Yanina The Last ROMANIOTES ofYannina In the city of the famed Greek cheesemakers, a resplendent stands in sharp contrast to a neglected cemetery, testimony to the priorities of a small but unique community. The liturgy here preserved is the closest in existence to the ancient tradition of the | Tsur Ehrlich

While other communities suffered repeated expulsions, the Jews of Yannina enjoyed years of stability, the reason perhaps for their typically Greek, laid-back character

10 December 2010 www.segulamag.com Yanina

ROMANIOTES Yannina

The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 11 Yanina

t was more like a forest than a cemetery," Rebecca Salem recalls. "The thicker trees Ihad been chopped down by the community before our visit, but the place was still badly overgrown. We had to remove creepers deli- cately so as not to damage the gravestones. The whole area was riddled with animal burrows, and full of tortoises. There were four of us, all students, three of us female, not exactly experi- enced woodchoppers or the rough-and-tumble physical type, but our eagerness to uncover the distant past of the singular Jewish community of Ioannina was an excellent substitute for missing muscles." "We discovered a wide variety of grave- stones hidden in the thickets. Some were in Hebrew, occasionally even including poetic verses and rhymes, while others were written in Greek script. There were gravestones that were decades old; others dated back hundreds of years. No apparent logical order reigned in this mixture of new and old, Hebrew and Geek, recent graves from the last century alongside ancient ones. Towards the end of our week's work, by which time we had become more se- lective about what to dig up and were no longer attempting to uncover everything, we saw a headstone poking out at the edge of the cem- etery and decided to take a look before deciding whether to proceed. Seeing large, coarsely chis- eled letters, we opted to dig. The letters were so faded that we had to blacken them with mud to read the inscription."

Overwhelmed with how got word to the head of the community, who Above: The city's colorful excitement, the rushed over to see." facades Salem adds: "Over the next few days the Photograph by Demitris Kilimis community elders community elders arrived. It was crazy – they Facing page: The local gabbai, a holocaust survivor arrived hobbled over stumps and stumbled over chopped who lost his grandson in the branches to reach the site. Overwhelmed with Second Lebanon War, locks excitement, some even wept. When the cem- the synagogue's doors. etery was first built it was on the outskirts of An Artifact of their Own the town, but the city expanded and now it's "That's how we made our most thrilling right in the middle. The local council has had discovery: a gravestone from 1426, rare physi- its eye on the real estate value of the property cal evidence that the local Jewish Romaniote for years, trying to buy it from the community community predates the arrival of the Spanish for building projects, while the community, for exiles, just as its leaders claim. Wildly excited, its part, badgered the council for upkeep and we called over the rest of our group, and some- repairs. Now they are the proud possessors of an

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The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 13 Yanina

Changing approach. The artifact. I feel our stay has left the community corner of the synagogue with a true gift. And that's apart from all our romaniote, facing the was once the building's entrance documentation work, the map of the cemetery, Neither Sephardic (below). This entrance is no the synagogue and the pictures." longer in use. Today Salem is the Coordinator for Resource nor Ashkenazi Development (she is responsible for raising funds) for the project that sent the delegation in the first place – the "Journey into Jewish Heritage" Project of the Zalman Shazar Center, supported by the Avi Chai Foundation. Then studying Jewish and Com- parative Folklore at the Hebrew University, she set out for Greece in the summer of 2006 as part of a delegation of 26 students. They visited the cities of Thessaloniki, Ionnina (or Yannina), Veroia, Drama, and Kavala, before dividing into smaller groups, each of which focused on a different loca- tion. Salem's group went to Ionnina in northwest Greece, one of the only remaining Romaniote Jew- ish communities in the world.

