Jewish Romania: The Great Synagogue of Bucharest
Wonderful Guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com) escorted us through the remnants of Jewish Bucharest and filled heads to bursting. The first stop was to the Great Synagogue of Bucharest which is also a Holocaust Museum, built in 1845-1846.
A Jewish presence in Bucharest was first documented in 1550 and the Jewish community was once the largest minority community in Bucharest.
I'll let Eduard dispense information in this and subsequent videos since he communicated the facts so well. Eduard, who is NOT Jewish, is a perfect example of how important it is for all peoples to visit important religious sites throughout the world. The ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I are forever lighting candles in Churches, making kora (circumambulating around a Buddhist sacred site), and even a Jain pilgrimage. Have got to cover all eventualities, right?
Jewish Bucharest Tour
A quick introductory video tour into the Jewish Bucharest.
Use your visit to Romania to explore the Jewish history of the country. Although, much of Bucharest's Jewish quarter was knocked down during the Communist times, many unique artifacts have been preserved and are now exhibited in the Jewish History Museum housed in the former Synagogue of Tailors. The Great Synagogue of Bucharest, hidden behind the Communist-era apartment buildings, is a beautiful and well preserved Temple. The Holocaust museum, located in the Temple, features photographs, people's testaments, facts and figures related to this tragic time. Coral Temple, which is undergoing interior works and is closed for visits now, is the 3d temple in Bucharest. The Holocaust memorial is a must.
Jewish Bucharest tour is a must for those interested in learning about the past and present of Romania's and Bucharest's Jewry.
Jewish Bucharest tour can be arranged as a shore excursion for those coming to Constanta with a cruise. More about our Constanta and Bucharest tours and shore excursions at odessawalks.com
Jewish Romania: The Yeshua Tova Synagogue, Bucharest
One last Bucharest temple with guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com) at the Yeshua Tova Synagogue. Yeshua Tova is an ultra-Orthodox Synagogue run by the Chabad Lubavitch, a Hasidic sect who incorporates the teachings of Kabala/Kabbalah. Hmm, I wonder if Madonna or Demi have ever visited this Synagogue...
Yeshua Tova Synagogue was built in 1827, renovated in 2007 and very easy to find, located only a few blocks from University Square. It is Bucharest's oldest synagogue.
On a side note that has nothing to do with Judaism, there was a wonderful bakery across the street - great cheese rolls!
Tempul Coral Synagogue, Bucharest, Romania
Tempul Coral Synagogue, Bucharest, Romania
Jewish Romania: The Holocaust Memorial, Bucharest
Another stop with guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com) at the Holocaust Memorial which was dedicated in 2009 and designed by Romanian sculptor Peter Jacobi.
The Romanian Government has only recently owned up to its part during the holocaust. Between 280,000 and 380,000 Romanian and Ukrainian Jews, and 25,000 gypsies (Roma) were killed by Romanian civilian and military authorities in Romania and areas it controlled during World War II.
Many were slaughtered in pogroms (already talked about in the video taken inside the Great Synagogue) while others were transported to labor camps, primarily Auschwitz.
What can I say...
Romania's stunning synagogues
From the wooden Baal Shem Tov synagogue to the magnificent Coral Temple, Jewish heritage sites are being restored to their former glory across Romania. Before the Holocaust, Romania was home to one of Europe's largest Jewish communities. These are some of the many beautiful synagogues of Romania!
Tempul Coral Synagogue, Bucharest Romania
Tempul Coral Synagogue, Bucharest, Romania
2014 Watch Day - Great Synagogue of Iaşi, Romania
Watch Day at the Great Synagogue of Iaşi was organized as a cultural event to celebrate Jewish religion and tradition. The activities included guided site visits of the site, concerts of traditional Jewish music, and arts and crafts for school children focused on the synagogue.
Learn more:
The Great Synagogue of Bucharest
A short video about the history of the Great Synagogue of Bucharest, Romania.
Urban Exploration | Synagogue | Romania
Die sogenannte Grosse Synagoge im Osten Rumäniens wurde anstelle einer früheren Synagoge zwischen 1910 und 1914 erbaut. Noch bis in die Mitte der 90er Jahre wurde die Einrichtung von der Bevölkerung genutzt, doch durch den Rückgang der jüdischen Bevölkerung in der Region wurde das Gebäude aufgegeben.
The so called great synagogue in the east of Romania was built on the site of an earlier synagogue between 1910 and 1914. Until the mid 90s the buildung was still in use. But when the jewish population decreased in that area, the synagogue was abandoned.
Video: navik.de
Audio: Eschberg | unreleased demotrack
Museums under the spotlight - Choral Temple Bucharest
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“Museums under the spotlight” is an open invitation for everyone, to enter a world of mystery and history, that lets the imagination run free. Beyond the images presented in the show, we invite you to discover, feel, experiment and live on your own a visit to the museum.
