Houses of Life: The Jewish Cemeteries of Jamaica by Rachel Frankel

ISJM Vice-President and architect Rachel Frankel has written a short piece about the Jewish cemeteries of Jamaica for the website of the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion at the University of Chicago Divinity School. This derives from her paper at last January's conference on Jewish Diaspora in the Caribbean Conference, the proceedings of which will soon be published. Rachel will be leading a small team back to Jamaica this spring to continue cemetery documentation.

Houses of Life: The Jewish Cemeteries of Jamaica
by Rachel Frankel

At the outskirts of Port Royal lies Hunt’s Bay Jewish Cemetery, Jamaica’s oldest burial ground no longer in use today. The cemetery has recently been inventoried and mapped, and is now a Jamaica National Heritage Trust Site. Inventory work continues this month on the Orange Street Jewish Cemetery, Jamaica’s two hundred year old bet haim (“house of life”).

Jamaica’s several Jewish cemeteries, which ring this Caribbean island, are not wholly preserved, accessible, or undisturbed, but they contain over three continuous centuries of gravestone imagery, epitaphic language, genealogy, burial patterns, and cemetery site design. Thanks in part to the United Congregation of Israelites Shaare Shalom Synagogue of Jamaica and Caribbean Volunteer Expeditions, these New World necropolises are undergoing inventory, analysis, and preservation.

Read the entire article here.

In Memory: Yahrzeit of ISJM Founder Raina Fehl

Raina and Philipp Fehl. Photo: http://www.rainafehl.com/

 

In Memory: Yahrzeit of ISJM Founder Raina Fehl (1920-2009) 

by Samuel D. Gruber (president, ISJM) 

Today is the first anniversary of the death of Raina Fehl, esteemed art historian and with her husband Philipp Fehl, co-founder of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments. Raina touched the lives of many people around the world, and for people like me, she had a profound influence. Unintentionally, but quite persistently, she is largely responsible for my career in service of the documentation, protection and preservation of historic Jewish sites worldwide. Raina's daughters Katherine and Caroline have begun a lovely webpage in honor of their mother. Raina and Philipp were a team, but Raina had her own personality, interests, skills and accomplishments. While Phillip was often the more public presence ISJM, it was Raina that sustained the organization for twenty years. 

I was always closer to Raina than Philipp. She did research, carried out extensive multi-lingual correspondence (this was in the pre-internet days), organized conference sessions and wrote always informative and often essential newsletters. At the time these were the only compilations available of current information about historic Jewish sites. Raina wrote about new developments in Germany, she researched the Roman Ghetto and Jewish Cemetery, and she kept abreast of a growing literature in many languages about the location, history, condition and use of Jewish sites. At a time when there was little news of former synagogues and cemeteries in Eastern Europe and North Africa, Raina made an effort to chase down and publish. 

Together, Raina and Philipp knit together a diverse band of scholars, activists, enthusiasts and the plain curious to create a "community of interest" about Jewish monuments. It is hard to explain to younger scholars, curators and preservationists today that only 35 year ago the topic of Jewish art and architecture was hardly spoken of, and for Jewish architecture and historic sites, ISJM - the creation of the Fehls - was a unique world resource. Both Philipp and Raina readily - eagerly - engaged, encouraged, and cajoled many scholars young and old to look at Jewish monuments of all types for their own sake, and also in their place in world art and cultural history.

That world - or art and culture - was something that Raina knew something about. She was born August 23, 1920, in Vienna where she received a strong classical gymnasium education (Matura, 1938) as the daughter of the poet/author/civil rights attorney, Erich Fritz Schweinburg and Rosa Gussman Schweinburg. Raina immigrated into the United States, in 1939, after the Nazi annexation of Austria. She became a United States citizen since 1944 and served in the U.S. Army Service in 1945-1946 as psychiatric social worker, and as a research analyst for the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1946-1947. Despite an obvious practical streak in her make-up, perhaps enforced by her early life experiences, Raina seems also to have inherited poetry and generosity of spirit from her parents. These traits - necessary practicality and poetic adaptability were, of course, magnified when she married Philipp in 1945.

In America, Raina received her B.A. in history and English from the New Jersey College for Women, Rutgers, 1939-1942, B.A. and continued to study throughout her life, with specialization in German language and philosophy and classics. She also served as a (usually uncredited) collaborator with Philipp on many art historical research projects. To my knowledge, it was only in the newsletter of the ISJM that Raina regularly published interesting and often erudite articles and reviews under own name.

For the last several decades of her life she and Philipp were involved in two consuming projects, the publication of Franciscus Junius the Younger, The Literature of Classical Art: I. The Painting of the Ancients. London 1638. II. Catalogus Architectorum, Mechanicorum sed praecipue Pictorum, Statuariorum …. Rotterdam, 1694 (A critical edition and translation by Keith Aldrich, Philipp Fehl and Raina Fehl. University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1992) and The Art and Architecture Library of Count Leopoldo Cicognara (1767–1834), a reprint on microfiche of all the works contained in the Fondo Cicognara of the Vatican Library (circa 5000 books and pamphlets). The publication program, known as the Cicognara Project, is a joint venture of the Vatican Library and the University of Illinois Library. Philipp Fehl was the editor-in-chief until his death in September, 2000, and Raina continued the work through much of the following decade. In 2007, Raina saw to press Phillip's Monuments and the Art of Mourning: The Tombs of Popes and Princes in St. Peter’s (Unione Internazionale degli Istituti di Archeologia, Storia e Storia dell’Arte in Roma. 2007).

