Greek Jewish Shabbaton & Festival by Beth Jacoby
I recently traveled to New York City’s Lower East Side to represent both Sephardic Adventure Camp and the Seattle Jewish Community at a Shabbaton and Greek Jewish Festival. The events were hosted by Kehila Kedosha Janina, a ninety-year-old Romaniote synagogue just south of Delancey and two blocks east of Little Italy. Here is an account of my experience.
Beth Jacoby
As a traditional décor buff, the first thing that struck me upon entering Kehila Kedosha Janina was the wall paper. It covers the walls of the ladies’ section from floor to ceiling giving it the old style charm the sanctuary exudes. Upon closer look, I noticed that, in fact, it was not wall paper at all, but a hand stenciled design. Yes, someone hand stenciled the walls from floor to ceiling, not only in the ladies section, but below in the main sanctuary, in a beautiful and delicate silver pattern that looks like it may have taken months to complete. The elaborate design was my first inkling of the deep dedication and care that the community of Kehila Kedosha Janina has taken to preserve the culture and history of their congregation, the only one left of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
My own Grandfather immigrated to the US from the Island of Rhodes. And although his family lived in Greece for almost five centuries, they weren’t so much “Greek Jews” as they were Spanish Jews living in Greece. By comparison, the Kehila Kedosha Janina congregation was founded by Romaniote Jews. The Romaniote or Greek Jews have the distinction of being the oldest Jewish community in Europe whose history in the Eastern Mediterranean dates back over 2,300 years to the time of Alexander the Great. And unlike Sephardim, who spoke Ladino, they spoke Judeo-Greek, a language that can still be heard in their songs and prayer services.
I attended both the Friday night and Saturday morning services at KKJ and sat in the ladies’ section which also serves as the KKJ Museum. Beautiful articles of clothing, ritual objects, photos, books, letters and other historical documents from the family members of KKJ are lovingly displayed around the perimeter of the rectangular room which sits directly one floor overhead from the men’s section. In addition to treasures from the Romaniote community, there are also relics and documents from the two Ladino speaking Sephardic synagogues that were once in the Lower East Side. Today KKJ makes a concerted effort to represent the entire Levant Jewish community, including the two Sephardic synagogues that no longer have a physical presence in the neighborhood. And on a side note, let me just state, that KKJ would be the perfect kehila for any woman that tends to get easily bored during services, especially one taking an interest in Sephardic history.
As far as the prayer service, KKJ preserves the Romaniote tradition through the close adherence to age old religious customs. They don’t cut corners or take shortcuts. I thought Ezra Bessaroth, the Seattle synagogue I attend, ran a lengthy Shabbat service, but the KKJ has EB beat – no contest! The service was conducted by guest Rabbi Gabriel Negrin, the Rabbi of Athens who led the service having traveled from Greece to participate in the weekend festivities. The star design on the top of his traditional white skufia, (brimless Greek style cap), could be seen from the ladies’ section directly overhead.
After services we walked across the street to a banquet room at the Allen Hotel for a special Shabbaton Friday night dinner, (and again for Kiddush lunch the next day). Rabbinic staff, including Sephardic Bikur Holim of Seattle’s, Rabbi Ben Hassan, community lay leaders and members from near and far joined for a delicious meal, wonderful conversation, inspiring words, and of course singing in Judeo-Greek, Ladino and Hebrew. Later that afternoon, there were several interesting mini lectures presented by the guest Rabbi’s.
On Sunday, the weekend’s events culminated with the 4th annual Greek Jewish Festival, a full-on Greek Jewish street party and the only one of its kind in the world! An enthusiastic crowd began to fill Broome Street, (between Allen and Eldridge), a half hour before the official noon start time and went on non-stop until 6pm. I was stationed at the Sephardic Adventure Camp and Seattle Sephardic Community table where I fielded questions and shared information about our unique summer camp program and played Sephardic Jewish Seattle geography with one interesting person after the next. There was an impressive lineup of live Greek, Israeli and Sephardic musical entertainment hourly from the beginning to the end of the festival. Young and old alike were literally, to quote Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, dancing in the street! I was touched to witness an elderly woman singing along with the Ladino music of Trio Sefardi. Booths offering traditional kosher Greek and Sephardic food, artisans, Sephardic community organizations, Greek tourism information, and activities for children were all a part of this Greek Jewish extravaganza.
My experience of both the Shabbaton and the vibrant Greek Jewish Festival gave me a taste of Sephardic and Romaniote tradition that were lovingly preserved, like the hand stenciled walls, but living and breathing as well!
Beth Jacoby
