KIVUNIM: New Directions ©
Greece and Bulgaria: November 23-December 3, 2008
November 23 -SUNDAY
Departure from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport ElAl Israel Airlines Flight # 541 nonstop to ATHENS departing at 7:00AM and arriving at 925 AM (we will be at the airport for check-in 3 hours before…we will distribute passports on the bus and everyone has an e ticket so you only need your passport to check in. Lea has the reference # in any case).
10:30 AM After clearing passport control and customs we will make our way from Eleftherios Venizelos Airport to Hotel King Jason in the heart of Athens, Omonia Square area. We will drop our bags, get some lunch and then head off for the Acropolis.
Athens is one of the oldest cities in the world with a recorded history of at least 3,000 years. Today, the Greek capital is Europe's 8th largest city, a bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis with an urban population of 3.3 million and a metropolitan population of about 3.8 million people. The Athens metropolitan area is the center of economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. The city is also rapidly becoming a leading business center in the European Union.
Ancient Athens was a powerful city-state. Among the most creative periods in human history are those in which humanity organized itself in small independent centers (city-states). Modern Europe owes much of its civilization to two such periods --the small Greek city-states, and the city-states of Renaissance Italy. However, these small creative groupings usually survived for only short periods of time because they lacked the size and strength to defend themselves against the onslaught of larger social entities. In addition, the success of small regional units coexisting as disunited parts of a loose geographical and cultural unity, as in Italy or Hellas (Greece), acted as a barrier to the creation of larger national units with greater staying power. Thus, they inevitably gave way to larger organizations of society, the empire and eventually the nation-state.
A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles, Sophocles and many other prominent philosophers, politicians and writers of the ancient world. It is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization and the birthplace of Democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC on the rest of the then known European Continent.
1:30PM We begin our encounter with the city of Athens. There is probably no site from the ancient world more significant to the modern world than Athens, the center of the ancient Greek universe. Here highly advanced concepts of democracy emerged in the midst of a world that would continue to be ruled by autocrats for another 2000+ years. Here the grand architectural style that continues to signify “class” and sophistication, grandeur and greatness, civic pride and governmental stability was imagined and created. Here science instructed both the process of government and the development of society. Most of all from the modern point of view, here rational thought and philosophy became the intellectual tool with which to understand much of the world’s ways and realities….
Often the Jewish view of ancient Greece is colored by the memory of the Maccabees and the confrontation between Judaism and the imposed idolatry of the Greeks in the Hadrianic persecutions. But when Alexander the Great conquered the Middle East, he was greeted by the Jewish people as a liberator, and to this day, Alexander, Sasha, is one of the most popular Jewish names. An immediate affinity developed between Jews and Greek culture, and Greek names quickly entered the Jewish social order. Beyond names however, we have a large collection of Greek words in the Hebrew lexicon, demonstrating the strong cultural attraction felt by Jews to Greek civilization. There was an allure to the sophisticated culture of the Greeks, and we have significant evidence of the impact of Greek art and sculpture upon the Jewish people. Synagogues were decorated in Greek style and burial sarcophogi reflect the acceptance of these influences even by the great Rabbis of the period.
We will start with the magnificent Acropolis, where we will see the architectural masterpiece of the Golden Age of Athens (5 th century B.C.E.) Here we will visit the Propylaea, Temple of Athena Nike, Parthenon, Erechtheion and Museum of the Acropolis.
This magnificent design, accomplished as we know without computers or other pieces of modern technology is humbling. We assume and probably understand the influence of literature (e.g., the Torah, Plato’s Republic, etc) on the mindset of the ancient world. But architecture is often unrecognized for the enormous impact it has had on the minds and hearts of people from ancient times to the present. Is the Parthenon a political achievement or an artistic one? Is it theological or economic statement? Why build on hills? And what is the psychological impact of looking up?
Then we will continue with a panoramic view of Athens – We will see the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the Panathinaiko Stadium, the cradle of the first international Olympic games that took place in 1896. For the Jewish people, the emphasis on physical strength and sports that was so central to the ancient Greeks was a challenge, although you may be aware of the place of sports in the young pioneer Zionist state that is visible in the Jerusalem Cinemateque film collection. We will see the Prime’s Minister’s residence, Ex Royal Palace, (guarded by colourful Evzones), National Garden, Hadrian’s Arch, St. Paul’s Church, Parliament, Tomb of the Unknown soldier, Schlieman’s House (Nomismatic Museum), Academy, University, National Library, Old Parliament, Constitution Square, and the Russian Orthodox Church. OR we will spend a lot of time at the Acropolis and see only a few of the typical tourist sites. Studying the achievement and the majesty of the Acropolis is worth the investment of time and reflection.
Then in the late afternoon as the early sunset darkens the city we’ll get back to the hotel to have a few hours to unpack and take a little rest.
7:30PM Dinner at the Dion Restaurant and then an early bedtime so we have regained some strength from not really sleeping much last night.
11:00 PM Let’s get some good sleep tonight.
NOVEMBER 24, 2008 – MONDAY
8:30 AM Breakfast from 7:45-8:30 AM Meet in the lobby to leave for visit with Rabbi Arar at the Beth Shalom Synagogue. This extended morning we are focussing on the Jewish community of Athens, from ancient times to the present. The”present” includes a center of Jewish life in two Synagogues, Beth Shalom and Etz Hayim.