A Unique Liturgy The Romaniotes are thus known because they lived in the heart of the Eastern Roman or Byz- antine Empire, in places that nowadays form part of western Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Albania. Their siddur (prayer-book) is sometimes called the Roman liturgy - neither Sephardic nor Ashkenazi, it reflects the ancient liturgy of the Land of Israel. This tradition is highly pronounced in the commu- nity of Ioannina, who claim to have arrived there directly from Israel without stopping elsewhere in the Diaspora. Some say they came as early as the Second Temple period, while others date their arrival to the years immediately following the De- struction. Citizens of Rome, their secular culture was Hellenistic in the main. They spoke an ancient Greek dialect called Yevanic (Judeo-Greek), which was similar to the dialect spoken by Greek Chris- tians, but with Hebrew elements and written in a version of the Hebrew alphabet. "Only the Romaniote liturgy preserves a sub- stantial number of 7th and 8th century piyutim (liturgical poems) from the Land of Israel in the period following the Muslim conquest," explains Prof. Joseph Yahalom of the Hebrew University, who researches Medieval piyutim and poetry. Apart from the Cairo Geniza, the Romaniote lit- urgy is the only source we have for Hebrew liturgi- cal poetry composed in the Holy Land in a period which is essentially a "black hole" as far as written texts are concerned. "The poetry of Yochanan Ha-

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The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 15 Yanina

places experiencing a large influx of Spanish exiles at this point in time. Sephardic Jewry, the product of a golden age of prosperity and culture only a few generations earlier, arrived well-equipped with a rich and established tradition. The customs of the Sephardic Jewish community, their halakhic prac- tices and siddur, including piyutim based on the compositions of the famed Spanish Jewish poets, displaced, if not wiped out, the local traditions. 'A harmonious merging of communities' might be a more positive way of describing the process of mutual assimilation through interethnic marriages which ensued. The unique Romaniote tradition was almost destroyed. Almost, but not entirely. Isolated com- munities, such as that on the island of Corfu and in the city of Thessaloniki, continued to observe Romaniote customs and to preserve their liturgy. Prominent amongst these communities, which were almost entirely destroyed in the Holocaust, was that of Ioannina. Well-established and self- confident, the community was perhaps sufficient- ly uncompromising to retain its traditions. In the first decades after the Expulsion the leaders of the community insisted on maintaining a single syn- agogue serving the recent arrivals as well as the original community, with services based on solely on the Romaniote liturgy. When the Sephardim were finally able to build their own synagogue, halfway through the 16th century, they took the Romaniote prayer book with them. The liturgy of Kohen ben Yehoshua features prominently in the Byzantium had triumphed. Romaniote siddur, alongside many others," adds The only synagogue in the modern State of Is- Yahalom. A member of the community rael to preserve certain Romaniote traditions was "While the Romaniote liturgy can be compared points out the names of her established by immigrants from Ionnina in the relatives on the community with the more widely familiar Italian prayer book, memorial wall. neighborhood of – further

which also favours piyutim, it was completed Photograph by Dimitris Kilimis witness to the unique character of this com- earlier; the ancient southern Italian community is munity. Yet even here the Sephardic siddur has actually Romaniote in origin, as the south of Italy won a belated victory: the main prayer service is was Byzantine. The Italian siddur was consolidated the conducted according to Sephardic tradition, in Rome, in an effort to unite all Italian Jewry." with Romaniote overtones in the piyutim and melodies. In the entire world there are apparently All But Swept Away only three Romaniote : in Athens; in Some six centuries later, the Spanish Expul- Chinatown, New York; and the synagogue in Ion- sion of 1492 resulted in the arrival of countless nina visited by the delegation (see box). Sephardic Jews in the Balkans. In most communi- ties, Sephardic Jewish culture became the domi- Five per cent survived Auschwitz nant one, as the old Romaniotes were gradually The official name of the city is Ioannina, which assimilated by the recent arrivals – a process paral- means "town of John" in Greek, after the Christian leled over the entire expanse of North Africa, in apostle John, which was a good reason for Jews Aleppo in Syria, and essentially in the majority of to prefer the slightly easier to pronounce form of

