Jewish Heritage Europe

Calendar

Jun
13
Thu
Reinauguration Hârlâu synagogue @ Hârlâu synagogue
Jun 13 all-day
Reinauguration Hârlâu synagogue @ Hârlâu synagogue | Hârlău | Județul Iași | Romania

The synagogue in Hârlâu, Romania will be rededicated following restoration.

A day-long program of events starts at 10:30 a.m. (See photo)

 

 

 

Timisoara Jewish Guidebook @ Timisoara Art Museum
Jun 13 @ 19:00 – 20:30
Timisoara Jewish Guidebook @ Timisoara Art Museum | Timișoara | Județul Timiș | Romania

Launch of the book “In the Footsteps of Jewish Timisoara,” by Getta Neumann.

The Romanian-language guide includes tourist trails, information on history and tradition, as well as about synagogues and the Jewish cemetery, personalities, and more.

 

Jul
16
Tue
Archaeology of the Holocaust @ Jewish community Vilnius
Jul 16 @ 17:30 – 18:30
Archaeology of the Holocaust @ Jewish community Vilnius | Vilnius | Vilniaus apskritis | Lithuania

Vilnius presentation of the new book by Dr. Richard Freund, the Maurice Greenberg Professor of Jewish History at the University of Hartford in Connecticut: The Archaeology of the Holocaust: Vilna, Rhodes, and Escape Tunnels.

Click to read more about the book

 

Sep
19
Thu
Romaniote Memories – a Jewish Journey from Ioannina, Greece to Manhattan @ Greek Consulate in New York
Sep 19 @ 18:00 – Oct 3 @ 19:00
Romaniote Memories - a Jewish Journey from Ioannina, Greece to Manhattan @ Greek Consulate in New York | New York | New York | United States

Exhibition of Photographs by Vincent Giordano.

The photographs are part of a multi-media archive, created by Giordano, who died in 2010, that was sponsored by International Survey of Jewish Monuments and in 2019 will find a new home at the Hellenic American Project and Special Collections at the Library of Queens College, New York.

Giordano’s photographs document two related communities of Greek Romaniote Jews – in Ioannina, in northwestern Greece and on Broome Street on New York’s Lower East Side. Romaniote Jews trace their religious and cultural heritage to the Judaism of the ancient Greco-Roman world two-thousand years ago, and these two tiny congregations are among the few remaining to follow these traditions. Romaniotes have their own liturgy and cultural traditions, as well as their own language, a dialect of Greek that combines words and phrases from Hebrew and Turkish. This luminous black and white photo essay includes a poignant exploration of liturgy and ritual, conveying how people engage with religious space and carry on their time-honored sacred traditions.

The exhibition will open on Thursday, September 19th , 2019 at 6:00 p.m. it will continue through October 3rd, 2019. 

A panel discussion by experts will take place at the Consulate on Wednesday, September 25th, 2019 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Dec
10
Tue
Synagogues as Museums and Galleries in East‐Central Europe @ Grande Synagogue of Europe, Brussels
Dec 10 @ 18:00 – 21:00
Synagogues as Museums and Galleries in East‐Central Europe @ Grande Synagogue of Europe, Brussels | Bruxelles | Bruxelles | Belgium

The opening of a photo exhibition by Rudolf Klein that presents a brief survey of synagogues converted into museums and galleries in Hungary, Austria, Bosnia‐Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia. The exhibit runs until January 16, 2020.

The opening includes talks (in English) by Klein, Polish researcher Natalia Romik,  and Professor Thomas Gergely.

Prior registration is required.  Click here

The event is organized in collaboration with the Great Synagogue of Europe, the Balassi Institute, the Polish Institute and the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Feb
11
Thu
Virtual Opening of Romaniote Memories: Photos of Vincent Giordano @ Online Zoom event
Feb 11 @ 17:00 – 18:00
Virtual Opening of Romaniote Memories: Photos of Vincent Giordano @ Online Zoom event
The exhibition can be seen at this link: https://scalar.usc.edu/works/romaniote-memories/index
 
In 1999, photographer Vincent Giordano made an unplanned visit to the small Kehila Kedosha Janina (KKJ) synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side. He knew little about Judaism or synagogues, and even less about the Romaniote Jewish tradition of which KKJ, built in 1927, is the lone North American representative. In this he was not alone. Romaniotes are among the least known of Jewish communities. Beginning in 2001 and guided by members of the KKJ community, Giordano documented the synagogue and its religious art of the congregation using film, video, and audio.
 