I first met Raina and Philipp at the American Academy in Rome in 1987. My recollection is that it was over lunch. We got to talking about Jewish art and historic sites - synagogues, cemeteries, etc., something about which at the time I knew almost nothing (I was working on my thesis about medieval urbanism, and also was involved in Early Medieval monastic archaeology). I the manner of many grad students, I put up a good front and marshaled those few bits of information I did possess, to feign some knowledge, and that was enough for Raina and Philipp. In no time at all I was pulled into the world of Jewish monuments, or rather into the sometimes erratic orbit with which the Fehls and ISJM circled the subject. After that lunch my life was never the same. When Raina heard that I would giving a paper at 1988 College Art Association in Houston (on the transformation of medieval houses in to Renaissance palazzi) she quickly booked me to also speak about rural American synagogues - the topic we had chatted about at the Academy lunch - at the ISJM session also scheduled for CAA. In the end, the Fehls didn't even make it to Houston - they were snowed in at Chicago - but I gave my little talk (and chaired the session) and my "Jewish" career had begun. 

As she almost always did, Raina first imposed upon me and then amply repaid the favor. Later in 1988 she was one of several people who recommended me to the World Monuments Fund which was looking for someone to help research and conceptualize what soon became the Jewish Heritage Council, now WMF's Jewish Heritage Grant Program. I directed the Council for four very active years, and then continued to consult, and Raina was always a trusted and essential adviser. Soon after taking the job I made a pilgrimage to the ISJM office at the University of Illinois at Urbana where I sat for several days under Raina's tutelage and rummaged through files, getting a crash education in my new specialty. I have regularly used those files - and amply added to them - ever since. A paper I gave a few years ago (now in press) about mapping the Roman Ghetto used some of Raina's notes on the subject (with her permission), and is dedicated to her memory. I owe a great debt to Raina, and though much of our relationship was by phone and letter, I have many fond memories of her - in Rome, New York, Urbana and Strasbourg, and other places where we would occasionally meet. These memories, like her contribution to Jewish Studies, will not die. For more on Raina's life click here.

Greece: Passover at Hania's Etz Hayyim and Fund-raising Update

Passover in Hania. Photos courtesy Friends of Etz Hayyim

Greece: Passover at Etz Hayyim and Fund Raising Update

(ISJM) It has now been several months since arsonists attacked the historic Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania, Crete. The congregation, with some help from neighbors, has cleaned up the mess and made the synagogue look whole again. some new security measures have been installed, and an international effort in in progress to collect books to rebuild the library that was destroyed by fire, smoke and water. Visitors are again coming to the synagogue, and Nikos Stavorulakis and his associates are preparing for the usual summer surge in visitation. But the bills for the clean-up and repairs still have to be paid, and money still needs to be raised. So far ISJM has collected about $27,000 from approximately 150 individual donors. Others have sent money directly to Greece. If you would like to contribute more funds checks should be made out to ISJM and sent to:

International Survey of Jewish Monuments

118 Julian Place, Box 210

Syracuse, NY 13210

(be sure to write "Etz Hayyim" on the memo line)

Nikos reports on progress at the Etz Hayyim Synagogue on the Etz Hayyim blog. As it does every year, the heterogeneous community gathered in April at the synagogue for a Passover Seder. Nikos describes this year's gathering and ritual meal:

Passover at Etz Hayyim is somewhat like a family gathering as over the past ten years the community During the times when it was felt necessary to expand on the Haggadah special mention and note was made of the fact that Passover is about fleeing from idolatry in all its forms – even perhaps the idols that one makes of concepts and practices that perhaps impede our spiritual growth and freedom.

Seder attracts a good number of people who return annually to celebrate with us here.

This year we were prepared to see perhaps fewer participants due both to the ‘crunch’ as well as the arson attacks. Invitations were sent out as usual and response here in Hania seemed to indicate that we would have a fair attendance though it seemed unlikely that we would have the usual quota of visiting Israelis and Jews from Europe on vacation. We lay in provisions from Athens – matzoth and wine and chose a traditional Sephardi menu of non meat dishes – and even had the ‘korban’ pre-roasted in Athens and sent by courier.

Nicholas de Lange arrived in good time and after getting copies of our last year’s haggadah printed up we set about making arrangements with a nearby restaurant that we have used on former occasions.

Everyone assembled at the Synagogue for Arvith prayers and then made their way to the restaurant and we, Nicholas de Lange and myself, took on the part of readers. During the times when it was felt necessary to expand on the Haggadah special mention and note was made of the fact that Passover is about fleeing from idolatry in all its forms – even perhaps the idols that one makes of concepts and practices that perhaps impede our spiritual growth and freedom.