16 December 2010 www.segulamag.com Yanina

Yanina. The earliest traditions date Jewish set- beauty of Yanina itself. The town lies on the banks tlement in the area to the days of Alexander the of Lake Pamvotis, looking out from the turrets of Great, but written testimonies to its existence – its churches and castles towards a delightful islet which now include the grave inscription discov- in the middle of the lake and on to distant, snow- ered by the delegation – date from the 14th century capped mountains beyond. onwards. In 1430, four years after that headstone was erected, the Ottomans captured the town, Folklore in the Cemetery Over the course of the 19th century the Jewish Salem recalls the wonderful hospitality extended community of Yanina developed into one of the by the community, and their unfailingly amiable most important in Greece. Political tensions be- reception. But she cannot evade the inevitable tween Greece and Turkey in the early 20th century, question: why was the cemetery neglected for so as well as economic difficulties, caused its numbers many years? to decline rapidly. Those who remained were "The cemetery occupies a vast expanse of land, mainly craftsmen, especially cheese-makers – the 17.5 dunams (roughly 3.4 acres), which they could area is well-known for its feta cheese. As of the be- not care for on their own. They had to choose ginning of the Second World War, the community between the upkeep of the synagogue and the cem- had about two thousand members. etery, as the maintenance of such a magnificent In 1943 the region was transferred from the synagogue is no simple task for a small communi- relatively tolerant rule of fascist Italy to be under ty. Its maintenance includes electricity bills, heat- direct German control. On March 25 1944, ing for the winter, cooling for the summer months, Greece's Independence Day, the town's surviving Jews were all expelled to Auschwitz-Birkenau; the majority of them were murdered in the gas cham- On Greece's Independence bers on the same day. Only 164 Jews from Yanina Day, 1944 the town's surviving survived, and about 100 returned after the war. Today the community numbers roughly 50 peo- Jews were all expelled to ple: one-twentieth of a percent of the population of Yanina (about 100,000 residents). Auschwitz-Birkenau; "The community's days are numbered," states Rebecca Salem. "Not as a result of assimilation, only 164 Jews survived but because only the elderly remain. The younger members have left, mainly for Athens and other large cities. Our delegation included a native of Yanina in her twenties who had made Aliyah; she shared her memories with us. But amongst the residents it is hard to find anyone younger than fifty. The current state of affairs is not encouraging. Not long before our visit, anti-Semitic graffiti was scrawled on the building where many of the elderly members of the community live. A year later, anti-Semitic slogans were sprayed on the cemetery walls, and an attempt was made to break in and damage the tombstones. Anti-Semitism is alive throughout Greece, including Yanina. She claims that compared to Thessaloniki, the community is relatively insulated. "Many people in The Jews of Yannina gathered for deportation to Thessaloniki understood Hebrew; some even had Aushwitz. This image is one relatives living in Israel. In Yanina we had to use an of a series of photographs interpreter." Salem sounds enchanted by the com- taken that day by a German officer munity residents and their gentle ways, perhaps Photograph currently preserved in even more than she is charmed by the picturesque Germany's National Archives

The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 17 Yanina Seeing large, coarsely chiseled letters, we opted to dig. The letters were so faded that we had to blacken them with mud to read the inscription

18 December 2010 www.segulamag.com Yanina

The letters were so faded that we had to blacken

Forgotten memories preserved. Members of the delegation uncover and document ancient grave markers, which were apparently transferred from the city's ancient cemetery and date from the 15th century.

The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 19 Yanina

as well as any necessary repairs. The synagogue or documented the synagogue. "Personally, I was was the logical choice. It is a poor community, as not expecting to work in the cemetery," reveals the people lost everything in the Holocaust." Salem. "I very much enjoy interacting with people. It is not the only Jewish cemetery in the town. Additionally, in my academic field of folklore we A piece of land was given to the Jews as a gift from spent much time learning how to conduct docu- Ali Pasha, the cruel ruler of the Albanian region mentary interviews, with entire courses devoted to as well as part of Greece, whose reign coincided this discipline. But since lots of us wanted to do the with Yanina's most prosperous period. The ancient interviews, and far fewer were interested in docu- gravestones found in this cemetery were probably menting the cemetery, I thought, why not? transferred there from the town's older graveyard; "The experience was so positive it changed my a fortunate development as it turned out, for the outlook on cemeteries, which had not interested latter was destroyed soon afterwards, leaving me before. I always used to look for a Jewish angle no trace of its existence. It seems likely that the on my travels by entering synagogues and the like, A limited dispersion. gravestones transferred – including the oldest one Romaniote communities but I would never venture into cemeteries. Ever discovered by the delegation – were those of the have been known to exist in since Yanina, whenever I find myself in a Jewish community rabbis. Greece and the surrounding community outside Israel I ask about its graveyard. areas from the 15th century, The delegation of Israeli students was split before the Spanish exiles You can discover a whole world in a cemetery. into three workgroups, who eitherexamined the influence blurred the older I vividly recall a particular headstone which cemetery, interviewed the members of the com- traditions described, in Hebrew, how the young man interred munity regarding their memories and customs, Map: Super Mapping Ltd. there was killed. His entire story was inscribed in