11:00 AM Now we will make our way to the Jewish Museum of Athens. If Marcel Yoel , the former editor of the Athens Jewish Newspaper is in town, he will introduce the wonderful Museum of Greek Jewry located not far from the hotel. The Museum’s Director, Zanet Batinou is on maternity leave with twins, but she has promised to come in just for us, baring unforeseen demands at home (I told her to bring the twins!). Here we will see costumes, photographs, all kinds of Judaica, documents, and a whole array of both glorious and painful history. A Museum like this is hard on the mind. What to look at seriously and what to pass by, where to focus and where to float…these are important decisions. Try to take in as much as you can…focus on some things and really learn about them and take from them as much as possible. Most of all remember that everything we see here was made by a Greek Jews, used in the life of a Greek Jewish family, and now remains as the sole means to enter and appreciate that world of an amazing Jewish community of 1000’s of years duration.
1:00 PM We’ll bring together a great picnic lunch and then make our way up to Lycabettus Mountain to enjoy the view of Athens. We’ll take the funicular ( a type of self-contained cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a very steep slope, the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalancing each other) to the top which leaves every half hour and be back down for some free time by about 3 PM.
4:30 PM Group Meeting to begin to discuss first reactions to Greece, to travel together, to the relationship between academic study and field experience, and to the whole process of learning. What better to discuss in Greece that the questions that directed Socrates so many many centuries ago right on these very streets that we are walking.
7:00 PM Our plan for tonght is to give you some cash and let you go out to dinner in small groups. Get a flavor of the nightlife of Athens and come back early enough to get a real good night of sleep…there is much to do here! A good place to wander (only in groups of at least 3) is the Plaka district., where there are cafes, restaurants, and shops. A very good review of the whole area is available at http://www.athensguide.com/plaka.html OR the Psiri neighborhood which is the old leather district that has been designated the next 'cool' area of Athens. Workshops and warehouses are moving out and their spaces are being taken over by restaurants, clubs cafes and bars. In the evening Psiri is alive with people out for good food and conversation. In the day it is a working-class area that gives no hint of what it is like at night. But on Sunday the restaurants and cafes are all open and Psiri is the place to be. Here there are many small Greek traditional Tavern with entertainment consisting of a small orchestra with Bouzouki Guitar and a singer and they perform the famous songs( Rebetika). Rebetika were the songs of the Greek underground, sung by the so-called rebetes (Greek: ρε µ π έτης ). Rebetes were unconventional people who lived outside the social order. They first appeared after the Greek War of Independence of 1821.
The songs, often compared to genres like American blues, are full of grief, passion, romance, and bitterness. They are generally melancholic songs telling of the misfortunes of simple ordinary men. Many early rebetic songs were about drugs, especially hashish which led Rebetiko to be criminalized after the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas in 1936. Not until 1947, when Manos Hadjidakis introduced Rebetika to the upper classes, were these songs accepted as a music style. Damianakos Stathis noted that the rebetic songs of the first period were mostly the singing expression of lumpenproletariat. A lot of the rebetika songs are for dancing, zeibekiko and chasapiko being very common but they also include tsifteteli, karsilamas and other dance styles.
In the Taverns there is a variety of typical Greek Hors d'oeuvres, soft drinks, beers, Greek wines. These places are not tourist traps and only the Greek young people go there. One Typical Tavern is called TAVERN PERI PSIRI: Contact : BERIKOS DIMITRIS Address : 19, TAKI STR. Phone : +30 210 3211995.
NOVEMBER 25, 2008 – TUESDAY
8:30 AM Breakfast from 7:45-8:30 AM. Bags need to be on the bus by 8:30. We depart for Chalkida, capital of the island of Evia, a short 1
1.5 hours from Athens. The Jews of Chalkida belong to the Romaniote community. (The Romaniotes (Greek: Ρω µ ανιώτες ,R ō mani ō tes) 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 language is Greek and they derive their name from the old name for the Greek people, Rhomaioi. 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.) Theirs may not have been the first community to be established on Greek soil, but it is the oldest and probably the only one in Europe to continuously inhabit the same town for more than 20 centuries.
The community’s historic synagogue was rebuilt in 1846 at the spot of the previous one, which was destroyed by fire. The community’s cemetery has been in use for centuries and contains tombstones dating from the 15 th century.
In the beginning of WW II, the first Greek officer to die in battle at the Greek-Italian front was one of the Jewish community’s own, Mordechai Frizis. Of the community’s 327 members only 22 perished in the Holocaust, as the rest were hidden and assisted by their Christian neighbors. The town Metropolite (the local head of the Greek Orthodox Church) hid all the holy items of the Synagogue in his church. Today the community, although small, is active and fully integrated in the financial and social life of the town.
We will meet with the former president of the community and then go with him to visit the oldest Jewish cemetery in Greece which contains tombstones of great scholars and rabbis dating back to the Ottoman period (15 th century). In its courtyard lies a monument dedicated to Colonel Frizis.
1:00 PM We will have a picnic lunch in Chalkida by the sea and then head west towards Delphi, the home of Apollo, the Sun God. The ride is about 2.5 hours and although you will be tempted to allow yourself to fall asleep on this and our coming rides north in Greece, you are urged not to do so. Why? Because what you will see outside our windows will give you a clue to the worldview of the people who have made their homes here. On the one hand, the sea is almost everywhere, and Greeks have lived and worked along its shores forever. On the other are the mountains which have been the sites and seats of their religious/spiritual life. Our speeding bus is but a faster means of taking in the countryside than the horse or donkey of pre-modern times, but the impact of allowing your eyes to take it our surroundings and your brain to process them into the stew of ideas and historical events and personalities that we have studied over the past several weeks can be very great indeed.