Almost 60 people attended the reading of the Haggadah and after the hiding of the Afikomin set about serving themselves from a buffet of traditional Sephardi food.

At the end of the meal the cup of Eliahu was filled with wine that was taken from everyone’s glasses and the door was opened to the street as we said the thanksgiving prayers.

We are especially happy that some friends arrived from Turkey as well as the young Palestinian who helped me the night of the first fire and the friars from the nearby Catholic monastery…thus the sense of members of one widely extended family – Jews, Christians and Muslims was very evident.

Greece: ISJM Continues to Collect Funds to Repair Hania's Etz Hayyim Synagogue

Greece: ISJM Continues to Collect Funds to Repair Hania's Etz Hayyim Synagogue
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) Work continues in Hania, Crete with clean-up and repair efforts at the historic Etz Hayyim Synagogue, which was attacked twice by arsonists in January. Current estimates put the cost of structural and material repair and replacement at about $100,000. This does not include the costs of time and donated labor, and the replacement cost for approximately 1,000 books that were damaged or destroyed in the synagogue library.

Since the second attack - which was more destructive than the first - ISJM has been collecting funds from individuals - mostly in the United States - to assist with repairs. So far about 75 donors have contributed over $13,000 which puts us more than halfway to our first goal of a $25,000 contribution. Our hope and plan is that this show of support will leverage additional donations form foundation, Jewish organizations and government agencies. If that doesn't happen ISJM will keep raising money until all the needs for the building are met.

Please send contributions - of all sizes - to:

ISJM
118 Julian Place, Box 210
Syracuse, NY 13210

Be sure to add "Hania" to the memo line of the check, and to make check out to "ISJM" or "International Survey of Jewish Monuments." ISJM is a register 501 (c) 3 charitable organization and all contributions are tax-deductible according to law.

Meanwhile, ISJM now has a list of destroyed books from Etz Hayyim and with the assistance of Prof. Steve Bowman of the University of Cincinnati; we will soon be coordinating donations. If you would like a copy of the booklist by email please contact me directly at samuelgruber@gmail.com. Books are especially needed in the subject areas of Judaica, Hellenic and Mediterranean Studies, art, architecture and other fields. Cash contributions for shipping books or for related purchases are also welcome.

Greece: Arson Again in Hania Causes Further Destruction at Historic Synagogue!

Greece: Arson Again in Hania Causes Further Destruction at Historic Synagogue!
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) They have struck again! On Friday night, just a few hours after the conclusion of Shabbat services, and ten days after arsonists burned part of the historic Etz Hayyim synagogue in Hania, Crete, they again succeeded in setting fire to the (mostly stone) building, and causing more - and serious - damage to the sanctuary, to the archives and the Director's office. Dr. Nikos Stavroulakis has written about the new fire on the synagogue blog, and photos of the damage have been posted here.

The new destruction comes as a blow to the Hania congregation and its many friends in Greece and throughout the world. In Hania, there had been progress in cleaning up the mess of the January 5th fire, and assessing damages and costs for repairs and replacement. In the last few day ISJM had received over $5,000 in contributions from thirty contributors. now the work is even greater - but so is the resolve to succeed.

A few cowardly neo-Nazi bullies and thugs cannot have their way. They cannot destroy a beautiful project, building and community that it has taken twenty years to rebuild.

I encourage all my readers to keep contributing. Donations for repairs can be sent to:

International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM)
118 Julian Place, Box 210
Syracuse, NY 13210

(write Hania in the memo line)

ISJM is 501 (c) 3 charitable organization and contributions are tax-deductible according to law.

I also urge you to write to your country's embassies in Greece urging them to pressure authorities to fully investigate and prosecute this crime, and to write to the Greek embassies in your own countries about the same. I will shortly post contacts and addresses to make this easier.

Here is Nikos' report of Friday night's fire:

On the night of Friday, January 15, after more than a week of work on the sanctuary – newly scraped, primed and re-painted; the wood-work oiled with lavender and the marble floor polished – we met for Erev Shabbat prayers and Kiddush. Later we locked the synagogue and returned to our homes feeling that we had set our steps forward. Saturday morning at 3:30 AM however the Synagogue’s director was wakened by the alarm that had been set off in the Synagogue and rushed there accompanied by two helpers to find the entire main office ablaze. They began putting out the fire with the garden hose as the firemen had not yet succeeded in getting their hoses connected. When the mains were finally connected the firemen set to work – by 4:45 the fire was only smoldering and all that remained of the upper and lower office was completely gutted. Also about a third of the wooden ceiling of the Synagogue itself was burnt, the benches covered in soot and broken wood, the floor a mess – but the EHAL was not touched!

Everything in the main office – e.g. two computers, complete Talmud, Midraschim, 2 sets of Rashi lexicons (Aramaic, Greek and Hebrew) plus many reference books and the entire archive of the Synagogue have all been destroyed. By noon the Siphrei Torah along with all of the silver ornaments (rimonim, tassim, yads etc.) and a precious early 17th century illuminated Qur’an were removed to a secure location. It was a sad moment to see them being taken away from the Kal as it was a joyous moment when they had been installed in 1999. But we are determined that they will come back!