דנובה ניקופול סופיה אולציני הים השחור ת נ י אדירנופול מ ת איסטנבול ו סלוניקי ה ע יואנינה ה קורפו ר י ארטה מ פ י ו ו ן ה א י לסבוס כלקיס תבאי כיוס פאטראס איזמיר קורינטוס סאמוס

רודוס

כרתים

פמגוסטה ה י ם ה ת י כ ו ן קפריסין 200 100 0

20 December 2010 www.segulamag.com Yanina

Hebrew, and looking at it, suddenly you grasp the The Land of Israel liturgy. ing Jewish communities. The "Kol Nidre" prayer meaning of a vibrant Jewish community speaking "Working together, day in, day out, with people written in pure Hebrew, Hebrew long before the rebirth of the language." as opposed to the familiar so different from myself, was simply a fantastic "My background in folklore allowed me to un- Aramaic version of the experience, despite the fact that we were in a Ashkenazi and Sephardic derstand certain connections. For example, Greek cemetery, laboring physically from dawn until liturgy writing on a headstone indicates either that these Taken from an old Romaniote dusk. It was this experience that motivated me, a people were disconnected from religion, which is mahzor preserved in the National few years later, to agree to work for the Project. My why they chose to perpetuate the memory of their Library team in the cemetery included a pair of archeol- loved ones in Greek, or that it is a relatively new ogy students from Haifa University of Haifa, both headstone from a period when the influence of secular Jews, and a religious girl called Shari, then religion was on the wane. Then take the symbols studying industrial design in Holon. I belong to carved onto the gravestones: the sign of the Star of the Conservative Movement, and made Aliyah David was the most popular. Compared to other from the States. While Shari and I had grown communities, the residents of Yanina did not up with these things, it was a real eye-opener for invest in ornately decorated headstones. Most were the secular students: the first time they entered a simple, as it was not a wealthy community.” synagogue and the first time they opened a siddur … they suddenly realized that the text is all in He- Strengthening Identities brew and that they can read it. Busy documenting For Salem, the social aspect of the trip was of a Diaspora community, we were actually strength- equal significance. It gave students from differ- ening our own community in Israel as well. ent sectors of Israeli society an opportunity to investigate their Jewish identities – "what are my roots, and where am I headed." Ironically, The Journey into Jewish Heritage program is sponsored this encounter was only made possible by the by the Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History (www. fact that they had left both Israel and their own jewish-heritage.org.il) with the support of the Avichai present temporarily behind, to undertake an Foundation. This unique educational/research project expedition into the Jewish, pre-Israeli past. Ac- trains and sends groups of students from a variety of cording to Salem, this is one of the main aims of academic disciplines to document Jewish communities the "Journey into Jewish Heritage" initiative, no and sites the world over. Program Director: Hannah less than the goal of preserving and document- Holland

The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 21 Yanina

The Old Kehal Kadosh ("The Old Holy Community") : the Story of a Synagogue

This synagogue, built on an Italian model, was among the first synagogues designed to enhance the congregants’ visual and audial experience of prayer | Efrat Godinger

Until midway through the 16th century the entire community of Yanina, including the recent Spanish Jewish arrivals, prayed in the Old Kehal Kadosh synagogue located within the Old City walls. However, as additional Jewish neighbor- hoods developed beyond the city walls, the Sephardic residents decided to build their own synagogue, outside the walls. They called it the New Kehal Kadosh. Both synagogues were rebuilt after being dam- aged by fire – the old one in 1826 and the new one 15 years later. Unfortunately, the New Kehal Kadosh synagogue is no longer standing, as it was heavily damaged during the Second World War. With the aid of the JDC, a residential building for the members of the community was constructed in its place. The Old Kehal Kadosh building survived, having been designated by the town’s mayor to house the municipal library. After the war, it was restored to the community and renovated with funds raised through local dona- tions and the JDC. Nowadays the main hall of the synagogue is used by the community on ten im- portant dates each year. Since the ladies' gallery