5:00 PM We will arrive in the one street long village of Delphi where we will be guests of Penny Kolomvotsou, who will be our guide tomorrow (one of the very best KIVUNIM has ever had in all of our travels over the past decade). Her family owns the Leto Hotel (all Delphi hotels are small) where most of us will stay and a few others will be nearby at the Tholos Hotel. It will be a quiet night...there is not too much to do in Delphi...but when you awake you will understand why we are here. If anyone ever wondered why people would worship the Sun, the location of the Temple of Apollo makes it very clear (unless it is raining...in which case you will have to return here on a bright sunny day!)
7:00 PM Dinner and apollo strolling....
NOVEMBER 26, 2008 –WEDNESDAY
8:30 AM Breakfast from 7:45-8:30 AM Here we are about one hundred miles northwest of Athens at this ancient site of the panhellenic sanctuary of Delphi. The complex of buildings, which includes the Temple of Apollo where sat the famous oracle, The sacred Corycian Cave, and the Castalian Spring, is nestled in the forested slopes and rocky crags on the south side of the sacred mountain (cf. Mountains and the Sacred) called Parnassus. The site had been sacred since at least the Bronze Age. According to legend, the shrine was originally guarded by the she-dragon Pytho. She was killed by Apollo who then took over the oracle. In antiquity, Delphi was regarded as the centre of the world.
The Temple of Apollo: The visible ruins belong to the last temple, dated to the 4th century BCE, which was peripteral (an Architectural adjective: (of a building) having a single row of pillars on all sides in the style of the temples of ancient Greece. ORIGIN early 19th cent.: from Greek peripteron (from peri-‘around’ + pteron ‘wing’ ) + -al)in Doric order. It was erected on the remains of an earlier temple, dated to the 6th century BCE. Inside was the adyton, (The adyton (Greek: Άδυτον ) or adytum (Latin) was a restricted area within the cella of a Greek or Roman temple. Its name meant "inaccessible" or "do not enter" . The adyton was frequently a small area at the farthest end of the cella from the entrance: at Delphi it measured just nine by twelve feet. The adyton would often house the cult image of the god. ) the centre of the Delphic oracle and seat of Pythia (the priestess of Apollo at Delphi in ancient Greece). The monument was partly restored during 1938-1941.
The Castalian Spring: The sacred spring of Delphi lies in the ravine of the Phaedriades. The preserved remains of two monumental fountains that received the water from the spring date to the Archaic period (750-480 BCE) and the Roman era (approximately 150 BCE to the beginning of the Middle Ages). The later one is cut in the rock and has niches cut high in the cliff, which probably held the offerings to the Nymph Castalia.
Understanding ancient Greece is about experiencing the power of the highs and lows of geography, and the powerful metaphors and symbolism they represent and contain within them. The mountains here at Delphi and of course the Sea all around the country are the source or myth, legend, and truth. No doubt, Jewish life has been influenced by this as seen in books like Jonah, where the Sea really takes over for the protagonist of the story. Consider this question of the influence of geography, of physical surroundings, on the way that different people think and feel and act. You saw this in the desert culture of the Bedouin…here it is again.
1:00 PM We’ll have a picnic lunch here in Dephi and then continue our journey northward towards Meteora, The Metéora (meaning "suspended rocks", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above"), one of the largest and most important complex of monasteries in Greece. They are built on spectacular natural sandstone rock pillars in central Greece. The Metéora is home to six monasteries and is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
5:00 PM We’ll arrive and check-in to Hotel Famissi, located at the entrance of the town of Kalampaka, which is situated below the magnificent, eternal rocks of Meteora. Although it is unknown when Metéora was established, as early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks. By the late 11th or early 12th century a rudimentary monastic state had formed and was centered around the church of Theotokos (mother of God), which still stands today. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. Although more than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century, only six remain today. All of the churches are classic examples of Greek Orthodox design…filled with Icons and images and resembling in many ways the Russian Orthodox tradition that it shares.
In the 1920’s, steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. Of the six monasteries now inhabited, five are male, one female. Each monastery has fewer than 10 inhabitants. The Agia Triada (Greek: ΑγίαΤριάδα , "Holy Trinity") monastery was used in the final scenes of the James Bond film, For Your Eyes Only.
7:30 PM Dinner at the hotel
8:30 PM Group Discussion. Not too much available for nightlife in these small towns of northcentral Greece, but the quiet can allow for lots of reflection and thought production. Or some extra sleep that truly can never hurt!
NOVEMBER 27, 2008 –THURSDAY
8:00 AM Breakfast and bags back on the bus for 9:00 AM departure for the top of the monoliths and the Monastaries. Believe it or not, our guide here in Meteora is Jewish and one of the local experts on the Byzantine Chapels that form the centrepieces of these remote and magnificent monasteries. These gigantic cliffs continue the tradition of “religion on the heights” with which we began our Greek journey in Athens just a few days ago. Greek Orthodox monks made their way to Mt. Sinai in the Sinai Desert of Egypt and to several mountainous sites in the Judean desert as well. Their unique commitment to build compatibly into the sides of and on top of these special sites of nature provides a gift to visitors like us, generations after their founding. No words can truly capture the beauty of this site, and winding our way to the top (we must walk the remaining up to 150 steps-some of the monasteries have less and it just depends where our reservation is for this morning as to how long our climb will be).
