Other Books

THE IZMIR PROJECT:
The Jews of Smyrna / Izmir

Historic research by Dr. H. Siren Bora
(Research prepared for: KIRIATY FOUNDATION & IZMIR PROJECT)

This work is sponsored by the Kiriaty Foundation. The time scope it covers starts in the 2nd century BC, when conclusive evidence exists as to the Jewish presence in Smyrna (Izmir) and ends in the 1950’s. The resources used during the preparation of the study are photographs, maps, archive documents, and works written by scientists on the subject.

A chronological course was observed during the preparation of this study. Five main topics were selected and Jewish life in Smyrna (Izmir) is described under these headings. It aims to create a solid foundation and suitable ground that would provide a scientific framework for the Izmir Jewish Museum planned for the future and for the works to be exhibited there.

DR. H. SIREN BORA

• For the full text, see:
  The Jews of Smyrna / Izmir

THE IZMIR PROJECT:
To rescue Ancient Synagogues and Jewish Heritage

(Initiated by the Kiriaty Foundation)

Izmir is the only city in the world in which an unusual cluster of synagogues bearing a typical architectural style dating from the 16th century are preserved. Some of these synagogues are adjacent to each other, creating an historical architectural complex which is unique in the world, and unknown even to the world Jewry.

There is a real danger that some of these unique historic buildings will cave in completely, leading to the subsequent loss of this extraordinary architectural and religious Jewish heritage forever, unless major and urgent effort will be made to rescue these Jewish treasures.

Following the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492, some of the refugees’ descendants came to Izmir, and brought with them the Sephardic Jewish heritage, the Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) language, and the Sephardic traditions of religion and worship which is expressed in their synagogues. The ancient synagogues of Izmir are characterized by a central stage which is an elevated platform where the service is conducted and upon which the “Torah” (the most holy Jewish book) is read. The stage is placed across the Holy Ark which is a cupboard where the scrolls of the Holy “Torah“ are kept at the eastern wall of the prayer hall. The central platform is supported by four pillars that form, in the center of the prayer hall, a kind of canopy built at the ceiling. The sitting arrangement, as a circle around the stage, allows the congregation to see the faces of one another, thus creating a bonding experience in public prayer, as opposed to the architectural style at those Ashkenazi synagogues influenced by the churches’ architectural style, where worshippers sit in rows with no eye contact between them.

Of 34 magnificent synagogues built in previous centuries in Izmir, in that typical local architectural style , only 9 remain today around the market area in the old city of Izmir. Some in ruins with collapsed ceilings and walls, their contents disintegrating, and some preserved. These synagogues constitute a living testimony to the history of the Jewish community in Izmir, which was a spiritual Jewish-center and one of the most spectacular of its kind that had the most spiritual and cultural influence on Jewish life at all the Jewish diaspora communities in the 17th and 18th centuries.

• For the full text, see:
  Izmir Synagogues Project