Editorial by Elias V. Messinas
Welcome to the new issue of Kol haKEHILA! Kol haKEHILA is closing
three years of its publication; three years of hard work to bring the
Greek Jewish reality to our readers all over the world. This issue marks
a big change in the life of Kol haKEHILA: starting from the next issue,
the newsletter will continue only in electronic form. The newsletter which
you have been receiving on a permanent basis four times a year, will be
discontinued. All news, articles, announcements, and activity of Kol haKEHILA
and the Jews of Greece will continue to be posted in our growing and enriched
website open and accessible to all our readers. Our address remains the
same: www.yvelia.com/kolhakehila. It’s been a very fruitful period of
three years; it was a difficult start, but quickly you, our readers, embraced
our effort with warmth and support. You have joined our effort from all
over the world. Greek Jews living all over the globe have contacted us,
have supported our activity and newsletter, have shared their news and
experiences, have informed us and have informed our readers. Kol haKEHILA
has become a global community (kehila) which cares for and supports the
preservation of the Jewish heritage of Greece, and Kol haKEHILA has become
its voice (kol)! We know that some of you, without internet access, will
have difficulty reading us. We sincerely hope that your friends who will
keep being informed by us, who will download our images and print our
web pages, will share all this information with you. Visit Kol haKEHILA
online! Visit our numerous web pages, which are growing every day, with
news, genealogical search and information, historical information, numerous
images of Jewish sites in Greece, numerous images of people with their
stories and news, and more! We are the only and richest resource on Greek
Jewry on the web, and will continue our efforts in bringing to your fingertips
everything that is relevant to the Greek Jewish history, heritage, architecture
and genealogy. The richest resource accessible to all! Our subscribers
are welcome to renew your subscription, to support the growth, maintenance,
and expansion of Kol haKEHILA online, and to make it possible for others
to enjoy, learn, be informed and find relatives through Kol haKEHILA online
numerous web pages. Your subscription will no longer include a hard copy
of Kol haKEHILA, but will include a set of our unique greeting cards depicting
the synagogues of Greece. Send us your news, history, genealogical information
and stories! We will gladly post it on Kol haKEHILA online - please send
information only in electronic messages at kolhakehila@yvelia.com. In
this issue, I offer an overview on a personal level of the activity of
Kol haKEHILA during the last three years and the contribution it made
in the preservation of the Jewish heritage of Greece; Zanet Battinou presents
the exhibition on the Jews of Greece held at Strasbourg; and Dr. Jose
Nessim presents the activity and programs of the Sephardic Educational
Center in Jerusalem, North and South America. News on the Jews of Greece
includes the opening of the new Jewish museum in Salonika, and progress
in the exhibition for the Jews of Veroia, at the synagogue of Veroia.
New books include "Flares of Memory" on the Holocaust, and "Historic Cities
and Sacred Sites" by the World Bank. We welcome our new subscribers! We
thank our readers who contributed to this issue, especially, Prof. Carol
Krinsky, Dr. Jose Nessim, Zanet Battinou, and the Jewish Community of
Salonika (Thessaloniki). |