities flourished under the relatively non-oppressive conditions. This period of quiet was brought to an end in about 1000 CE with the rise of the feudal and guild systems. Jews were excluded from guilds, allowed only to work as moneylenders or sellers of used clothing. Nonetheless, Jews found ways to thrive, particularly in large Southern communities. Many became prominent moneylenders and textile producers. Notable poet Shabtai ben Moses of Rome and his son, Talmudic scholar Jehiel Kalonymos, both wrote during this time. William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, written in 1598, featured Shylock, a character based on the moneylending Jews of this time. Shylock remains one of the most prominent and controversial portrayals of these Italian Jews.

In 1492, some Italian provinces were still under Aragon rule. Jews in these provinces were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, with over 37,000 Jews fleeing Sicily. A large number headed to Milan and Rome, while others opted for more tolerant provinces, such as Venice. Conditions worsened dramatically in 1516 with the establishment of the first Jewish ghetto in Venice. This was also the first usage of the word “ghetto.” 2016 is the 500th anniversary of the Jewish “Ghetto” in Venice. While imprisoned, Jews were required to wear identification and allowed only one synagogue per community. Despite harshly oppressive conditions, ghettos allowed Jews to come together and strengthen Talmudic study. The ultimate irony of these measures was seen in flourishing literature and community among these Jews.

The arrival of Napoleon in 1796 marked a temporary reprieve from ghettos. Although all Jews were expelled from the Papal State, those in Napoleon’s territory were legally first-class citizens. This exciting freedom was not long-lived. Jews were put back in ghettos following Napoleon’s defeat. In 1848, the House of Savoy unified the Italian states, giving Jews full political and civil equality. Italy, unified at last, had a period of growth and restoration, allowing its Jewish population to thrive freely and equally. This freedom was once again short-lived. In 1922, Mussolini came to power, and in 1929 he passed the Falco Laws, repealing freedom of religion

in Italy. By 1938, Mussolini had declared Italians part of the pure Aryan race, expelling Jews from public service. Many wisely chose to flee. In 1940, Mussolini allied with Hitler, with deportations beginning in 1943. Some Jews fled, while others fought with resistance movements. During this time, many Italian military authorities refused to participate in deportations or murders; some even assisted in evacuating Jews from Fascist-controlled Italy.

After the war, Jews were once again recognized as first-class citizens in Italy. Many surviving Jews chose to move to Israel, but a significant population elected to stay and reconstruct what Hitler and Mussolini had attempted to destroy. Their resilience continues today. According to the European Jewish Congress, there are 28,400 Jews in Italy today, and that number continues to grow.

Sources:

http://www.eurojewcong.org/communities/italy.html

http://www.initaly.com/regions/ethnic/jewish.htm

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005455

*I would like to thank Gabriel Donnini and his family from Borgosesia, Italy for sharing their Jewish family traditions.

Peak Population of Jews in Italy: 48,000 in 1942

Population of Jews in Italy Today: 28,000

Population of Italian Jews in Israel: 10,000

The Infinite Light of the Menorah Inspires Peace and Hope

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The infinite light of the Menorah inspires peace and brings hope to the world.

In 2015, the King of Bahrain, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, hosted a Hanukkah celebration and menorah lighting at the Royal Palace of Bahrain. Watch the video below and read the article here: http://www.timesofisrael.com/king-of-bahrain-hosts-menorah-lighting-ceremony/

Please also see another video below which shows a group of Jews from New York visiting the Kingdom of Bahrain and celebrating Hanukkah with a group of prominent Bahraini leaders.

In 2015, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa hosted the first Hanukkah celebration and menorah lighting in the Royal Palace since 1948.

It is so beautiful to see such gracious hospitality and fellowship on this holiday of light and hope. May this gathering serve as a step forward in bringing peace to the whole world.

History of Jews in Greece

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Since the central conflict in the story of Hanukkah is between the Jews and the Greeks, we decided to research the actual history of Jewish life in Greece. We consulted numerous sources and found a vibrant legacy of Jewish life dating from the fourth century BCE. Here is a digest of what we found on Wikipedia and in other sources.