The word Meteora means literally 'hovering in the air' and of course brings to mind the word meteor . What created this rare geological phenomenon is one of the mysteries of nature and there are many theories though they remain theories and none have been proven. But as amazing a marvel of nature as these giant rocks are the buildings on the top of these are a marvel of man and seem just as miraculous and make Meteora one of the most spectacular places to visit in Greece.
The area of Meteora was originally settled by monks who lived in caves within the rocks during the 11th Century. But as the times became more unsure during an age of Turkish occupation, brigandry and lawlessness, they climbed higher and higher up the rock face until they were living on the inaccessible peaks where they were able to build by bringing material and people up with ladders and baskets and build the first monasteries. This was also how the monasteries were reached until the nineteen twenties and now there are roads, pathways and steps to the top. There are still examples of these baskets which are used for bringing up provisions. Back in the days when these baskets were the only way to get to the monasteries a nervous pilgrim asked his monk host if they ever replace the rope. "Of course we do" he replied. "Whenever it breaks", which I am sure put the guy at ease. But now you don't have to worry about ropes breaking since the monasteries are all connected by a series of pathways and roads.
12:00 PM We’ll have lunch en route to Veria, our next stop. Veria. As with many of the Greek cities, there are various myths about the origin of the name Veria. The most popular mythological explanation is the one suggesting that the name comes from that of the nymph Veroi, the daughter of Ocean and Thetis, who after being born in the sea kingdom of her parents started wandering around and was so enchanted with the region that she chose it as her domicile, and gave it her name. The traces of Veria are lost deep in time. The exact date of its founding is not known but archaeologists have excavated the earliest European farming settlement, dating to the 6th or 7th millenium B.C., just a few kilometers outside the town, therefore making it safe to assume that it could in fact be one of the oldest towns on Earth.
The oldest verified reference to Veria is the first book of Thucydides' History where it is mentioned that the Atheneans, while on an expedition against Halkidiki, tried to conquer the town, without success. Throughout the 2,500 years of its history it has been one of the main commercial, cultural and administrative centers of Macedonia. The capital of the canton and second city in central Macedonia after Thessaloniki, Veria is build in the eastern slopes of the Vermion Mountain. Nearby are the ruins of the Vergina palace used by King Philip and his son, Alexander the Great. During 154 BCE, the Romans took it over and it lived through a period of great splendor. At around 54CE, the Apostle Paul passed through here and brought Christianity with him. In evidence is Víma, the square where he spoke. Veria became part of Greece in 191.
We will take a walking tour of the old Jewish district of Barbuta, where many houses have been recently restored thanks to a special program of the Municipality of Veria supported by several Jewish organizations from abroad. We will visit the recently restored Synagogue where Saint Paul of Tarsus preached Christianity in 50 C.E. You have to imagine this little neighborhood thriving with hundreds of Jews and the serenity that must have filled their lives here! It’s just sooo gorgeous. This is certainly not our image of an ancient Jewish town. We will give life to this beautiful Synagogue with a short minha service. It is used so rarely. Our voices will be a form of transcending therapy to the memories that fill this beautiful place.
6:00 PM We’ll make our way to our final Greek stop and our place of residence for 3 full nights including a wonderful and historic Shabbat: Thessaloniki known in Greek Jewish tradition as the Mother of Israel, the Jerusalem of Greece, Saloniki or Salonika. We’ll have a late dinner in Salonika and a night out in an exciting and vibrant port city or amazing beauty and charm.
7:00 PM Arrival at the Davitel Tobacco Hotel (so-called NOT because people smoke here, but because of the original use of the building as a tobacco warehouse. We are in the heart of the former Ottoman Empire, where Turkish Tobacco was a major commodity.) Thessalonika is the capital of
Macedonia. NOVEMBER 28-FRIDAY EREV SHABBAT
8:30 AM Breakfast from 7:45 -8:30 and then we board the bus…the giant bus! Today we have time to appreciate the Greek and Ottoman history of Thessalonica. We have a truly wonderful guide/teacher, Zena Drepanidou who will take us from the ancient to modern. Saloniki has a very special archaeological museum with one of the finest Gold exhibitions in the world. And gaining an understanding of the city will enable us to appreciate the issues of its Jewish, Christian Muslim, and Domneh roots and rootedness. We’ll go up the mountain to see the city from on high and gain appreciation of the importance of waterways to the ancient as well as modern states. It will be interesting as well to listen for the subtleties of historiography at work, hearing as we will different renderings of the same story such as that of the role of the Jews in this region of the world. Who is right, who is wrong, what is true, what is not…this is for you to discover and determine…maybe not today, but as we move along throughout this year.
12:00 PM Lunch at Pizza Hut along the oceanfront.
1:00 PM Continue our city tour and Museum visits. To introduce the story of the city of Thessalonika is to bring forward a very BIG story. Alexandrian Jews who arrived in 140 BCE were among the first Jews to settle in Salonika. After the splitting up of the Roman Empire in 395 CE, Salonika became the second most important town after Constantinople in the Byzantine Empire.
The Byzantine emperors in their efforts to "Christianize" their subjects were hostile to the Jews of Salonika. In spite of the hardships they suffered during the Byzantine period, they were successful merchants, engaging especially in the silk trade. The oldest Synagogues of Salonika, "Etz ha-Chayim" and "Etz ha-Da'at", which existed until the beginning of the 20th century, date back to the Byzantine period. During the second half of the 14th century Salonika attracted Jews from all over the world; the first immigrants were Hungarian Jews who arrived in 1376. In 1430, Salonika was occupied by the Turks. At approximately the same time waves of Jewish immigrants started to arrive. In 1470, Bavarian Jews arrived in Salonika and formed the Ashkenazi community.
