Jewish Community of Rhodes, Greece
- 2 days ago
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The Jewish Community of Rhodes, in Rhodes, Greece is inclusive of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Greece, and the Jewish Museum of Rhodes. I find it a privilege to have written this feature.
I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the gracious Carmen Cohen, Director of the Jewish Community of Rhodes, for his invaluable support and permission to write this article.
The Mediterranean Sea is situated between Europe, Asia, and Africa. Located in this beautiful sea is the island of Rhodes, the ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and the largest of the Dodecanese islands.
Today, the population of Rhodes teeters at 125,000, yet the Jewish population of Rhodes is small, currently only 40 Jews reside on the island.
Don’t let these numbers mislead you. Jews lived on this Mediterranean island of Rhodes for centuries. In fact, the Jewish community of Rhodes dates to the 2nd century BC. The history of Jews on this island it both rich and poignant, standing as a testament to a devoted people and their resilience.
History
For over two thousand years, the island of Rhodes served as a cultural crossroads in the Aegean Sea. Among the many civilizations that left their mark on its fortified medieval walls, few histories are as poignant or enduring as that of its Jewish community. Centered in the historic quarter of La Juderia, the Jewish population of Rhodes evolved from an ancient settlement into a vibrant epicenter of Sephardic culture following the Spanish Inquisition.
Today, it is this Jewish heritage that is kept alive by the Jewish Community of Rhodes and the Rhodes Jewish Museum.
The Jewish community of Rhodes dates to the 2nd century BC, as mentioned in the Book of Maccabees. In 1116, Spanish traveler Benjamin of Tudela visited Rhodes and recorded a community of between 400 to 500 Jews. The community lived in the walled medieval quarter known as La Juderia, which is the historic Jewish quarter located in the northeast corner of the walled medieval Old Town. In 1467, an Italian Rabbi visited Rhodes and wrote in a letter “I have never encountered a Jewish Community in which everyone, from the eldest to the youngest, is so intelligent.”
For over 800 years, La Juderia was the cultural and geographic heart of the island’s Sephardic Jewish community until its destruction during the Holocaust.
In 1522, when the Ottoman Empire took control of Rhodes, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent who had the longest reign among the Ottoman sultans, actively sought to develop the island, inviting 40 Jewish families from Thessaloniki to settle. The descendants of the Jewish people from Spain are known as Sephardic Jews, because the Hebrew word for Spain is Sepharad. The Sephardic Jews quickly became the cultural majority and by the late 1800s into the early 1900s, the island was home to about 4,500–5,000 Jews.
In 1912, following the end of Ottoman rule, the island fell under Italian occupation. Many Jews began to emigrate for economic reasons.
The rise of fascism in Italy in 1938 saw the introduction of harsh racial laws under Mussolini, depressing the community. In 1941 there were about 1,800 Jews living in Rhodes. Then came the Holocaust. In July of 1944, after the fall of Mussolini, the Nazis occupied Rhodes.
On July 20, 1944, almost all the Jews of Rhodes had been captured and were held in an improvised concentration camp. The Germans with immense brutality stole everything valuable. In a swift operation, they rounded up 1,673 members of the Jewish community and forced them onto boats bound for Piraeus, and subsequently by cattle cars to the Auschwitz concentration camp.
They arrived in Auschwitz on August 16th, where 1,200 people that were judged too weak to work, were immediately sent to the gas chambers and the crematoria. The remainder was sent to forced labor. The women were raped, sterilized and used in inhuman experiments.
Only 151 Jews survived the World War II and this ended the centuries-old life of La Juderia.
Today only 40 Jews live in Rhodes.
Cemetery
There is a Jewish cemetery of the island on the island. The original cemetery dates back the mid1600s. The in 1938, Cesare Maria De Vecchi, who was the Italian fascist governor of the Dodecanese Islands from 1936 to 1940. In 1938 enforced Mussolini’s anti-Semitic "Racial Laws". He decided to create public gardens where the cemetery lied and relocate the cemetery and its thousands of tombs.