(For more information on the Jews of Greece, please see our Other Hanukkah Sources) section.

The term “Greek Jew” is predominantly used for any person of Jewish descent or faith that lives in or originates from the modern region of Greece. The oldest, most characteristic Greek Jewish community are the Romaniotes, a distinct Jewish population that historically lived in communities throughout Greece and neighboring areas with large Greek populations.

Greece once had a large population of Sephardic Jews, and is a historical center of Sephardic life. The city of Salonica (or Thessaloniki) in Greek Macedonia, was called the “Mother of Israel.” Greek Jews played an important role in the early development of Christianity, and became a source of education and commerce for the Byzantine Empire and throughout the period of Ottoman Greece. In spite of Greek efforts to save them, the Jewish community was devastated after Greece was conquered and occupied by the Axis powers in spite. After the Holocaust, a large percentage of the surviving community emigrated to Israel or the United States.

Today, the Jewish community in Greece is estimated as fewer than 8,000 people, concentrated mainly in Athens, Thessaloniki (or Salonica), Larissa, Volos, Chalkis, Ioannina, Trikala and Corfu, while very few remain in Kavala and Rhodes. Greek Jews today largely “live side by side in harmony” with Christian Greeks, according to Giorgo Romaio, president of the Greek Committee for the Jewish Museum of Greece, while nevertheless continuing to work with other Greeks, and Jews worldwide, to combat any rise of anti-Semitism in Greece.

Jewish cultures in Greece

Most Jews in Greece are Sephardim, but Greece is also the home of the unique Romaniote culture. Besides the Sephardim and the Romaniotes, some Italian-Sicilian and small Ashkenazi communities have existed as well, in Thessaloniki and elsewhere. These communities had their only their own customs (minhag) and printed their own siddurim for use in the synagogues in Greece.

The Romaniote Jews have lived in the territory of today’s Greece for more than 2000 years. Their historic language was Yevanic, a dialect of the Greek language, but Yevanic has no surviving speakers recorded. Today’s Greek Romaniotes speak Greek. Large communities of Romaniotes were located in Ioannina, Thebes, 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, some of whom settled in Greece after the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain. All but a small number of the Romaniotes of Ioannina, the largest remaining Romaniote community not assimilated into Sephardic culture, were killed in the Holocaust. Ioannina today has 35 living Romaniotes.

History of Judaism in Greece

Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Greece - 300 CE, Aegina.

Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Greece – 300 CE, Aegina.

The first recorded mention of Judaism in Greece dates from 300-250 Before Common Era (BCE) on the island of Rhodes.

Archaeologists have discovered ancient synagogues in Greece, including the Synagogue in the Agora of Athens and the Delos Synagogue, dating to the 2nd century BCE.

Greek Jews played an important role in Greek history, from the early History of Christianity, through the Byzantine Empire and Ottoman Greece, until the tragic near-destruction of the community after Greece fell to Nazi Germany in World War II.

During World War II, Greece was conquered by Nazi Germany and occupied by the Axis powers. 12,898 Greek Jews fought in the Greek army, one of the best-known amongst them being Colonel Mordechai Frizis, in a force which first successfully repelled the Italian Army, but was later overwhelmed by German forces. Some 60,000-70,000 Greek Jews, especially jurisdictions where Nazi Germany occupied and Bulgaria, or at least 81% of the country’s Jewish population, were murdered. Thousands of Jews were saved by the Greek Orthodox Church hierarchy due to a proclamation by Archbishop Damaskinos, instructing the church to issue false baptismal certificates to all Jews who requested them. Although the Germans deported a great number of Greek Jews, others were successfully hidden by their Greek neighbours.

On July 11, 1942, the Jews of Thessaloniki were rounded up in preparation for slave labour. The community paid a fee of 2 billion drachmas for their freedom. In addition to the destruction of the old Jewish cemetery, located in the center of the city. 50,000 people were sent to Auschwitz, and most of their sixty synagogues and schools were destroyed. Only 1,950 survived. Many survivors emigrated to Israel and the United States. Today the Jewish population of Thessaloniki numbers roughly 1,000, and maintains two synagogues.