Then during the 15th and 16th centuries many Jewish exiles from the great expulsions from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily, and France, and refugees from North Africa, settled in Salonika. Once in Salonika, they founded separate synagogues and named them for their native countries. Marranos who were expelled from Portugal arrived in Salonika. In 1514, the Rabbis of Salonika issued a special Haskamah regarding the Marranos as Jews as far as marriage and divorce were concerned. It is estimated that by 1553 there were 20,000 Jews in Salonika.
The Jewish immigrants maintained their relations with their coreligionists and colleagues in their countries of origin and therefore had a relative advantage in international trade. The Jews of Salonika also engaged in crafts. The organization of Jewish life in Salonika was quite unique. There were about 30 independent congregations, who sometimes associated themselves as a voluntary body that took care of the common interests of the congregations. The Takkanot (Jewish legal rulings) issued by this body were to be accepted by every congregation. The heads of each community were called Parnasim , Memunim , Nivrarim and Anshei Ma'amad , and were elected by all the members of each congregation. A committee elected by the Parnasim of each congregation decided what proportion of taxes each congregation had to pay to the Turkish authorities.
During the 16th century there were many important rabbis whose influence spread beyond Salonika and even beyond the Ottoman Empire. Among them was Isaac Adarbi, the author of "Divrei Rivot and Divrei Shalom" , Moses Almosnino, and Samuel Di Medina ("Rashdam"). Salonika was also renowned as a center of Kabbalah. In addition to the rabbinical schools in Salonika in the 16th century, there was a Bet Midrash for secular studies where medicine, natural sciences, astronomy, and other subjects were taught.
In the beginning of the 17th century the town suffered from the plague and from fires. By the middle of the century, about 30,000 Jews lived in Salonika, which represented half of the total population of the town. The end of the century was marked by a deterioration of commercial activities which resulted from the decline of the Ottoman Empire. However, Salonika remained a center of religious studies and Halakhah (Jewish law) . The famous halakhic authority, Rabbi Chayim Shabbetai (d. 1647), author of the "Torat Ha-chayyim" , lived in the town during the first half of the 17th century; other important religious authorities included Aaron Cohen Perachyah, the author of "Parach Matteh Aharon" , and David Conforte, author of "Kore Hadorot" .
The most influential event for the Jewish community in the 17th century was the appearance of the pseudo-messiah Shabbetai Tzvi in 1657. In the beginning he was very warmly accepted, but when he declared that he was the true messiah, he was expelled by the most important Rabbis of the town.
Later he converted to Islam, and 13 years after his death, in 1683, a group of believers -some 300 Jewish families -also converted to Islam. This sect was called the Doenmeh (in Turkish "Apostates") and their religious center was in Salonika, from which they spread to Constantinople and other places.
In 1680, the 30 congregations merged into one Community, with a supreme Council composed of three Rabbis and seven dignitaries. Another important step was the reorganization of all the rabbinical courts into three bodies. The Batei Din were famous for their justice and integrity and many Muslims and Greeks preferred to settle the disputes they had with Jews in these courts instead of using the Turkish Courts.
In 1720-30 Portuguese Marranos, called "Francos", emigrated to Salonika. Most of them were well-educated and among them were merchants and bankers. In the beginning, they refused to pay taxes to the Jewish community. Towards the second half of the 19th century, European culture and technology had reached also Salonika. In 1873, the "Alliance Israelite Universelle" established a School in the city, and additional schools along western standards were also built.
In 1886, the Bank of Salonika was founded. As a result of this Westernization, Liberalism became paramount among the Jews of Salonika. The "Chevrat Kadimah" for the spreading of the Hebrew language was founded in 1899, and Isaac Epstein was brought to Salonika to teach Hebrew. In 1887, the Rabbinical Triumvirate was dismissed and Jacob Kovo was appointed to the post of Chakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi). In 1900, there were approximately 80,000 Jews in Salonika (out of a total population of 173,000).
In 1908, when the young Turks rose against the Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, many Jews joined their forces. One of the first actions of the young Turks when they rose to power was the mobilization of all non-Muslims into the Turkish Army. As a result, many young Jews left Salonika and emigrated to the United States. At the same time the first Zionist organizations, Agudath Bnei Zion and Maccabi, appeared in Salonika.
The young Turks' revolution marked a new "Golden" era for the Jews of Salonika. Jews were represented in every profession. When the Greek army entered the town in 1912, King George declared that Jews and all other minorities were to have the same rights as the Greek population. In 1917, a great fire destroyed most of the town, leaving some 50,000 Jews homeless. In 1922, a law was enacted which forced all the inhabitants of Salonika to refrain from working on Sundays, thus causing another wave of emigration. Some Jews went to Palestine, while most emigrated to Paris where they founded an important community. In 1935, there were nearly 60,000 Jews in Salonika. On the eve of World War II, 55,250 Jews lived in Salonika. The local Jewish community, before the Holocaust, was the largest community in Greece, and Thessalonica was considered "The metropolis of Israel, the city of Justice, the mother of Israel same as Jerusalem itself (ir veem leyisrael), according to the words of the poet Samuel Usques. The port of Thessalonica used to be closed on Shabbat! Before World War II, there were 56.000 Jews living in Thessalonica, but only 1.950 survived the Holocaust. Today, the Jewish community has less than 800 members.
