The Monastiriotes synagogue in Thessaloniki, Greece, one of the few synagogues to have survived in a city that before World War II had nearly 60, was ceremoniously reopened this month after a full restoration.
Designed by the Czech Jewish architect Eli Ernst Levi, the synagogue was built in 1927 by by Jews from Monasitir (Bitola, Macedonia) who had come to Thessaloniki and the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. It survived World War II by being requisition by the Red Cross as a storehouse. Given the destruction of almost all of the city’s Jewish population and infrastructure during the Shoah, the synagogue has been used by the small post-war Jewish community as Thessaloniki’s central synagogue. It was damaged in a 1978 earthquake and further damaged by patchwork repair efforts and neglect.
Architect Elias Messinas, an expert on Greek synagogues, was involved in the restoration project and describes the process in an op-ed article in the Jerusalem Post.
Under the leadership of David Saltiel, president of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki, a team of architects comprised of the undersigned and the office of Kard Architects based in Thessaloniki, and under the supervision of Jewish community engineer David Frances, undertook to restore the building and bring back its historic character and beauty. Thanks to grants from the Federal Republic of Germany and the Herbert Simon Family Foundation, the undertaking encompassed every possible corner and detail of the synagogue: from hiding exposed wiring to revealing the original hidden decorative terrazzo floor tiles; from revealing original wall paintings to replacing and adding damaged decorative plaster decorations; from reconstructing the toilets to installing new stairs and an elevator to make the ezrat nashim accessible to persons with disabilities for the first time; from replacing existing heating, cooling and lighting systems to improve performance and to reduce energy costs and the environmental footprint of the building to erecting again – for the first time since 1978 – the 10 Commandments at the top of the synagogue façade.
Click to read the full article in the Jerusalem Post
He writes about how this restoration and the rededication ceremony May 15 were a powerfully emotional experience for him, as throughout his career “the urge to preserve the Jewish heritage of Greece was not only an academic pursuit but primarily a dedication to survival.”
In the past, he writes, the Greek Jewish community allowed the destruction of historic synagogues that had survived the Holocaust. The restoration, he writes, represents a turning point, and a new way of thinking about Jewish heritage and its importance for Jewish life and Jewish future.
The inauguration of the restored synagogue of Monastiriotes was a real celebration. A celebration of the city of Thessaloniki for having now a unique architectural and historic landmark. A celebration for the Jewish community over the pride and joy its central synagogue brought them again. A celebration for Israel for having one more point of reference on the map of Sephardi Jewry in the Diaspora, in an ancient city once called “Mother of Israel,” and a Jewish community from which David Ben-Gurion was inspired for the State of Israel. It was also a celebration for me personally: the closing of a circle of great loss for Greek Jewish heritage, and the start of a new paradigm of cooperation, dedication, love and pride in Jewish heritage, to be restored and preserved for present and future generations.