Members of the Romaniote Greek Jewish Community of Volos: Rabbi Moshe Pesach (front left) with his sons (back)

Members of the Romaniote Greek Jewish Community of Volos: Rabbi Moshe Pesach (front left) with his sons (back)

The Romaniote Jews or Romaniots (Greek: Ρωμανιῶτες, Rōmaniōtes) are a Jewish community with distinctive cultural features and who have lived in the territory of Greece and neighboring areas for more than 2,000 years. Their languages were Yevanic, a Greek dialect, and modern 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.

The Romaniotes are distinct from both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Romaniote oral tradition tells that the first Jews arrived in Ioannina shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Genetic testing on Romaniotes shows a common ancestry with Ashkenazi Jews.

A majority of the Jewish population of Greece was killed in the Holocaust after Axis powers occupied Greece during World War II. They deported most of the Jews to Nazi concentration camps. After the war, a majority of the survivors emigrated to Israel, the United States, and Western Europe.

The name Romaniote refers to the medieval Eastern Roman Empire, which included the territory of modern Greece, and was for centuries the homeland of this Jewish group. Historically, the Empire was commonly referred to as Romania (Ῥωμανία) and its citizens Romans.

Moshe Pesach, Chief Rabbi of the Romaniote Greek Jewish community of Volos, Greece in 1939.

Moshe Pesach, Chief Rabbi of the Romaniote Greek Jewish community of Volos, Greece in 1939.

The earliest reference to a Greek Jew is an inscription dated c. 300-250 BCE, found in Oropos, a small coastal town between Athens and Boeotia, which refers to “Moschos, son of Moschion the Jew”, who may have been a slave.

Colonel Mordechai Frizis (1893-1940) from the ancient Romaniote Greek Jewish community of Chalkis with his wife Victoria.

Colonel Mordechai Frizis (1893-1940) from the ancient Romaniote Greek Jewish community of Chalkis with his wife Victoria.

Waves of Sephardi Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492; many settled in Ottoman-ruled Greece. They spoke a separate language, Ladino. Thessaloniki had one of the largest (mostly Sephardi) 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 communities were assimilated by the more numerous Sephardim.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Romaniote community of Ioannina numbered about 4,000 people, mostly lower-class tradesmen and craftsmen. Their numbers dwindled after that due to economic out-migration. 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 remains today.

The Romaniotes had distinct customs, very different from those of the Sephardic Jews, and closer to those of the Italian Jews. Some tradtions are thought to have been based on the Jerusalem Talmud instead of the Babylonian Talmud (see Palestinian minhag). Unlike the Sephardic Jews, they did not speak Ladino, but the Yevanic Greek dialect and Greek. Tobiah ben Eliezer (טוביה בר אליעזר) a Greek-speaking Talmudist and poet of the 11th century worked and lived in the city of Kastoria. He is the author of the Lekach Tov a midrashic commentary on the Pentateuch and the Five Megillot and also of some poems. Romaniote scholars translated the Tanakh into Greek. A polyglot edition of the Bible published in Constantinople in 1547 has the Hebrew text in the middle of the page, with a Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) translation on one side and a Yevanic translation on the other.

Exterior view of the Romaniote Jewish synagogue of Veria.

Exterior view of the Romaniote Jewish synagogue of Veria.

The Holocaust and Greek Jews
Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-179-1575-08,_Ioannina,_Deportation_von_Juden
During World War II, when Greece was occupied by Nazi Germany, 86% of the Greek Jews, especially those in the areas occupied by Nazi Germany and Bulgaria, were massacred despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Christian Greeks to shelter Jews. Although the Nazis deported numerous Greek Jews, many were hidden by their Greek neighbors. Roughly 49,000 Jews – Romaniotes and Sephardim – were deported from Thessaloniki alone and murdered.