4:30 PM Departure for Synagogue for Kabbalat Shabbat services with Rabbi Shitrit and some members of the Saloniki community, including the small youth community living here. We will have Shabbat dinner in the Jewish Community Center, also home to the old age community of the city. There is no way to adequately convey the meaning to this former great Jewish center of the return of 51 Jewish teenagers and the raising of their voices in Shabbat prayer in the historic hall of the Synagogue this Shabbat. It has been many many decades since this community will have heard l’ha dodi chanted with this degree of magnitude. It will be one of the great historic spiritual moments of our year.
9:30 PM After Shabbat songs and Oneg Shabbat we will make our quiet! way through the quiet! Streets back to our wonderful hotel.
NOVEMBER 29, 2008 –SHABBAT
8:30 AM Breakfast and then on our way to Synagogue. We will have two shifts…those who wish to arrive for the beginning of the service and to help make the minyan and a bit later for those who are happy with little less shul!
12:00PM Lunch in the Jewish Community Center
1:30 PM spend Shabbat afternoon on the beautiful promenade on the shore of the
7:00 PM Dinner at the Jewish Community Center and a party being prepared for us by the youth of the community and you should also have some time to sample the night life of this terrific city.
NOVEMBER 30, 2008 –SUNDAY
9:00 AM Have breakfast beforehand and be in the lobby with your luggage ready to load the bus. Our first stop will be a visit to the Monastirlis Synagogue, built in 1927-28 by Jews originating from Monastir (former Yugoslavia) and was officially dedicated by the Chief Rabbi of Thessalonica Chaim Raphael Habib on 27 Elul 5687 (1927). It was saved during the war after being requisitioned by the Red Cross. In June 1978 the earthquake that shook the city caused extensive damage to the building and its services were suspended until the delicate task of its restoration was completed, with funds provided by the Greek Government that considered it as one of the historical monuments of Thessalonica. We were amongst the first visitors to the beautifully restored Synagogue last year (2007). Our host will be Rabbi Shitrit. Last year we learned that the Rabbi is not a native of Saloniki, but actually a Israeli-Moroccan Jew who has been serving this small community for the past 6 years. He was amazed to learn from KIVUNIM that we visit the small town in the Sahara Desert where he was born, Erfoud. It solidified a warm relationship between us!
From there we will proceed to the Jewish Museum of Thessalonica, which contains: A) The Simon Marks Photographic Exhibit "Thessalonica, Sephardic Metropolis", collection assembled through the efforts
of the late Myriam Novitch of the Kibbutz Bet Lohamei HaGettaot, incorporating details of the history of the Jews and their fields of activity up to the time of the Holocaust.
B)"Memorias", the Bar Ilan University exhibit of religious and folklore material. It comprises artifacts and memorabilia that belonged to Jews who emmigrated to Israel when it was still under the British Mandate.
C) The permanent collection of the Museum, (which is still in the course of being studied, documented and exhibited).
Then to the Yad Lezikaron Synagogue, opened in 1984, and dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. It was built on the site of the small "Bourla" (Bourla is the name of the man who built the original synagogue on this side in memory of his son who had drowned at sea. The Synagogue has been reconstructed in a modern office building in the center of the Market area of Thessalonica still known as the Modiano Market after the wealthy Jewish family that originally owned it. The Yad Lezikaron Synagogue was rebuilt out of the furniture of two Synagogues that were destroyed during the war. The ark is from the former Keila Sarfati Synagogue (French Congregation) and the Bema is from the former Baron Hirsch Synagogue. The prayer house (Kaal de la Plaza) that had been operating since 1921 to meet the religious needs of the numerous Jews who worked in the nearby market place.
We will visit the Holocaust Memorial, unveiled in 1997, to coincide with the municipality being designated as the Cultural Capital of Europe. On January 27 of this year, the Memorial was moved to Plateia Eleftherias, to the historical square in the middle of the city where the persecutions of the Jewish population of Thessalonica started in July 1942.
3:00 PM We’ll allow for some free time for a little shopping before we board our train to Sofia, Bulgaria departing the Thessalonica train station at 5:40 PM. The train ride into Bulgaria is 6 hrs and 5 minutes and we will bring some makeshift dinner on board with us and eat on the train. Not much to see in the darkness of the night, but we pass through places you have never heard of and will never return to…so dream a little, imagine a little and have some fun as we cross into a fascinating, often ignored part of Jewish and European history. International train № 362
Thessalonica – departs at 17:40;next stop Kilkis – arrives at 18:10 and departs at 18:11;then Rodopoli – arrives at 18:41 and departs at 18:42;Strymon – arrives at 19:00 and departs at 19:08;Promachon – arrives at 19:20 and departs at 19:40;Koulata – arrives at 19:45 and departs at 20:05;Sandanski – arrives at 20:27 and departs at 20:31;Blagoevgrad – arrives at 21:28 and departs at 21:30;
Sofia Central Station – arrives at 23:28. We should be so lucky. VISAS will be issued at the border.
MIDNIGHT: we will transfer to the Hotel Sveta in the center of Sofia, Bulgaria. The hotel’s website states the following: The new four-star Sveta Sofia Hotel is located on one of the most famous trade streets and in the heart of Sofia city. It is close to the main administrative, trade and cultural centers. The Hotel is situated in a magnificent building displaying fabulous old style architecture from the beginning of the XX century, completely renovated with modern and exquisite interior of hotel rooms, lobby bar and spacious lobby with wireless internet connection – free of charge for our guests. The building combines refinement, finesse, comfort and features all modern facilities. This being KIVUNIM’s first trip to Sofia, we can only say….we will see what Bulgaria will bring…it should be very exciting to enter this very different universe. Always remember that you are in a former Communist country. Every evidence of western style and capitalism is under 20 years in age…the transformations have been amazing and very complex.