Greece: Arson at Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania Destroys Library and More

Greece: Arson at Etz Hayyim Synagogue in Hania Destroys Library and More: ISJM will Receive Contributions in USA

With shock and sadness I forward this report received from my friend Nikos Stavroulakis of a destructive fire two nights ago at the restored and much-loved Etz Hayyim synagogue in Hania, Crete. The fire severely damaged the recently restored ezrat nashim (former women's section) of the historic synagogue, and entirely destroyed the library and computer stations. Additional damage from soot and water to the rest of the structure and furnishing can be repaired, but at a considerable cost.

Here is Dr. Stavroulakis's report in full (also posted on the Etz Hayyim blog with more photos):

At approximately 12:20-1:00 AM on the night of the 5th January, a serious attack was made on the fabric of the Synagogue. One or two or even more individuals made their way into the south garden of the synagogue by climbing over the iron gate. Subsequent to this they set about making an improvised incendiary device by tearing open a large Ottoman cushion in the mikveh and then with the contents stuffed a canister that was filled with some flammable liquid which was then set afire under the wooden stair of the ezrat nashim. (The upper floor of the women’s section (ezrat nashim) serves as the office of the director as well as a library and reading room and contains valuable books in various languages on Ottoman, Byzantine and Jewish art and architecture as well as resource books on European and Near Eastern History from pre-historic times as well as a large section on Cretan history. A computer and CD player with over 150 CDs of Sephardic liturgical and secular music were also kept in the office.)

Within probably minutes the assailants had taken off and the fire produced smoke that poured into the synagogue proper and then out into the street through the oculus in the facade of the synagogue.

Yannis Pietra, an Albanian emigrant living not far from the Synagogue, smelled the smoke and looking into the street saw it belching out of the facade and called the police, fire-station and then set off to find the director who arrived not long after along with Besnik Seitas the handyman of the Synagogue. At roughly the same time a young Moroccan, Nasr Alassoud, also traced the smoke that was coming down the street to the harbor. He proved to be a much needed hand by the director. By 1:45 AM the fire brigade had extinguished the fire and the police had begun their work. But the residual damage was only going to be apparent the next day.

Anja Zuckmantel-Papadakis, our librarian and her husband arrived not long after the fire was extinguished. What was quite notable was the lack of ‘locals’ despite the quite incredible noise of the synagogue alarm system and sirens from the two fire engines screeching through the neighborhood. What was even more disturbing and an obvious sign of a lack of civic responsibility was the apparent lack of sensitivity to the fact that had the synagogue been engulfed in flames at least half of the old city of Hania would have gone up in flames as the narrow streets and inaccessible quarters would have prevented access by the fire brigades. By 7:00 AM a deposition was made by the director with the police and the somewhatience of assessing the damage done was carried out. Members or the Synagogue fraternity: Paola Nikotera, Konstantine Fischer, Sam Cohen and David Webber were on hand to examine what had taken place – to books, structure as well as to assist the police in establishing evidence part of which was a bar of soap that had been thrown against the outer wall. (A common anti-semitic quip in Greek runs…’I'll make you into a bar of soap!’) As the mains of the Synagogue had been disconnected in the course of extinguishing the fire, we were informed that it would perhaps take up to a week to have them reconnected. The prospect was met when Mr Giorgos Archontakis, an engineer, offered to help us with this. As we were dealing with this, Angeliki Psaraki our photographer arrived to take pictures of the damage and later with Mr Archontakis. These two were successful in submitting the necessary papers to the Electric Company and by 5:00 PM we had electricity again which considerably raised morale though the damage by now was even more apparent.

The Siphrei Torah were fortunately well protected in their Ehal but the walls of the interior of the sanctuary as the wooden ceiling have been streaked and covered by water laden soot as well. Much of the naked stone on the interior has been badly stained and by early evening we set in motion plans for the cleaning of the walls and even ordered the scaffolding. By late evening our carpenter, Mr Manthos Kakavelakis had taken measurement for the new stair as the old one was completely gutted in the fire and we had discussed the creation of a solid stone wall to protect the new library entrance. This structure will be articulated so as to include the entrance to the mikveh. All of the carpets of the synagogue (some 30 odd and most of them antique Turkish) had been covered with soot and messed about by the fire-fighters and police. These have been packed up in readiness for cleaning.

On the 6th January, a day after the fire we assembled together to recite Shaharith prayers at 9:00 as is our custom.

The atmosphere was understandably sombre but the director – Mr Stavroulakis – tried to divert some of the understandable anger by looking over what had happened over the past 24 hours or so. We must be angry over what has happened to our synagogue. If we were not it would be an indication that we were either indifferent or morally numb. But exactly against what is our anger directed? The urban context in which Etz Hayyim figures at this moment must be considered carefully and any indifference on the part of the citizens to the material fabric of this city and its collective ‘psyche’ is tantamount to abetting to a degree the desecration of monuments, of homes and sites of common meeting. What we must be angry about is the ignorance that determines racism, discrimination or badly examined lives.