The Romaniotes were protected by the Greek government until the Nazi occupation. During the German occupation, the Romaniotes’ ability to speak Greek enabled them to hide better from German deportations.

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.

Present day

Today approximately 8,000 Jews remain in Greece. Of these, only a small number are Romaniotes, who live mainly in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, and Athens. About 3,500 Jews now live in Athens, while another 1,000 live in Thessaloniki. The vast majority of Romaniotes have relocated to Israel and the United States. Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Greece – 300 CE, Aegina. Kehila Kedosha Janina, New York City.

Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Greece - 300 CE, Aegina.

Mosaic Floor of a Jewish Synagogue in Greece – 300 CE, Aegina.

 

Kehila Kedosha Janina, New York City.

Kehila Kedosha Janina, NYC

United States

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. It maintains a mailing list of 3,000 Romaniote families, most of them living in the tri-state area, but it often has difficulty meeting the minyan or quorum for worship on Shabbat and Jewish holidays. It is open for services every Saturday morning as well as all major Jewish holidays. The synagogue also houses a museum devoted to Greek Jewry and offers guided tours to visitors on Sundays.

Israel

Most Romaniotes in Israel live in Tel Aviv. There are two Romaniote synagogues in Israel: the Zakynthos Synagogue in Tel Aviv, and the Yanina Synagogue in Jerusalem.

Peak Population of Jews in Greece: 100,000 in 1943

Population of Jews in Greece: 4,200 in 2016

Population of Greek Jews in Israel: 45,000

Ordinary to Extraordinary Lives: Charles Goldstein

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Charles Goldstein, a high-stakes New York real estate lawyer who transformed himself into a tenacious advocate for recovering art stolen from Holocaust victims, died on July 30, 2015 in Manhattan, New York. He was 78. Goldstein was counsel to the Commission for Art Recovery, which estimates it has recovered or helped recover more than $160 million worth of stolen art since its establishment in 1997. The commission’s goal is to compel European governments to identify and return art that the Nazis looted from public and private collections or that the owners were forced to sell. That includes spoils of war confiscated from the Nazis by the victors, including the Soviet Union.

Charles Arthur Goldstein was born on Nov. 20, 1936, in Perth Amboy, N.J. His father, Murray, was in the retail clothing business. His mother was the former Evelyn Bier. He graduated from Columbia College in 1958 and Harvard Law School in 1961, and clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In the 1980s, he headed what he described as the largest real estate department of any major law firm in the city, comprising 34 lawyers in a firm of 250. Mr. Goldstein joined the art recovery commission by happenstance, his law partner Harvey Feuerstein recalled. In the early 1990s, Mr. Lauder was flying home on the Concorde from Europe when he posed a challenging real estate question to a friend. The friend noticed Mr. Goldstein a few rows back and introduced him. Mr. Lauder was so impressed, he hired Mr. Goldstein full time and, when he formed the commission, named him counsel.

Ordinary to Extraordinary Lives: Sir Nicholas Winton

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Sir Nicholas Winton, hailed as a hero of the Holocaust, died at the age of 106 on July 1, 2015. During the first nine months of 1938, he oversaw the Czech Kindertransport, transporting Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to safety in the U.K. He worked tirelessly to ensure money was raised and homes were found for the young refugees. It was 50 years before the story of his heroic efforts became public knowledge.

Winton was born on 19 May 1909 in the well-heeled Hampstead district of north London. His Jewish parents had moved from Germany to London in 1907 and changed the family name from Wertheim to Winton. They also converted to Christianity. Winton became one of the first pupils at the newly opened Stowe School in Buckinghamshire. Although he left without finishing, he had developed a love of mathematics. He continued his studies at evening classes before moving to Germany, where he worked in banks in Hamburg and Berlin.  Just two years before Hitler became German chancellor, he moved to work in Paris before returning to London. His mother’s family remained in Germany and that, coupled with the stories of Jewish refugees fleeing, made him all too aware of the persecution of the Jews by the Nazis.

