Μην κόβετε τα δέντρα
Αφού και ο άνθρωπος
είναι ένα δέντρο του αγρού.

We invite you to participate in our Seder for Tu B’Shevat, the Festival of the Trees,
the 8th οf February 2012, at 18:00 at Etz Hayyim Synagogue on Kondylaki St.

Σας προσκαλούμε να γιορτάσετε μαζί μας το Του Μπ’Σσβατ, τη γιορτή τον δέντρων,
στις 8 Φεβρουαρίου, ώρα 18:00,στη Συναγωγή Ετζ Χαγιίμ, πάροδος Κονδυλάκη.

We were all especially touched when he told us that he always felt that Etz Hayyim had no roof and that his prayers went directly up into the heavens with none of the normal interference and distraction of political in-fighting in other communities. After Neilah when he blew the Yemeni shofar that we have, we broke the fast in the Synagogue as it was raining (which for us is always a propitious sign), and then after a dinner together he left by taxi for Herakleion.  Next year he plans to bring his wife who is at present pregnant along with his son to spend R-HaShanah and Yom Kipour with us.  Like the rain, Lior is a special blessing for us here.

Guests of Note:  Ruth Padel the poet and great-great grand-daughter of Charles Darwin was with us for a week after giving a poetry reading in Loutro. We managed to set in motion for a poetry work-shop to be held in the new Resource Centre in the Spring.  The author of several books for children, Doreen Rapapport and her husband Bob Rosegarten, the Emeritus Mayor of Great Neck were also with us for Yom Kipour.  Both have been friends of the Synagogue from the days when initial work was being carried out for its renovation in 1999.

N.S.

Σας Ευχόμαστε Καλή Χρονιά και Χρόνια Πολλά.

Σσανά Τοβά

-5772-

Shana Tova

We wish you all a Blessed New Year.

Σας προσκαλούμε να γιορτάσετε μαζί μας τη

Ροσς Ασσανά, Τέταρτη, 28 Σεπτεμβρίου.

Οι προσευχές θα αρχήσουν στις 19:00 και θα ακολουθήσει γεύμα στο εστιατόριο Έλα (Οδός

Κονδυλάκη) ώρα 20:30.

Για την κράτηση θέσεων παρακαλούμε επικοινωνήστε μαζί μας έως της 23 Σεπτεμβρίου. Το γεύμα θα είναι €20 το άτομο.

We invite you to join us for the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, on Wednesday, September 28th.

Services will be held at the Synagogue at 19:00, followed by a meal at Ela Restaurant (Kondylaki St.) at 20:30.

Any one interested should RSVP by September 23rd. The cost for the meal will be €20 per person.

]]> http://blog.etz-hayyim-hania.org/index.php/2011/09/invitation-for-rosh-hashana/feed/ 0 http://blog.etz-hayyim-hania.org/index.php/2011/08/visit-to-etz-hayyim-by-high-school-students-from-germany/ http://blog.etz-hayyim-hania.org/index.php/2011/08/visit-to-etz-hayyim-by-high-school-students-from-germany/#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 09:35:57 +0000 admin http://blog.etz-hayyim-hania.org/?p=622 As part of their summer camp on Crete, a group of about fifty high school students from Germany visited the Synagogue on 11 August. The Protestant parish of Ehrenkirchen-Bollschweil in southwest Germany organizes this biannual summer camp which is integrated in the History and Religious Studies curriculum at the students’ high school and allows them to explore the history, culture and nature of Crete.

After a first visit in 2009, parish minister and high school teacher for Religious Studies Ulrich Greder brought also this year’s participants of the summer camp to Etz Hayyim Synagogue to hear a presentation about the history of Etz Hayyim Synagogue and the Jews of Crete as well as some general information about Judaism and Jewish holidays as they are observed at our Synagogue.

The next visit of participants of the summer camp to Etz Hayyim Synagogue is already planned for next year, when parish priest Adela Strobel will take on the organization of the summer camp.

Etz Hayyim Synagogue regularly welcomes groups of high school and university students either from Hania, Greece or abroad.

Η τελετή άρχισε με τον χαιρετισμό προς τους καλεσμένους από τον κ. Νίκο Σταυρουλάκη. Στη συνεχεία ακολούθησε  ένα λεπτό σιγή καθώς και μια έκκληση προς όλους να συλλογιστούμε όχι μόνο τον χαμό της κοινότητας άλλα και όλων αυτών που έχουν χάσει τη ζωή τους, κάτω από παρόμοιες συνθήκες σε όλο τον κόσμο, τα τελευταία 60 χρόνια.

Ακολούθησαν  προσευχές και η επιμνημόσυνη δέηση, το διάβασμα του ποιήματος της Ζέλντα Μισκόβσκυ «Ο ΚΑΘΕΝΑΣ ΜΑΣ ΕΧΕΙ ΕΝΑ ΟΝΟΜΑ» και, αμέσως μετά, το διάβασμα των ονομάτων των 276 θυμάτων και το άναμα κεριών. Με αυτόν τον τρόπο έκλεισε η τελετή.