We have tried at Etz Hayyim to be a small presence in the midst of what is at times almost aggressive ignorance. We have done this to such a degree that our doors are open from early in the morning until late in the day so that the Synagogue assumes its role as a place of prayer, recollection and reconciliation. In many ways we have been successful through this quiet presence – perhaps our ‘silent presence’ wears not too well on some and is even a source of annoyance to others. Often I have pointed out that we are perhaps the only synagogue of significance in Greece, possibly Europe, where there is little if any overt sign of protective security. Hand-bags are not checked, ID cards and passports are not examined, and one is not obliged to sign in. This character of the Synagogue must not change and the doors must remain open – or we have given in to the ignorance that has perpetrated this desecration. Our awareness of what ignorance can do to us will certainly determine how certain repairs are to be made – but at the same time we must be cautious about allowing ignorance to affect or determine the nature of our presence. We will have a heavy burden of funding the necessary renovations and we hope that you as either old friends or new ones will assist us.

Any donations will be deeply appreciated and, of course, welcome.

ALPHA BANK (Hania)

Account name: Friends of Etz Hayyim

Account # 776-002101-087154

IBAN: GR74 0140 6600 7760 0210 1087 154

Nicholas Hannan-Stavroulakis / Director Etz Hayyim Synagogue/ Hania

In the USA, tax-deductible charitable contribution will also be received by the International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM). Checks can be sent to ISJM, P.O. Box 210, 118 Julian Place, Syracuse, NY 13210. Write "Hania" on the memo line. 100% of all funds will be transferred for use by Etz Hayyim.

USA: The Modern Synagogues of Sheldon Leavitt

Architect Sheldon, Leavitt, Portsmouth, Virgnia (2009). Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

USA: The Synagogues of Sheldon Leavitt, P.E., AIA
by Samuel D. Gruber

At a recent lecture that I gave I met architect Sheldon Leavitt, P.E., AIA, who I had previously known only as a name - the architect of record of Temple Oheb Shalom in Baltimore, designed and built 50 years ago (1956-60),and for which Walter Gropius was consulting architect. Leavitt told me something about the circumstances through which Gropius was engaged...and it was instructive for learning the reality of how modern synagogue architecture was sometimes developed - and still is.

Baltimore, Maryland. Temple Oheb Shalom (1956-60), Sheldon Leavitt, architect and Walter Gropius, consulting architect. Photo: Paul Rocheleau.

Temple Oheb Shalom was set to build a new suburban home and Leavitt was engaged, but it was suggested - or requested - that he try to engage someone with a bigger reputation to consult to help fund raising. Aesthetics had nothing to do with it. Leavitt suggested Gropius, with whom he had recently worked on a project and the rest is history. Leavitt visited Cambridge, where Gropius was at Harvard, and the two spent time working on designs. In the end the synagogue features and the functional aspects of the building were probably Leavitt's, since he knew the congregation and had already designed several other synagogues. The distinctive design features, however, especially four great barrel vaults that transverse the main block of the sanctuary, as well as the sanctuary floor that sloped up to the bimah; were Gropius's ideas. After a half century - and when asked on the spot - Leavitt couldn't quite recall. But I hope to interview him sometime soon to get more on this story, and to learn more of the collaborative process, but also more about his work on at least seven other synagogues which he told me about. All of these were built in the 1950s around the time of Oheb Shalom. Since that time his career took him in other directions - especially industrial, commercial, high-rise residential design.

At that time Leavitt was almost as prolific a synagogue builder as Percival Goodman, another young American-born Jewish architect who championed modernism. Leavitt, much more than Goodman, leaned toward a functionalism in his work which demonstrated his training as an engineer. Mr. Leavitt holds a BSCE degree with high honors from the University of Illinois.

Here is a working list of Leavitt synagogues. I have been able to pull together photos for some of them. His Gromley Chesed Synagogue in Portsmouth (1954), which I have not had a chance to visit, appears to be an especially handsome early modern structure.

All need to be visited, described and fully photographed, and I expect this will be done as part of ISJM's modern American synagogue documentation project. Architectural historic Al Willis has already volunteered to document those synagogues in the Virgina Tiderwater region.

Portsmouth, Virginia. Gromley Chesed (1954), Sheldon Leavitt, arch. Photos courtesy of Julian H. Preisler.

Norfolk, Virginia. Temple Israel. Sheldon Leavitt, arch. (1953). Photo: Samuel D. Gruber, 2009.

Cincinnati, Ohio. Former (?) Ohav Sholom Synagogue. Sheldon Leavitt, Arch. (1957).
Photos courtesy of Julian H. Preisler.

Other synagogues are:

Jacksonville Hebrew Congregation, 1955, Jacksonville, NC

Beth Israel Synagogue, (?) 1957, Roanoke, VA

Rodef Sholom Social Temple, 1957, Hampton-Warwick, VA

Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, 1958, Hampton, VA (subsequently redesigned)

Most of Leavitt's career has been as an accomplished engineer. Indeed, he was a Founding Fellow of the National Academy of Forensic Engineers, and is a Life Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and Fellow of the Architectural Engineering Institute of the ASCE, He founded Leavitt Associates in 1953, where he is still engaged, and where his son is a partner.