DECEMBER 1, 2008 –MONDAY
9:30 AM BREAKFAST/Brunch AS LATE AS POSSIBLE as this is a sleep recovery day ordained in the KIVUNIM tradition after a week on the road.
12:00PM We will meet our two city guides and begin our exploration of Sofia. One of the oldest cities in Europe, the history of Serdica-Sredets-Sofia can be traced back some 7000 years; prehistoric settlements were excavated in the centre of the present city, near the royal palace, as well as in outer districts such as Slatina and Obelia. The well preserved town walls (especially their substructures) from antiquity date back before the 7th century BCE, when Thracians established their city next to the most important and highly respected mineral spring, still functioning today. Sofia's development as a significant settlement owes much to its central position in the Balkans. It is situated in western Bulgaria, at the northern foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the Sofia Valley that is surrounded by mountains on all sides. The valley is the largest one in the country with territory of 1,186 square kilometres (457.9 sq mi) and average altitude of 550 metres (1,804 ft). Three mountain passes lead to the city, which have been key roads since antiquity, connecting the Adriatic Sea and Central Europe with the Black and Aegean Seas.
After the campaign of W ł adys ł aw III of Poland in 1443 towards Sofia, the city's Christian elite was annihilated and became the capital of the Ottoman province (beylerbeylik) of Rumelia for more than 4 centuries, which encouraged many Turks to settle there. In the 16th century Sofia's urban layout and appearance began to exhibit a clear Ottoman style, with many mosques, fountains and hamams (bathhouses). During that time the town had a population of around 7,000 which rose to 55,000 by the mid 17th century.
The town was seized for several weeks by Bulgarian haiduks in 1599. In 1610 the Vatican established the See of Sofia for Catholics of Rumelia, which existed until 1715 when most Catholics had emigrated[7]. In the 16th century there were 126 Jewish households, and there has been a synagogue in Sofia since
967.
Sofia was taken by Russian forces on 4 January 1878, during the Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78, and became the capital of the autonomous Principality of Bulgaria in 1879, which became the Kingdom of Bulgaria in 1908. It was proposed as a capital by Marin Drinov and was accepted as such on 3 April 1879. By the time of its liberation the population of the city was 11,649.[8] For a few decades after the liberation the city experienced large population growth mainly from other regions of the country.
In 1925 the St Nedelya Church assault was carried out by the Bulgarian Communist Party which claimed the lives of 170 people and injured another 500.
During World War II, Sofia was bombed by Allied aircraft in late 1943 and early 1944, and was later occupied by the Soviet Union. As a consequence of the Russian occupation with the approval of the Allied countries USA, Great Britain, France, Bulgaria's government, which allied the country with Germany, was overthrown by a Communist revolution. Like Prague, Warsaw, Bucharest etc. Sofia became a capital of the Communist-ruled People's Republic (1944). The country did not lose territory, but lost vital and important connections with Bulgarian population abroad and all over the world. During that time the population of Sofia expanded at high rates, as a large emphasis was placed on the industrial development of the city — many new large factories and manufacturing plants were built in and around the city. That led to the creation of many new neighborhoods and the expansion of the public transport network.
7:15PM We will met with the Jewish students of Bulgaria and have dinner together at Bulgaria’s only kosher restaurant. Their stories of what it is to be, or more accurately become a Jew are going to be stirring and quite amazing. Everyone speaks English in this young crowd.
DECEMBER 2 2008 –TUESDAY
8:00 AM Breakfast
9:00 AM Departure for Plovdiv one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is a contemporary of Troy and Mycenae, and older than Rome, Carthage or Constantinople. Archaeologists have discovered fine pottery and other objects of everyday life from as early as the Neolithic Age, showing that in the end of the 7 th millennium BCE there already was an established settlement there. Plovdiv's written post-Bronze Age history lists it as a Thracian fortified settlement named Eumolpias. In 4th century BCE the city was a centre of a trade fair (called panegyreis ). In 342 BCE, it was conquered by Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, who renamed it " Φιλι ππ ό π ολις ", Philippopolis or "the city of Philip" in his own honor. Later, it was reconquered by the Thracians who called it Pulpudeva (a translation of Philipopolis).
The Plovdiv Antique theatre is one of the most famous monuments from the Antiquity in Bulgaria. It was built in the beginning of the 2nd century during the reign of the Roman Emperor Trajan. It is situated in the natural saddle between the Dzhambaz Tepe and Taksim Tepe hills. It is divided into two parts with 14 rows each divided with a horizontal lane. The theatre could accommodate 3,500 people. The three-storey scene is located on the southern part and is decorated with friezes, cornices and statues. The theatre was studied, conserved and restored between 1968 and 1984. Many events are still held on the scene including the Verdi festival and the International Folklore festival. The Roman Odeon was restored in 2004. It was built in 2-5th century and is the second (and smaller) antique theatre of Philipopolis with 350 seats. It was initially built as a bulevterion -edifice of the city counsel and was later reconstructed as a theatre.