In December 1938, Winton was due to go on skiing in Switzerland when he suddenly decided to travel to Prague, where a friend was helping Jewish refugees. There he visited several refugee camps. Winton had an idea was to rescue children by locating families in the U.K. who could give them a home. A 1938 Act of Parliament permitting the entry of refugee children under the age of 17, help spur his efforts. Winton set up an office in a hotel in Prague, where he was quickly besieged by families desperate to get their children out before Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. He later returned to London, where he worked with relief organizations to set up the Czech Kindertransport, just one of a number of initiatives attempting to rescue Jewish children from Germany and the Nazi-occupied territories. In the first eight months of 1939, eight trains left Prague taking 669 children to safety. A further 15 were flown out via Sweden. A ninth train was scheduled to leave Prague on 1 September 1939, the day Germany invaded Poland. “Within hours of the announcement, the train disappeared,” Winton later recalled. “None of the 250 children on board was seen again. “

Winton told no-one about his pre-war efforts and it was not until 1988 that his wife discovered a scrapbook containing a series of documents with the names of the rescued children. In July of that year, Winton appeared on an edition of the BBC program, That’s Life, and some of the people he had rescued were invited to attend. Until they arrived in the studio, they had no idea that Winton was the man who had saved them. In 2003, Winton was knighted in recognition of his efforts on the Kindertransport. In 2007, he received the Czech Republic’s highest military decoration, the Cross of the 1st Class, and was nominated by the Czech government for the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize. A train dubbed “The Winton Train” left Prague station on 1 September 2009, exactly 70 years after the last Kindertransport had been due to depart from the Czech capital.

In October 2014, at the age of 105, he travelled to Prague to receive the Czech Republic’s highest honour, the Order of the White Lion. In his acceptance speech, he was typically modest: “In a way, I shouldn’t have lived so long to give everyone the opportunity to exaggerate things the way they are doing today.” It was another Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who summed up the vital role of those who, like Winton, tried to save Europe’s Jewish children from the Nazis: “In those times there was darkness everywhere. In Heaven and on Earth, all the gates of compassion seemed to have been closed. The killer killed and the Jews died and the outside world adopted an attitude either of complicity or of indifference. Only a few had the courage to care.”

For more information, watch Sir Nicholas Winton as well as the 60 Minutes piece,  “Saving the Children.”

Ordinary to Extraordinary Lives: Roddie Edmonds

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In January 1945, in a German POW camp, U.S. soldier Roddie Edmonds defied the threat of death to protect Jewish troops under his command. Seventy years later, he was recognized for his valor, becoming the first U.S. soldier named Righteous Among the Nations an  —honor for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.

Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville, Tenn., was a non-commissioned officer who participated in the landing of U.S. forces in Europe. He was captured in the Battle of the Bulge and was held at a Nazi POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany, where he was the highest-ranking American soldier. When the Germans demanded that all the Jewish POWs in the camp identify themselves, Edmonds ordered all the U.S. soldiers to step forward — hundreds of them. When the German camp commander saw all the inmates reporting, he said, “They cannot all be Jews!” “We are all Jews,” Edmonds replied. He cited the Geneva Conventions and refused to identify any prisoners by religion.

His son, Chris Edmonds, told NPR’s Emily Harris that the Nazi officer became enraged. “He turned blood-red, pulled his Luger out, pressed it into the forehead of my dad, and said, ‘I’ll give you one more chance. Have the Jewish men step forward or I will shoot you on the spot,’“ Edmonds said. “They said my dad paused, and said, ‘If you shoot, you’ll have to shoot us all.'” The officer backed down. Edmonds died in 1985. Chris Edmonds says he learned about what happened from survivors after his father died. He’s one of only five Americans to have received the honor, and the first U.S. soldier.

Myra Yellin Goldfarb Outwater’s 15 Minutes of Fame

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VALLEY WRITER FONDLY RECALLS ON-AIR EXCHANGE WITH HOWARD STERN

By MYRA YELLIN  GOLDFARB OUTWATER

(First Published in The Morning Call. March 2, 1997)

Andy Warhol once allowed that in the future everyone will have 15 minutes of fame.