History is an anchor, to know who you are means recognition and continuity, certainty and belonging and “Museums under the spotlight” wishes to tell you stories about monuments with historical, artistic and architectural value included in the national cultural heritage of Romania, stories about human treasures, about masterpieces, legends and everything that represents true beauty in Romania.
“Museums under the spotlight” invites you to make your life a beautiful story!
Jewish Romania: Holy Union Synagogue of Tailors Museum, Bucharest
Steve and I kept on going with guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com) to the Holy Union Synagogue of Tailors, now a Jewish History Museum. This temple managed to survive in its entirety through both World War II and Ceausescu (Romania's last Communist leader) who was intent on destroying anything having to do with religion. Built in 1850 by the Jewish Tailors' Guild of Bucharest, this stunning temple had Moorish, Romanesque and Byzantine elements.
Displays inside included a collection of books, paintings of and by Romanian Jews, and archives of Romanian History.
Jewish Romania: The Brasov Synagogue
While walking through old Brasov, one of the seven walled citadels settled by the Saxons, guide Cristi led us past a synagogue founded in 1901. Closed today, a Saturday (Sabbath), it is open Monday-Friday, 10:00a-1:00p.
Jews were given permission to live in the Saxon section in 1807, a rare privilege since only Saxons were allowed inside the core of this city; Romanians were only allowed enter the inner Citadel at certain times.
The Brasov Jewish community now numbers about 230 since many families left for Israel after World War II.
Jewish Romania: The JCC, Bucharest
Still on the move with guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com), the next stop was at the very active Bucharest JCC, Jewish Community Center to meet with enthusiastic Shai, Deputy Director of Development Programs here.
Volunteers work their buns off providing support to Romanian Holocaust survivors and other remaining members of the Jewish community. They furnish meals to the indigent, a gathering place for adults and children in a warm environment, and even have a radio station open to anyone with something to say! A wonderful place that does so much good...
Romania marks seventy years since Jewish pogrom
Romania this week marked the seventieth anniversary of the Iasi pogrom of June 1941, in which thousands of Jews were rounded up and shot. Leizer Finchelstein is one of the few who survived. Now 88 years old, he still struggles with the memories of what happened.Duration: 02:35
Jewish Romania: The Jewish Theater, Bucharest
Guide Eduard (romaniajewishtours.com and medievaltours.com) took us to the Teatrul Evreiesc de Stat Bucuresti (Jewish Theater), situated in the center of the once predominantly Jewish area.
Although called the Jewish Theater, the artists, writers, musicians and actors who perform are not necessarily Jewish but Romanian. Programming is a mix of traditional and modern with a repertoire that includes: Yiddish classic, Romanian and international works.
Interestingly enough, the Nazis left the theater alone to attend performances themselves. I found the prop department extremely interesting with enough vintage to interest the most devout fashionista. Another must-see and unusual stop for tourists in Bucharest.
Paris Great Synagogue Memorial For Pittsburgh Massacre
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“Sh’ma Koleinu” in the Great Synagogue of Stockholm
Hazzan Komrad sings “Sh’ma Koleinu” in the Great Synagogue of Stockholm.
The Choral Temple - Bucharest
One of the first synagogues in Bucharest was the Choral Temple, which was completed in 1857 by architects Enderle and Freiwald; it is a copy of the Leopoldstadt-Tempelgasse Great Synagogue in Vienna and has a façade decorated in Moorish style with yellow-and-red patterned brickwork. A wealthy Jewish community was established in the city by the mid-16th century but never lived in complete harmony with its Romanian neighbors. In 1593, many were killed during a rebellion against the city’s Ottoman overlords and unrest continued to rumble for several centuries.
Several years after the Choral Temple was built, it was destroyed in a pogrom and rebuilt in 1866. Even with the destruction, the city’s Jewish population continued to grow. By 1930, it numbered 74,480 while the pogroms and indiscriminate killings continued. During World War II, all Bucharest’s synagogues were closed down and many thousands of Romanian Jews were sent to their deaths in Transnistria and Bessarabia. Following the war, Jewish numbers in the city swelled with refugees from other eastern European countries but uncertainty under the autocratic rule of Nicolae Ceaușescu led to mass immigration to Israel.
With the collapse of Communism, a memorial was erected outside the synagogue in 1991 to commemorate the thousands of Romanian Jews who died in the Holocaust, and in 2006, a painstaking restoration of its interior was undertaken; the synagogue finally reopened in December 2014 with its Moorish tiles, carved wooden balconies and heavy chandeliers gleaming once more.
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מסע אל המורשת יאסי, רומניה חלק Iasi, Romania Jewish Heritage1