Sketches by Efrat Godinger

22 December 2010 www.segulamag.com Yanina

The Old Kehal Kadosh ("The Old Holy Community") : the Story of a Synagogue

is unavailable (it requires extensive renovation), The dome of the synagogue sunken into the western, back wall. Its arched men and women sit together in the main hall. is invisible from the outside, ceiling functions as a kind of acoustic shell, as is the massive mezuzah The men occupy the rows near the main aisle, affixed to the doors. enabling sound to resonate back into the central while the women sit at the back, thus preserving a prayer hall. measure of separation. This bipolar structure enables both the congre- The Old Kehal Kadosh synagogue was built gants and the cantor to see each other. The layout according to the bipolar model developed mainly offers a balanced harmony between the Holy Ark, in Italy. In synagogues of this kind the Sanctuary, bima, and congregant. These were the first syna- which holds the Torah Scrolls, is affixed to the wall gogues built according to a spatial plan designed to facing Jerusalem, whereas the bima, the cantor’s enhance the congregants’ visual and audial experi- platform, is not positioned in the middle of the ence of prayer. The space formed between the bima hall, as in most synagogues we are familiar with, and the Holy Ark can comfortably accommodate but right along the back wall. This perfectly bipolar and enhance dramatic, ceremonial rituals such as design that follows authentic, artistic lines devel- taking out the Torah Scroll and dancing round the oped only in Italy and within its sphere of immedi- synagogue on Simchat Torah. ate geographical and cultural influence: southern The seating arrangements of this synagogue France, a few coastal towns on the Adriatic Sea, are also unique. The area between the bima and and Yanina. the Sanctuary, along the width of the synagogue In the bipolar synagogues that remain standing (east to west), is left vacant as an aisle. Benches today, the bima is tucked away in a small niche, are arranged along both sides of the aisle – the

The Jewish Journey through History Tevet 5770 23 Yanina

front ones along its length, the ones behind them destroyed the community. We even indexed the in a u-shaped pattern. There are a number of opening pages of books in the synagogue closets, advantages to this seating arrangement. First, it to record any special writings or drawings inside. provides the congregants with enough space to More than once we discovered a record of sales take three steps backwards at the conclusion of and purchases, attesting to commercial activity prayer, as customarily required. Secondly, the lack between the various members of the community of significant difference between the seats (all can (during prayer services!). see both the Sanctuary and the bima) means that The dome of the synagogue dominates its inner there is no way of using seating arrangements to space, forming the meeting point of the major axes stress the social gaps between the various congre- of the interior. It is invisible from the outside, as gants. Admittedly, those who sit in the rows on the the roof is made of standard rafters, and blends two sides of the aisle have a certain advantage, but with the other rooves of the town. The massive the length of these rows – which stretch along al- mezuzah affixed to the doors cannot be seen from most the entire length of the synagogue – prevents the outside either. them from turning into a subject of power strug- Possibly, the community preferred to down- gles. Third, the benches are double-sided, so that play its presence as a result of political tensions the congregants sit essentially back to back. The that prevailed in the town during the rebellion overall effect is of small, intimate seating units, in against the Ottomans in the early decades of the which physical proximity and eye contact encour- 19th century. Greek nationalist sentiment ran age the formation of interpersonal ties (also known high and on more than one occasion the Jews as talking during services). were accused of loyalty to the Turks; the inflamed Our aim was to document every aspect of the atmosphere resulted in more than one death. It synagogue and the spiritual world of its commu- seems that Jews felt safer when their presence was nity: the building as it stands and as it was before not emphasized. But in that case, why is there a it was partly destroyed; the details which create prominent Star of David on the entrance gate to its elegant air - the entrance gate and façade, the the synagogue? bima (platform for Torah reading), the pillars and memorial plates; and the life that flourished within the synagogue during its heyday, before the Nazis Efrat Godinger, an archeology student, was part of the delegation to Yanina. The following is an excerpt from her comprehensive report . 24 December 2010 www.segulamag.com