Since 2001 we have been able to have a memorial service for the Jewish Community of Hania that perished in 1944. This year was especially significant as we had not only a very large attendance (a full synagogue) but the memory of the Community was honored by the presence of official representatives of the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, City- Council as well as the Jewish Community of Athens and the Central Board of Jewish Communities of Greece.  The service opened with a short homily by the director of the Synagogue (Cf. below) and then as is normal with us – the service was taken over by members of the fraternity. Leon Gavrielides recited the prayers, blessings and admonitions of the Shema. Gabriel Negrin led the Amidah of Arvith and Nataly Ventura read a poem – Each of us has a Name.  As we had more than a formal minyan Roger recited the Kaddish and then the Ehal was opened and in common we formally recited the Yizchor for Martyrs and read out the names of all of the 276 member of the Community who perished in 1944. At the end of this votive candles were lit and distributed throughout the two gardens of the Synagogue.

*

This is not an event that calls for us to make long speeches that do little more than stress something about ourselves.  Neither, to my mind, is it necessary for us to linger over the pain and suffering of a community that was left in 1941 with no leadership and that perished in some form of wonderment.  Ten years ago I spoke here at the re-dedication ceremony and re-defined the new role of the Synagogue – not as a focal point for a Jewish community but rather as a place of prayer, recollection and reconciliation. In some strange way Etz Hayyim has done this and at the same time has remained a vivid sign of memory of the tragedy of 1944 when its last formal community ironically met its death – not in the camps of Germany and Poland but embraced in the Cretan Sea.

What meaning we can give this is to be found only in how we respond now to our lives and to the world about us which for many has not really changed appreciably.  Genocide, hunger, displacement and insecurity are still with us - hidden and at times justified in another context dictated by time and the abuse of language.

Before we begin I should like us all to sit in silence and see if there is any meaning that we can give to the death of our community in 1944 – or in the deaths under similar circumstances that have followed in the course of the past 60 years. If there is no meaning then these tragedies are empty and futile.

N. Stavroulakis

με τους Έλληνες συμπολίτες τους και Ιταλούς αιχμαλώτους το 1944.

Μετά την ετήσια επιμνημόσυνη δέηση θα ακολουθήσει

η ανάγνωση των ονομάτων

των θυμάτων και το άναμμα των κεριών.

Τρίτη, 21 Ιουνίου, ώρα 20:00

Συναγωγή Χανίων Ετζ Χαγιíμ

Πάροδος Κονδυλάκη

You are cordially invited to the annual memorial service for the Jewish Community of Crete that perished with their

fellow Greek citizens and Italian prisoners in 1944.

The traditional memorial service will be followed

by the reading of the names of the victims

and the lighting of the  memorial candles.

Tuesday, June 21st at 20:00

Etz Hayyim Synagogue

Parodos Kondylaki

The majority of the book donations came from the US, mainly due to a call for donations published on the website of the Yiddish Book Center. We are very grateful to the Yiddish Book Center for facilitating this call for donations and most of all off course to the many donors who helped us recover after the two arson attacks. Most generous donors were Judy Humphrey and Ken Schoen.

More than a year after the two arson attacks, we’ve embarked on a new project that adds yet another valuable aspect to Etz Hayyim Synagogue. With a generous donation by Nikolaj Kiessling we were able to set up a space for a research center for Cretan Jewish history. A research and resource center had been envisioned by Nikos Stavroulakis ever since he initiated and directed the rebuilding of Etz Hayyim Synagogue in the 1990s.

The Research Centre, named after the last chief rabbi of Crete, Avraham Evlagon (1846-1933) is to provide the institutional venue for the study of the more than 2,500 years of Cretan Jewry history from Antiquity to the Shoa. For this purpose the Research Centre will run a library and an archive; initiate and/or facilitate research projects; publish findings of this research for the academic community as well as present those findings to the general public. The center is located on the upper floor adjacent to the Synagogue, above the apartment of the Synagogue’s caretaker. In spring 2011, Etz Hayyim’s collection of books on Jewish history, theology, and philosophy as well as books on general history were moved to the new research center to provide the core of its resources. The renovation of the space and installation of book-shelves for the center has been accomplished. However, we still hope to expand our library collection to include further relevant publications on Hellenistic Judaism as well as Greek and Cretan history. Technical equipment for the research center like a computer, a library database as well as a filing cabinet for the archive still need to be acquired. We very much appreciate any support.

A.Z.

We have been experimenting with various Haggadoth over the years and it appears that we have finally managed to create our own that is suited to our needs and circumstances.  Apart from members of the Havurah we can usually expect to find a varied number of people who wish to  touch on the inner life of the Synagogue and especially during the Holidays there are challenges in insuring that the services are meaningful and clear – thus over the past four years our own Hania Haggadah has evolved.

Though led by Stavroulakis and de Lange a large portion of the Haggadah was divided to be read by the participants. As it was Holy Week it was impossible for the Capucin Friars to be with us, but guests from Greece, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Israel and the US did attend.

The readings were done in Greek, Hebrew and English and after the Blessing of the Cup of Elijah four members of the Havurah led the participants in singing Ladino songs that they had been preparing under the direction of Lorenzo (Ovadiah).

On the morning of Passover a good number of people came to the Synagogue and Shahrith prayers were said after which there was a Torah study group who were led in examining the scriptural text of the festival.

N.S.