Howard Stern gave me quite a bit more.

Four years ago, I was on the Howard Stern morning radio show for 38-1/2 minutes. My celebrity lingered on. In its aftermath, I received fan letters from Stern listeners in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York City. I received two marriage proposals and two requests for dates. Oh, and a cab driver saved me five minutes in traffic “out of respect.”

Perhaps most important, I became a legend with my sons’ friends, who wished that they had a mother that “hip.”

Ironically, four years to the day that I was a phone guest on his show, I met Stern in person during an interview in New York City for his new movie “Private Parts.”

Did he remember me?

“Of course I remember you,” said Stern.

Before 1993, I had never heard of Stern, let alone listened to him. And the first time I did, at the urging of my youngest son, I turned him off, disgusted by his crude language.

My dialogue on Stern’s show came about unexpectedly. I had written a review of a Regis Philbin show at the State Theatre in Easton for The Morning Call. A few days later, my phone rang. It was 8:15 a.m. “Turn on Howard Stern. He’s talking about you,” gasped a friend from his car phone.

I ran to my radio and flipped through the dials with one hand while reaching for the telephone with the other. “You’re on Howard Stern,” screamed another friend just as I heard Stern talking about “Goldfarb from Allentown.” Goldfarb was my name from a previous marriage.

For the next hour I sat and answered my phone, amazed at how many of my friends listened to Stern’s show. Everywhere I went, people had heard the show. Husbands called wives at home to tell them. The wives called me.

My male friends and my sons’ friends thought that Stern reading my Philbin review from The Call on the air was a wonderful joke. The review was not favorable. But Stern dislikes Philbin, so he relished it (a fan had faxed him the review). My women friends were incensed at Stern’s cracks demeaning my sex and my religion.

“Another suburban housewife who thinks she can write,” said Stern. “Another Jewish lady with a hobby,” joked Robin Quivers, his on-air sidekick.

When I stopped at The Morning Call’s main office in Allentown that afternoon, I found out that Stern’s staffers had called and wanted me to call Stern on-air the next morning.

Friends of mine who listened to Stern had advised that I take the offensive early, to not back off and to tell him, when the moment arose, that I had “a really great bod.”

The next morning, I called Stern on the dot at 7 a.m. and found myself on his nationally syndicated show. Initially, Stern asked me to read my review, but I reminded him that I was paying for the phone call and didn’t need to pay for the privilege of reading my review to him.

“Get her number and we’ll call her back,” said Stern. Seconds later, I was back on the air — and Stern was paying for it.

Howard, Robin and I verbally sparred for the next 37 minutes, discussing everything from Philbin to Rex Harrison to the philosophy of theater criticism. When the moment of truth came and Stern asked about my breasts and my physique, I was ready. My answer, “Fabulous,” startled Stern, who followed up with, “Are you really fabulous?” and I answered, “I can tell you anything. This is radio.”

As soon as I hung up, the phone began ringing. Everyone was happy. Those at The Morning Call seemed pleased because I had gotten in a plug for newspaper. My sons were pleased because I had mentioned their names. My good friends who had coached me got their moment on the air.

What amazed me the most was that this was not to be a one-day or a one-week deal. My instant celebrity lasted for more than a year, picking up new momentum when my segment was chosen for ‘The Best of Howard Stern’ the following year.

Nearly two years later, while doing an interview in New York at the Bottom Line club, I mentioned to a young jazz artist that I was from Allentown. “There was a nutty lady from Allentown on Howard Stern,” he said. I sat there and beamed.

During a cab ride in New York traffic, the driver announced that he was a Howard Stern fan. My friend asked him what was his favorite show?

“Well, once there was a ditzy woman from Allentown,” he answered.

Well, fame does have its price. And, I guess, everyone’s a critic.

Listen to MYRA YELLIN  GOLDFARB OUTWATER’s call with Howard Stern.