In 2019 the Giordano family donated the archive of Vincent’s work to Queens College, where it is a major part of the Hellenic American Project and is preserved as part of the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library’s Special Collections and Archives.
 
The exhibition is sponsored by the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library, Hellenic American Project, and Center for Jewish Studies at Queens College, in partnership with the International Center for Jewish Monuments, an independent non-profit organization.
 
The exhibition includes more than one hundred photographs, presented in ten thematic sections, accessible here.
 
To register for the exhibition’s opening reception on Zoom, featuring a conversation with curators, distinguished guests, and friends go to:
Jul
23
Sun
Kos synagogue reopens @ Kal Shalom synagogue
Jul 23 @ 11:30 – 12:30
Kos synagogue reopens @ Kal Shalom synagogue | Greece

Inauguration of the restored synagogue on the island of Kos.

A new Ark and Bimah and other interior furnishings have been installed and — after decades out of its original use — the building will be rededicated as an active house of Jewish worship.

The Kos synagogue was built in the mid-1930s to replace an older synagogue that was destroyed in an earthquake in April 1933. It was abandoned after the near-total destruction of the circa 120 member Jewish community during the Holocaust, and then was purchased by the Municipality around 1984 and used as a local cultural centre.

See our post

 

Aug
4
Fri
𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐨𝐫 (The Echo of the Synagogues) @ various synagogues
Aug 4 – Aug 8 all-day

This festival features concerts in the synagogues of five towns in western Romania:

The repertoire includes new compositions by the violinist and virtuoso Alexander Bălănescu, who also will perform.

PROGRAM:

Bălănescu’s Quartet & Emanuel Pusztai 🎻🎶
🕍 Monday, September 4th, at 7 PM | Neolog Synagogue in Arad
🕍 Tuesday, September 5th, at 7 PM | Cetate Synagogue in Timișoara
𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐁𝐚̆𝐥𝐚̆𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐮 (violin), 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 (violoncello) and Emanuel Pusztai (voice) 🎻🎶
🕍 Wednesday, September 6th, at 7 PM | Reșița’s Synagogue
🕍 Thursday, September 7th, at 5 PM | “Beit El” Synagogue in Caransebeș
🕍 Thursday, September 7th, at 8:30 PM | Neolog Synagogue in Lugoj
📌 Admission to the concerts is free, and no prior registration is required.
 
The festival is a project of the Pantograf Association, and a continuation of its previous programs  – Sound of Synagogues, Rhapsodies on Romanian Themes, and Synagogue Stories – “which aimed to document the stories of synagogues, raise awareness about the importance of these places of worship, and integrate them into a regional and national circuit by creating a connection between material and immaterial heritage.”
 
It is part of the national cultural programme “Timișoara – European Capital of Culture in 2023” and is funded through the Grow Timișoara 2023 programme, implemented by the Center for Projects Timișoara, with funds allocated from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Culture. It also falls under the umbrella of the European Days of Jewish Culture (EDJC).
 
Arad, Romania. Inner dome of the Neolog Synagogue
Aug
11
Fri
Alba Iulia Jewish Cemetery final event @ Marè Yehezkel Synagogue, Alba Iulia
Aug 11 @ 12:30 – 13:30
Alba Iulia Jewish Cemetery final event @ Marè Yehezkel Synagogue, Alba Iulia | Alba Iulia | Județul Alba | Romania

Closing event of the conservation and restoration camps held this year in the Jewish Cemetery of Alba Iolia, as part of the project Conservation and restoration of the monumental funeral stones of the Jewish cemetery in Alba Iulia.

 

Sep
23
Sat
Romania: Night of open synagogues @ Various synagogues
Sep 23 @ 19:00 – 23:00
Romania: Night of open synagogues @ Various synagogues | Romania

Romania’s annual Night of Open Synagogues takes place in a number of synagogues around the country.

We know of events in synagogues in Bucharest, where four synagogues will be open, in Satu Mare, and in Iasi.

We have not seen a full list, however.

The synagogues are open to visitors after the close of Shabbat, and there are also various events planned in some of them.

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