Etz Hayyim Synagogue
The Etz-Hayyim Synagogue ( Hebrew : בית הכנסת עץ חיים) is located in the city of Chania on Crete and is the last remaining synagogue on the island. From the 17th century until the deportation of the Jews of Crete in 1944, the building was the house of worship for a Jewish community. It was then used for profane purposes and partially destroyed or damaged by decades of neglect. Etz-Hayyim was renovated between 1996 and 1999 and has been used as a synagogue again since 1999. The Jewish community celebrates the Kabbalat Sabbath every Friday evening , and several lectures, concerts, weddings and bar mitzvah celebrations have also been held here since then . The rest of the time, the synagogue is open to visitors.
In addition to the main room of the synagogue, the building contains a small library, two inner courtyards (in one of which there are some tombs) and a mikveh , i.e. a ritual bath.
The name "Etz Hayyim" means "tree of life". The synagogue is based on the Romaniotic traditions in terms of liturgy and interior decoration .
history
The building was erected as a Catholic church in the 15th century during the Venetian era of Crete . After the city was conquered by the Ottomans , it was handed over to the city's Jewish community in the 17th century. Around Etz-Hayyim was the city's Jewish quarter. The name "Evraiki" has survived to the present day.
On May 29, 1944, the approximately 270 Jews of Crete were abducted by the German occupiers to the prison, where they had to await their planned deportation to Auschwitz . However, they never reached the mainland because a British submarine torpedoed the ship they were on, as it was believed to be a German warship. A few days later, Wehrmacht soldiers broke into the orphaned synagogue, looted it and destroyed cult objects or threw them out of the building. Shortly afterwards they released the building for looting or occupation. Residents of Chania began to chisel walls and look for suspected "gold treasures" of the community, the synagogue and the now vacant houses of the displaced Jews were taken over by non-Jewish residents.
In 1957 an agreement was reached between the Greek government and representatives of the Jewish community of Greece over the former Jewish property. Formerly Jewish buildings were given to their current residents for small payments. Only the building of the Etz-Hayyim synagogue remained in the possession of the Jewish community (the building of the second Sephardic synagogue in Chania, Beth Shalom, was completely destroyed in 1944 and no longer played a role in this agreement). The previous residents left the building, which from now on was vacant or in parts illegally used by neighbors.
It was not until 1994, after a seminar held in New York on the endangered Jewish heritage, that Etz-Hayyim came back into the focus of a wider public. When an earthquake struck Chania in 1995 and cracks became visible in the outer walls of the building a few hours later, the World Monuments Fund put the synagogue on a list of the 100 most endangered monuments of international cultural importance worldwide. In 1996 the renovation began and on October 10, 1999 the Etz-Hayyim Synagogue was ceremoniously opened with the entry of the Torah scroll in the Torah shrine .
On the night of January 5th to January 6th, 2010 and January 15th to January 16th, 2010 arson attacks were carried out on the synagogue in quick succession. The anti-Semitic background to the attack was made clear after the first attack by the deposit of a bar of soap, which obviously alludes to a common anti-Semitic threat. The perpetrators, two Englishmen, two Americans and a Greek, were arrested shortly afterwards. The damage could soon be repaired with the help of donations.
Memorial service members of the Austrian “ Gedenkdienst ” association will be used for the first time as alternative military service for support work at the synagogue from the 2013/14 age group. Since the new Volunteer Act has been in force since 2016, women are now also allowed to do memorial service.
swell
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Etz Hayyim Synagogue | Events. Retrieved February 8, 2018 (American English).
- ^ Etz Hayyim Synagogue | Visitor information. Retrieved February 8, 2018 (American English).
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.tripwolf.com/de/guide/show/311285/Griechenland/Chania/Synagoge-Etz-Hayyim
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Etz Hayyim Synagogue | The History of the Jews of Crete. Retrieved February 8, 2018 (American English).
- ^ In Hania, Crete — a Town With No Jewish Presence — a Synagogue Thrives . In: Moment Magazine - The Next 5,000 Years of Conversation Begin Here . September 27, 2017 ( momentmag.com [accessed February 8, 2018]).
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from January 18, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Barbara Spengler-Axiopoulos: The Havurah of Chania. In: nzz.ch. May 5, 2010, accessed October 14, 2018 .
- ↑ http://www.gedenkdienst.or.at/index.php?id=779
Web links
Coordinates: 35 ° 30 ′ 56.4 ″ N , 24 ° 0 ′ 59.8 ″ E