Editorial by Elias V. Messinas
For those of us involved
in the study, research, preservation, documentation, and dissemination
of knowledge on the Jewish monuments of Greece, this newsletter, will
certainly feel like an inevitable consequence of efforts that date back
to as early as the late 1980s. Back in the 1980s, Nikolas Stavroulakis,
as the founder and then director to the newly established Jewish Museum
of Greece, undertook the first, and most important survey of Greek Jewish
monuments. This documentation was published partially in his book Jewish
Sites and Synagogues of Greece published by Talos press in 1992, in articles
in the newsletters of the Jewish Museum of Greece, and forms a large part
of the important archival material of the Jewish Museum of Greece, including
photographs and slides of recently-demolished Jewish sites, by photographer
Timothy deVinney.
In 1997, the year Thessaloniki (or Salonika) was celebrating as
the Cultural Capital of Europe, an unprecedented volume of activity focusing
on Jewish issues, Jewish history, and Jewish monuments, took place. New
publications, such as The Synagogues of Salonika and Veroia by Gavrielides
Press, cultural events at the partially restored Jewish quarter of, near-by,
Veroia, exhibitions on the synagogues of Thessaloniki, conferences and
presentations, and much more. At the center of all this activity the inauguration
of the Thessaloniki Holocaust victims monument, by the sculptor
the late Prof. Nandor Glid.
That exciting year, was followed by more efforts to maintain interest
in the Greek Jewish cultural heritage, whether in efforts undertaken in
New York, in Rhodes, in Hania (Crete), in Halkis, in Ioannina, or in Veroia
(northern Greece). We feel that this dynamic presence and activity around
the Greek Jewish heritage should be maintained, and the interest raised
should be followed up by concrete projects, efforts and preservation plans
for the future.
This newsletter is not an effort to compete or overshadow other
publications or newsletters, published in Greece or abroad, dealing with
Jewish monuments in general, covering Greece in particular. On the contrary.
This newsletter sees itself as an organizing force, a catalyst, a coordinator,
and concentrator of many efforts that are currently under way, or are
being planned for the future, and wishes to give them all a voice (="kol"
in Hebrew). Also to share with other people and institutions interested
in these efforts knowledge and expertise. These efforts may include the
inauguration of a photographic museum or exhibition, the documentation
of Jewish art, the conservation of a synagogue, or research on Greek Jewish
monuments. Our purpose is to encourage these efforts, to assist and support
them, and to encourage more similar efforts, in order to ensure that,
despite all odds, Greek Jewish heritage will be preserved. It must be
preserved, and can be preserved.
Before we close, we owe our readers an explanation on the name chosen
for this newsletter: Kol haKEHILA. "Kol" means "voice" in
Hebrew. "haKEHILA" means "the community" or "the synagogue". Therefore,
"voice of the community" or "voice of the synagogue". But, there is an
additional meaning in this name: "kol" means also "all" in Hebrew. In
this case, the name of the newsletter "all the community" refers to the
people of a special community who share the vision of preserving the Greek
Jewish heritage, a heritage unique in the world, combining Romaniot, Sephardi,
and Ashkenazi traditions, with roots lost in antiquity.
The readers, whether individuals, families, companies, institutions,
communities, or synagogue boards, are welcome to participate in this effort.
Your support, ideas, feedback, input, information, time and enthusiasm,
are welcome and vital for the maintenance and growth of this effort.
We hope to invite you soon to our internet site, dedicated to the preservation
of the Jewish monuments of Greece. |