Now, for families with financial means, the tombs of their loved ones were relocated to the new cemetery. For the other Jewish families, those who did not have the finances to move the loved ones tombs, these tombs were demolished and are buried in two cenotaphs.
The oldest tombstones therefore due date back to the mid 1600s. The north side of the cemetery contains approximately 150 graves containing the remains of those who died after 1938.
In this cemetery, there is a memorial, the Pentcho Memorial, which is a marble stele that honors the Jewish refugees who perished while fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe on the ill-fated Pentcho ship en route to Palestine between 1940 and 1942.
Kahal Shalom Synagogue
Founded in 1577, the sole remaining active synagogue on the Island of Rhodes is The Kahal Shalom. It is the oldest Jewish synagogue in all of Greece. The full name of the building is “Kahal Kadosh Shalom”, Holy Congregation of Peace.
The interior of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue reflects the timeless Sephardic tradition, where the tevah, the prayer-reading table, rests at the center of the sanctuary. The floor, paved in smooth black and white mosaic stone, forms a pattern that echoes the elegance and spirit of old Rhodes.
During the 1930s, a balcony was added to the synagogue sanctuary to create seating for women. Before this addition, women gathered in two upper-level prayer rooms known as the ezrat nashim.
In the courtyard beside the synagogue, a quiet surprise awaits: a small garden shaded by trees and centered around a stone fountain. Installed in 1938 in memory of Rabbi Isaac Israel, the fountain was dedicated at the same time as the synagogue itself. Above it, a Hebrew inscription gently proclaims, “In memory and devotion during World War Era.”
The Kahal Shalom Synagogue, established in 1577, stands as the only surviving synagogue on the island. The Rhodes Jewish Museum operates adjacent to the synagogue, preserving artifacts and photographs of the island's unique history.
The Synagogue is open to the public; it serves as a historic and architectural interest. In 2002 a Monument of the Victims of the Holocaust was erected in the Jewish Martyrs square, in the place where La Juderia once thrived.
Jewish Museum of Rhodes
In October 1977, the Jewish Museum of Rhodes was established within two of the former women’s prayer rooms of the Kahal Shalom Synagogue.
The museum was founded to combat the fading awareness of the unique history of the Jewish community. At first, the museum was a collection of photographs from the Jews of Rhodes, preserving personal stories and documenting Jewish life on the island. The museum grew into a lasting tribute to the community’s rich heritage and resilience.
Today, the museum is devoted to preserving and strengthening public appreciation, understanding, and knowledge of Jewish culture, heritage, and history. Open daily from April through October, visitors can explore both the synagogue and the historic Jewish Quarter. During the remainder of the year, visits may be arranged by appointment. The museum and the synagogue are being visited by more than 20,000 visitors every year.
Culture
The Sephardic Jews carried with them a rich inheritance of traditions, literature, philosophy, religion, and music, shaping the cultural identity and spiritual life of the Jewish community of Rhodes.
For centuries, Sephardic music played a vital role in preserving tradition. More than melodies, these songs became vessels of memory, carrying forward the customs, language, and spirit of Sephardic heritage from one generation to the next.
The Jews of Rhodes traditionally spoke two distinct languages: Yevanic and Judeo-Spanish, also known as Ladino. Yevanic was the language of the Romaniotes, one of the oldest Jewish communities in Greece. Judeo-Spanish, or Ladino, developed after the expulsion of Sephardic Jews from Spain in 1492. Today, Yevanic is considered nearly extinct, with very few native speakers remaining. Ladino also declined significantly over time due to migration.
The Kahal Shalom synagogue in Rhodes Greece is the oldest Jewish synagogue in all of Greece. Together with its museum and cemetery, it stands as a lasting tribute to the history of Jewish population on the island. Though only 40 Jews now reside on the island of Rhodes, their blend of culture, architecture and history is one for the ages.
Contact Information:
Jewish Community of Rhodes: Kahal Shalom Synagogue and Kahal Shalom Synagogue
Address: Dossiadou and Simiou Streets (Old City), Rhodes, Greece 85100
Phone: +302241022364
Email: jcrhodes@otenet.gr
Website: https://jewishrhodes.org/
Follow me at: https://www.youtube.com/@JDRye195
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