Romania: More on Piatra Neant Synagogue Restoration

Piatra Neamt, Romania. Interior of Cathedral or Baal Shem Tov Synagogue (before restoration). Photo by Janos Kalmar, published in Synagogues by Samuel Gruber (NY: Metrobooks, 1999)

Romania: More on Piatra Neant Synagogue Restoration
by Samuel D. Gruber

As a follow up to Monday's post about the completed restoration of the 19th century Baal Shem Tov Synagogue in Piatra Neamt, Romania, I post the above photo by esteemed architectural photographer Janos Kalmar (Kalmar photographed many of the synagogues of Central Europe in 1990s - these photos really needed to collated and published as a group).

Also, I have learned that restoration of the synagogue was entirely organized by the Romanian Ministry of Culture, which allocated approximately 300,000 euro of government funds to the project from 19907 through 2009. The work was overseen by Romanian preservation architect Constantza Carp. The project got its start with a modest planning grant from the Jewish Heritage Program of the World Monuments Fund in 2001-2002.

Unfortunately, given the state of the Romanian economy, we are not likely to see considerable spending on Jewish monuments - or perhaps any monuments - in the near future. Still, the situation for many historic and beautiful Romanian synagogues remains severe. Private funds are need for many worthy projects. For many other sites future use is uncertain, so preservation efforts are mostly postponed. In some cases modest spending on building maintenance and security can protect them from more expensive repairs in the future.

I welcome information about individuals, foundations, businesses, government agencies and organizations that would like to help. The International Survey of Jewish Monuments can make introductions to needy projects, or Gruber Heritage Global can provide more detailed and comprehensive planning and funding information.

USA: ISJM to Survey Post-World War II American Synagogues

Syracuse, NY. Former Temple Beth El, built in the 1960s. Photos taken shortly before closure and sale to a church in 2007. The building has never been documented, but I was able to photograph it top to bottom before it was cleared of furniture and Judaica fitting. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber/ISJM

USA: ISJM to Survey Post-World War II American Synagogues
by Samuel D. Gruber (President, ISJM)

The International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM) is launching a new documentation initiative aimed at gathering information about the architecture, art and condition of modern American synagogues built in the second half of the 20th century. The emphasis of the survey will be on buildings designed and erected between 1945 and 1975 as these are most at risk.

Research by ISJM members has shown that many of these buildings - even when designed by master architects - are poorly documented, and often threatened with radical alteration or complete demolition due to specific congregational factors and larger demographics shifts. Synagogues built in the 1950s and 1960s are regularly altered, expanded, sold and demolished due to expanding congregations, new liturgical and congregational expectations, changing tastes in style, and sometime high cost of maintaining deteriorated materials.

In the past decade alone synagogues designed by such as noted architects including Pietro Belluschi, Sidney Eisenshtat, Harrison & Abramovitz, Fritz Nathan, Percival Goodman. Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, Kivett & Myers, Eric Mendelsohn and Werner Seligmann have been significantly altered and in some cases even demolished. Scores of synagogues by lesser known local architects, such as Beth El in Syracusee pictured above, have shared this fate. Many others, like Adat Israel i Newport News, Va (below) are at risk.

Change is an inevitable process and ISJM's project is not intended to dictate how a congregation should use its property. The primary purpose of the survey is documentation, but documentation can lead to more informed decisions about future use. Also, since many of these buildings are now eligible or will soon be eligible for National Register listing, ISJM will encourage and assist congregations in this process when appropriate. We are pleased to note, for instance, that the NY Landmarks Conservancy has recently assisted the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn with NR nomination. Based on past success, it is hoped that interest by architectural historians and others through ISJM will also stimulate more interest in their buildings among congregants and also with local architecture and preservation organizations.

Newport, News, Virginia. Adat Israel is for sale. On a recent visit I was able to photograph the exterior, but could not get inside. One interesting feature is the room with windows to the right of the entrance in the photo immediately above. The room has no roof - it contains a permanent sukkah frame. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber/ISJM Sept 2009.

Plans call for an organizing committee of volunteers for this project, each to be responsible for collating inventories and organizing documentation based on location. Volunteers in New York, Florida, Illinois and Minnesota have already responded.

ISJM also welcomes informative and learned discussion on related issues of architects, patronage, planning, design, materials, construction, use and re-use of modern synagogues and all modern religious buildings. ISJM will aslo assist members with organizing lectures, seminars and conerence sessions on these topics.

With the exception of a few iconic buildings by a few noted architects (i.e. Wright's Unity Temple and Beth Sholom Synagogue; Kahn's First Unitarian Church and unbuilt Mikveh Israel Synagogue; Belluschi's sacred spaces), religious architecture in American mostly receives short shrift in the literature of architectural history.

If you are interested in participating as an organizer, documentarian, sponsor or organizational partner please contact me directly at samuelgruber@gmail.com.

ISJM is especially eager to hear from architects and builders (or their descendents) to learn about synagogues they have designed, and to discuss with them the eventual disposition of their papers, drawings and other documentation concerning such projects.

