Jewish Festival -- In Northern Ireland

This is somewhat out of the geographical area I generally try to stay in -- but  a Jewish Culture Festival is being held  in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It's called "Jews Schmooze."

A series of talks, exhibitions and concerts will celebrate a vibrant culture. Records from the last census record just 400 members of the Jewish community in Northern Ireland. They may be small in number but they are determined to celebrate their identity.

Jews Schmooze co-ordinator Katy Radford said: "Since the 1800s, the Jewish community in the north has fed into cultural and educational vibrancy here establishing schools and theatres and sponsoring arts events.

"Jews Schmooze is an opportunity for the community to continue that work and its commitment to partnering with other communities to promote cultural diversity and deter racism and anti-semitism."

The programme was launched at the north Belfast synagogue on Tuesday by Belfast's lord mayor, Councillor Naomi Long. 

Read full article

This is what Northern Ireland's culture minister, Nelson McCausland,   had to say about it on his blog:

Wednesday, 14 October 2009

Yesterday I visited the Jewish synagogue in North Belfast for the launch of Jews Schmooze, a programme of talks, exhibitions and  concerts that is intended to celebrate Jewish culture.  The centre-piece will be the world premiere in the synagogue of a new production by the Kabosh theatre company.  It is entitled This Is What We Sang and it follows five Jewish family members during Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Today the Jewish community in Northern Ireland numbers around 400 people but it is a community with a long history and it has contributed much to life in Northern Ireland. 

Growing up in the north of the city I knew a number of Jewish young people who attended the Belfast Royal Academy when I was there.  At that time, back in the 1960s, the community was larger than it is today.

Over the years I have visited the synagogue a number of times and on one occasion I gave a talk on the life of one of the most notable members of the community, Sir Otto Jaffe.

I have a personal interest in the life of Otto Jaffe, who was Lord Mayor of Belfast on two occasions, in 1899 and 1904, and who was a Liberal Unionist.  He was a successful businessman and also a generous philanthropist.  The leading figure in the Jewish community of his day, he built the old synagogue in Annesley Street and also the Jaffe School on the Cliftonville Road.

The year 1904 was a good year for the Jewish community in Belfast with the opening of the synagogue and the honour of a Jewish Lord Mayor.  Unfortunately the experience of the Jewish community in Limerick in that year was rather different and a Redemptorist priest, Fr John Creagh, led an anti-semitic pogrom which drove many Jews out of the city.

"Jewish Heritage Travel" at Warsaw Airport

It's always nice to see a book on sale where it should be sold -- a friend of mine found National Geographic Jewish Heritage Travel on sale now at Warsaw airport. Cool!

POLAND -- Shabbaton in Kielce: services in synagogue for the first time since WW2

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

A Shabbaton  will take place in the Polish city of Kielce next weekend (Oct. 16-17), bringing Shabbos observances to a synagogue that has not been used for worship since the Holocaust. A detailed web site (in English as well as Polish)  describes the program, the synagogue -- reconstructed out of recognition after World War II, and long used as the district archives -- and the history of Jewish life (and death) in the city.

On 16 October the Shabbaton will begin with common prayers at the three houses of worship built in Kielce in the early 20th century: the Catholic Church, the Synagogue, and the Orthodox Church. During an open meeting, the Polish Council of Christians and Jews will then discuss Catholic and Jewish identity.

On Friday evening a community Sabbath will be celebrated for the first time since World War II. Sabbath prayers will be said in the synagogue, which this year celebrates the 100^th year since its founding and which is currently in use as the State Archive, followed by a traditional Sabbath dinner dinner.

On 17 October after morning prayers and lunch everyone is invited on a walk through Jewish Kielce. Guests from Israel will then lead workshops on Judaism. A Havdala service will mark the end of the sabbath, which will then be followed by an evening of dance and music.

Jews were barred from settling in Kielce until the early 19th century; by 1939, there was a Jewish population of about 25,000. The Nazis set up a ghetto in April 1941; many died from the brutal conditions, and about 20,000 people were deported to Treblinka.

Kielce, however, is far better known for what happened after World War II. It is is infamous as the site of the last pogrom in Poland, a massacre of 42 Jews by a Polish mob who attacked the Jewish community house on July 4, 1946. The pogrom is described in detail in the book Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz,  by Jan T. Gross.     

 Building in Kielce where the 1946 pogrom took place. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

 

 Monument to the pogrom, in Kielce, by American artist Jack Sal. (Photo from www.jacksal.com)

The Kielce Shabbaton is the latest in a series of Shabbaton programs in long-disused synagogues in Poland organized by Michael Traison, an America lawyer who has an office in Warsaw and has spent much of his time in Poland over the past 15 years. Previous Shabbatons have taken place in Pinczow, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Przemysl, and Lublin.

Traison -- whom I met in 1995 at ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz -- told me recently that he had four motivations for organizing the Shabbatons.

"First is remembrance, to remember these communities and these human beings that were here. Second is to demonstrate that the Jewish people did survive as a people and thrive and we are here, we are alive, and that we're here in Poland, too: Am Yisroel Chai. Third, to have an opportunity to bring Poles and Jews together, not just here but worldwide. And fourth, to provide a Jewish religious experience for people who would like to participate in such an experience and enjoy a good Shabbat."

(I'm also told that a Shabbaton will be held in late November in Plock, apparently organized by the Beit Warszawa reform congregation, but I don't have any details.)

Rome -- Festival of Jewish Literature coming up

The second International Festival of Jewish Literature in Rome will be held Oct. 24-28. It features mainly Italian and Israeli authors, and probably will be of interest only to Italian-speakers. You can find the program and details BY CLICKING HERE.