The Roman Stadium is another important monument of the ancient city. It is situated between Sahat Tepe and the Three hills in the modern Dzhumaya Square. It was built in the 2nd century and modeled after the stadium in Delphi. In Roman times it could hold 30,000 spectators. Only a small part of the northern section with 13 seat rows can be seen nowadays -the larger part lies under the main street and a number of buildings.
The Roman forum dates from the reign of Vespasian in 1st century and was finished in the 2nd century. It is located near the modern post office next to the Odeon. It has an area of 11 hectares and was surrounded by shops and public buildings. The forum was a focal point of the streets of the ancient city.
When we see this degree of massive construction we can of course assume an importance to the city by virtue of its role in international trade. People were constantly coming and going in this region and staying for theatre and other performances in these huge festival facilities. How do cities rise and fall in significance? How is it that we have never heard of this city before, know virtually nothing of Bulgaria but its name, and came here with mental images that certainly did not include antiquity of this kind or modernity of the kind we have seen either? What is this cultural stereotyping all about?
Here is Plovdiv there is the only other remaining Jewish community in Bulgaria, mostly elderly. We will have time here to pay a meaningful visit to homebound older people in their apartments. We can sing for them, speak with them, bring them some extra food and in general bring some light where there is otherwise mostly darkness. Remember though, these are not Holocaust survivors, as all Bulgarian Jews were saved during the war, even though their government was allied with Nazi Germany! Here, unlike in much of the rest of Europe, when you see an old man or woman walking the street, you can assume they helped to save their Jewish neighbors instead of cooperating in their deaths. No isn’t that an amazing human/Jewish experience to have!
DECEMBER 3 2008 –WEDNESDAY
9:30 AM Breakfast Today is also a sleep-in day and tomorrow night we arrive home very early in the morning and won’t get a good night’s sleep.
10:00 AM We will place our luggage in hotel storage and make our way with our wonderful young Jewish communal leader and hostess, Ida Aladjem, who at 24 is the Community Development Consultant for the Joint Distribution Committee in Bulgaria. She organizes and does just about everything for this small but growing Jewish community and she is quite a powerhouse. Today we will focus on the Bulgarian Jewish Community, old and new. We will spend some significant time in Sofia’s magnificent Synagogue.
The synagogue in Sofia is situated in the very heart of the Bulgarian capital. It is the third largest in Europe, next to the synagogues in Budapest and Amsterdam. Designed by Austrian architect Grunanger in a Spanish-Moresque style, the temple resembles the Vienna synagogue destroyed by the Nazis. It was opened on 9 September 1909, and the ceremony was attended by tzar Ferdinand and tzaritza Eleonora.
One of the most beautiful architectural monuments in Sofia, the synagogue accommodates 1300 worshippers. Its central lustre weighs two tons and is the largest in Bulgaria. For already several years the synagogue has been under restoration -because of the complexity of the work and the shortage of funds. Its restoration is soon to be finished, and now the synagogue is shining in all its splendor. The project has been financed by the Bulgarian state and Israel, by private entrepreneurs and individual donations.
In spite of the enormous size of the building, public worship in it are attended by not more 50-60 persons. This is due, on the one hand, to the thinner Jewish community, and, on the other, to the relatively lower religiousness of the local Jewish population. Nevertheless, as a result of a renewed interest in the past and faith of their ancestors, an increasing number of young people now attend the divine services. Certainly, on great festive days, hundreds of people gather here, including high officials of non-Jewish origin.
Nearly all of Bulgaria's Jews are Sephardim and live in Sofia. Jews make up only 3,000 of Sofia's 1.2 million inhabitants. After the fall of communism in 1989, the community was reconstituted. Shalom, the Organization of Jews in Bulgaria is working to restore communal Jewish knowledge. As a result of emigration and assimilation, the elderly account for a large share of the population. There is a high intermarriage rate but children of mixed marriages come back to Judaism. Jewish organizations such as Maccabi, WIZO, World Jewry, and B'nai B'rith, as well as the State of Israel contribute greatly to the reestablishment of the Bulgarian Jewish community in Sofia. Among the Jewish activities is the Hebrew and English elementary school made up of 650 students, grades one through seven, thirty percent of whom are Jewish. They study Hebrew, Jewish customs, religious holidays, and history. There is also a "summer camp on Sunday" for children, BBYO, Hashomer Hatza'ir, leadership training for teenagers, a cafe and cinema club for college students, and welfare and activities for the elderly. The community publishes a bulletin and an annual yearbook. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and American Jewish federations support a number of these communal activities, alieviating Bulgarian Jews' economic hardship. Efforts are under way to complete the renovation of the monumental synagogue in Sofia, but await further funding. The 1,170-seat Moorish-style construction was designed by Viennese architect Friedrich Gruenanger. Erected in 1909, the synagogue has been declared a Bulgarian cultural monument. and to preserve houses of worship in other cities no longer in use. Kosher meat is available, as is a mikve in the courtyard of the synagogue. The active synagogues are in Sofia and Plovdiv, but there is no resident rabbi. Instead, rabbi-in-training Itzik Samuilov leads services. Some of the Jewish community's properties confiscated during the War have been restored and Bulgaria is one of the few countries that have enacted full restitution legislation.
We will have a picnic lunch today and you will time on your own in small groups and then we will meet back at the hotel where we will load the bus and depart for the airport at 6:30. We will have sandwiches for dinner at the airport after check in at 7:30 PM for our 10:30 PM departure for Tel Aviv on Elal 552 arriving in Israel (home at last) at 12:55 AM. We should be back in our beds by 3 or so! Lailah Tov!