Final Statement of Principles and Procedures from Bratislava Seminar

Final Statement of Principles and Procedures from Bratislava Seminar

(ISJM) After incorporating minor changes and additions, the organizers of the Seminar on Care, Conservation and Maintenance of Historic Jewish Property held in Bratislava on March 17-19, 2009, have released the final statement adopted by seminar participants. This statement and other documents related to the seminar will be be posted later this month on the ISJM website. ISJM was a co-sponsor of the seminar.

Seminar on Care, Conservation and Maintenance of Historic Jewish Property
Bratislava March 17-19, 2009
Final Statement Adopted By Participants

The participants in the Seminar “Care, Conservation and Maintenance of Historic Jewish Property,” meeting in Bratislava March 17-19, 2009, agree on the following principles and procedures which guide their work.

Introduction

The ongoing struggle for property and resource restitution has often overshadowed the practical issues of how to manage community properties already held, or those returned.

Proper care of these properties; often involving substantial costs, difficult planning and use issues, and demanding historical and architectural preservation concerns, have preoccupied many Jewish communities for years. In many cases, and especially for smaller Communities, the needs of these properties continue to stretch professional and financial resources. Everyday community needs often delay or prevent the attention that properties require.

Each Jewish community faces its own specific situations, and has unique needs, but there are many shared problems and needs that can be addressed collectively. Importantly, there are also solutions - many of which have been pioneered by Communities themselves - that can be shared, too.

Jewish Properties and Jewish Heritage

Jewish heritage is the legacy of all aspects of Jewish history – religious and secular.

Jewish history and art is part of every nation’s history and art. Jewish heritage is part of national heritage, too.

Documentation, planning and development of sites benefit and enrich society at large as well as Jews and Jewish communities.

Jewish historic sites and properties should also be developed where possible within the context of diverse histories – Jewish, local, national, art, etc.

Jewish tourism and tourism to Jewish sites should be part of every country’s tourism strategy.

Inventories and Documentation

All past and present Jewish communal properties, and all Jewish properties and sites deemed to have historic, religious and/or artistic significance, should be documented to the fullest extent possible.

Inventories must be made and maintained of all properties in each country, and more substantial documentation should be made of historically and architecturally significant properties, especially all synagogues, institutional buildings, cemeteries, monuments, and Judaica and archival materials.

Jewish communities and institutions should cooperate and collaborate in this process to the fullest extent possible, and should welcome the assistance of other public and private institutions and individuals in pursuing these documentation goals.

Information on Jewish sites is most useful when it is most widely available. Efforts should continue and expand to make documentation available in publicly accessible research centers and through publications and on-line presentation, all the while considering safety, security and privacy concerns.

Materials relevant to Jewish history and properties in public, state archives and Jewish community archives should be open for everyone for historical and legal research.

Good documentation must be accurate and complete in its description, and it must be historically informed so that it presents something of the significance of what is recorded.

Synagogues and Former Synagogues

Synagogue and former synagogues should retain a Jewish identity and or use whenever possible, though each one does not necessarily need to be restored or fully renovated.

Former synagogues, no matter what their present ownership or use, should be sensitively marked to identify their past history.

As part of the effort to restitute communal and religious property, when a property of historic value - such as a synagogue - in disrepair or otherwise in a ruined condition (while in the government's possession) is returned, States should help either by modifying laws which impose penalties for not maintaining properties in reasonable condition, or by providing financial and material assistance to undertake necessary repairs and restoration.

Cooperation and Trust

Honesty and transparency are Jewish values and should be especially apparent in the handling of all matters concerning Jewish property, which is held as a communal trust.

Jewish communities should manage their properties to maximize their use for present and future generations.

Jewish communities and institutions should work together as much as possible to share existing information, methodologies and technologies, and they should work together to develop new and compatible goals and strategies to optimize the care and management of historic Jewish properties.

Regular meetings of Jewish community leaders, members, staff and expert professionals to discuss property issues is encouraged within single communities, and between communities. Regional, national and trans-border meeting are useful for the exchange of information and ideas, and for effective planning purposes.

Any sale or development of communal property must be to meet identified community needs.

Wherever possible, proceeds from the sale or development of some properties should be allocated to the care and maintenance of other properties including, but not exclusively, cemeteries.

Jewish communities and museums should work together to develop historic, descriptive and exhibition materials that can be shared.

Jewish communities and local heritage, cultural and tourist bodies should work together to develop regional, national and trans-border heritage routes.

Publication: "Monumental" Book about Suriname Jewish Cemeteries

Publication: "Monumental" Book about Suriname Jewish Cemeteries

(ISJM) Architect Rachel Frankel and historian Aviva Ben-Ur have produced a massive collection of funerary inscriptions documented, transcribed and translated from Jewish cemeteries in Suriname. Remnant Stones: The Jewish Cemeteries of Suriname (Hebrew Union College Press, ISBN-13: 9780878202249) , is one of a projected two volumes and is the result of almost a decade of work in Jodensavanne, or Jews’ Savannah, the 17th and 18th-century Jewish plantation settlement in the South American jungle, and in Paramaribo, Suriname's capital. The 679-page book weighs almost as much as some of the documented matzevot!