Slovakia -- New and Improved Web Site, with Jewish Heritage Route

Jewish cemetery at Beckov, Slovakia, under the Beckov castle. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

The extremely useful and information-packed Slovak Jewish Heritage web site has been revamped and enlarged to include new information, an interactive map, and material on the individual sites that comprise the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route. (It also includes travel and accommodation information for Slovakia.)

The web site is devised and operated by Maros Borsky, the leading expert on Jewish heritage in Slovakia. The author of the book Synagogue Architecture in Slovakia, Maros founded and directs the Slovak Jewish Heritage Center - one of 36 organizations featured this year in Compass, a new guide designed to introduce, inform and enlighten readers about what it sees as some of Europe’s "most vital, innovative, effective and sustainable Jewish organizations and programs."

Each month, a "site of the month" will be highlighted online -- sites in good condition but also neglected sites that need action to save them. The current "site of the month" is the wonderful synagogue building in Liptovsky Mikulas, a neo-classical structure that was rebuilt by the Budapest architect Lipot Baumhorn after fire damage in 1906. It was in bad shape when I first saw the building in 1990 or 1991; it was later partially restored. Just three years ago, it was being used as an exhibit hall and cultural venue. Today, however, the synagogue (which was restituted back to the Jewish community) has been closed, and it is impossible to visit.

The building, Maros writes on the web site:

embodies the tragedy of Jewish heritage in Slovakia. Although it is one of the most beautiful synagogues in Europe, there is no use for the building, and nobody is willing to come up with a solution for its survival. However, for the time being, it is still worth seeing – at least from the outside.

Synagogue in Liptovsky Mikulas, 2006. Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

The Slovak Jewish Heritage Web site states:

Our online resources provide information about major Jewish sites around the country. The material covers a range of topics and is oriented to scholars as well to the general public.

The MONUMENTS DATABASE features details on hundreds of Jewish heritage sites we have documented throughout Slovakia. We began our work in 2001 as Synagoga Slovaca, a project aimed at documenting the scores of synagogues, many of them in ruinous condition, that still stand in all corners of the country. We are gradually adding cemeteries, cemetery chapels, mikvaot (ritual baths), school buildings, other Jewish communal buildings and Holocaust memorials. Material in the database includes historical and architectural information as well as photographs.

The SLOVAK JEWISH HERITAGE ROUTE promotes the country's most important Jewish heritage sites and integrates them into national and local cultural, educational and tourism contexts. The Route is associated with the European Routes of Jewish Heritage, which has been declared a Major Cultural Route of the Council of Europe.

These projects and other activities of our Center are part of a long-term vision that includes the establishment of a sustainable and multi-faceted SLOVAK JEWISH HERITAGE PROGRAM. We strongly believe that our work can foster a desire - and a commitment - to seek sustainable frameworks for the maintenance and restoration of these important yet all-too-often neglected heritage sites. Only through such strategies can we contribute to the preservation of Slovak Jewish monuments as part of Slovakia's overall multicultural heritage.

Romania -- New Holocaust Monument in Bucharest

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

A new National Holocaust memorial, commemorating Jews and Roma killed in the Shoah, will be dedicated in Bucharest on Thursday. President Traian Basescu laid the cornerstone for the memorial in 2006 and is expected to attend the dedication. The Romania Ministry of Culture, Religious Affairs and National Heritage described the monument, designed by Peter Jacobi, as "a contemporary expression of a memorial, the bearer of a message, a visible sign, an active space with which the public can interact freely." It includes five sculptures symbolizing Jewish and Roma suffering, a central memorial site and two installations using tombstones.

Construction of the monument was mandated by an international commission on the Holocaust in Romania, headed by Elie Wiesel, which released a 400-page report in 2004. As many as 380,000 Jews, and thousands of Roma, were killed in the Holocaust in Romanian-occupied territories.

Until now, the only Holocaust memorial in Bucharest was one erected by the Jewish community in 1991 in front of the main Choral Synagogue.

Holocaust memorial in front of the Choral Synagogue, Photo (c) Ruth Ellen Gruber

Sam Gruber has posted a detailed article on Holocaust memorials in Romania on his blog.

Romania -- More on my genealogy travels

By Ruth Ellen Gruber

I posted a lot on this already, but I want to point out that my current Ruthless Cosmopolitan column on JTA deals with my recent trip to Romania with my cousins, on which we dabbled in family history and, as the cliche goes, walked in the footsteps of our ancestors.

RADAUTI, Romania (JTA) -- It's the custom in Judaism to visit the graves of family members around the High Holidays.

This year I went a step further and walked in the footsteps of my ancestors.

My father's parents, who immigrated to the United States before World War I, were born near the market town of Radauti in the Bucovina region of northern Romania.

This is where I went a couple of weeks before Rosh Hashanah. It was my fourth trip to Radauti, which when my grandparents lived there was one of the easternmost towns in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

My first visit there was more than 30 years ago, in the freezing December of 1978. I was a correspondent for United Press International and was accompanying Romania's then-chief rabbi, Moses Rosen, on his annual Chanukah tour to far-flung remnant communities throughout the country.

I recall visiting 19 Jewish communities in six days. Elderly people in winter coats and astrakhan hats huddled together in unheated synagogues, and puffs of steam came from the mouths of the Jewish choir from Bucharest that came along with us to perform.

My brother Sam also was on that trip, and he and I took time in Radauti to visit the Jewish cemetery and pick our way through the stones to find the grave of our great-grandmother, Ettel Gruber, who died in 1946 and in whose honor I was given my middle name.

Discovering her grave did not trigger in me any further genealogical impulse, though what we experienced on our trip around Romania that week sowed the seeds of my interest in Jewish heritage.

Read full story at jta.org