Jodensavanne is located on the Suriname River, about thirty kilometers from Paramaribo (also the site of synagogues and Jewish cemeteries). The settlement was surrounded by Sephardi Jewish owned sugar plantations. The International Survey of Jewish Monuments has been one of several sponsors of this project since its inception. Rachel Frankel presently serves as vice-president of ISJM. I congratulate Rachel and Aviva on the publication of this important documentary work, and I look forward to the publication of the explanatory and interpretive volume soon.

Remnant Stones is really the second volume of two, though it has been published first. It examines three Sephardi cemeteries, with graves that date from 1666 to 1904 and one Ashkenazi cemetery in Paramaribo, whose monuments date from the 1680s to the late nineteenth century. By the early 19th-century, the Dutch colony's Jewish community existed in an often-acrimoneous split, with most Sephardim living in Jodensavanne and most Ashkenazi Jews livign in Paramaribo. The split existed among the living, and also the dead. Sephardi and Ashkenazi maintaied separate cemeteries, all of which are documented in Remnant Stones. The 1,700 epitaphs were written and carved in Portuguese, Hebrew, Spanish, Dutch, Aramaic, and French. They are included in their original language and in translation. Many photos accompany the catalogue text. Remnant Stones includes a fold-out scaled plan of each of the cemeteries showing stone orientation and locations.

An important part of the research projects was the documentation of the former Beraha VeSalom (Blessing and Peace) Synagogue, dedicated in 1685 but now a ruin, and also an analysis of the town plan, both topics of which are discussed in detail in the still-to-published volume, which also should put the extensive collection of funerary epitaphs compiled in the volume in a broader context. --- SDG

Republic of Macedonia: Archaeologists Announce Plan to Reconstruct Jewish Cemetery in Shtip

Republic of Macednia: Archaeologists Announce Plan to Reconstruct Jewish Cemetery in Shtip

(ISJM) Ruth Ellen Gruber has posted a Balkan press report (see below) which states that archaeologists in the Republic of Macedonia have obtained funding to begin restoration of the ruined cemetery in Stip, a site that dates to the 16th century, and ranks in important with other Balkan (largely Sephardi) cemeteries Sarajevo (Bosnia) and Bitola (Rep. of Macedonia).

The Institute and Museum of Shtip in eastern Macedonia announced it will soon begin the reconstruction and conservation of the Jewish cemetery in the city. “The money for the reconstruction project was secured by the government, and with the project the Jewish cemetery will become a monument of culture,” Zaran Chitkushev, head of the Shtip Institute and Museum told the Dnevnik newspaper today [May 13].

The project involves the building of parking lots, pedestrian alleyways, benches, monuments, and the whole area of 14,000 square meters will be fenced by a wall. “We are in constant contact with the European community in Macedonia. We will also invite an archaeologist from Israel as an associate,” Chitkushev added.

Jews are reported to have settled in Shtip in 1512. The continuing community, which numbered about 500, was deported to their deaths by the Nazis in 1943. There are no Jews in the town today. In 2003, the International Survey of Jewish Monuments arranged for photographs of the site, shown here.

The cemetery in its ruined condition (photos: Diana Zeltser / ISJM, 2003)

Belarus: Help Save the (Wooden) Synagogue in Ivenetz

Top three photos: Former synagogue of Ivenetz, Belarus.
Bottom: former rabbi's house.
Photos provided by Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus

Belarus: Help Save the (Wooden) Synagogue in Ivenetz
By Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) n.b. Yuri Dorn, Coordinator of Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus has provided information the synagogue and its current situation, which I have edited into this account.

Following the destruction last month of the former synagogue of Luban, Belarus, greater attention needs to be paid to the fate of other Jewish buildings in the country – especially buildings in good enough condition to save for new use without excessive cost. One of these buildings is the century-old wooden synagogue in the town Ivenetz (photos), which is the next building threatened with a new sale and potential demolition (to contribute see information at the end of this post). The building was used as a movie theater from the 1950s to the 1980s, and then as a dance club. Ironically and tragically, given the fate of the Ivenetz Jewish community, the last tenant was a private business which produced tombstones. The municipality, which owns the building, has contacted the Belarus Jewish community about plans to sell the site at auction.

At the end of the 19th century (1897) the total population of Ivenetz was 2,670; ad 1,343 of these were Jews. There were 2 active synagogues. (Today there are only four elderly Jews in the town.). In the summer of 1898 the local Jewish community obtained another parcel of land not far from the market square, the area where most of the Jews had settled. In the spring of 1899 group of 20 Jews including a Rabbi submitted request to the Minsk Governor to allow them to build a wooden synagogue on that land. They said that two existing synagogues had been built 70 and 40 years previously, and Jewish population since that time had grown and needed more room.

Construction permission for the new synagogue was received on August 6, 1899. It is not known when construction began, but on the 1912 list of buildings of Minsk uyezd (district) this building described as following: "New wooden synagogue in town Ivenetz, capacity up to 400 people….Single story building with interior balconies for women". When the Communists took over this part of Belarus in 1940 the synagogue was closed.

In June 1941, when the Germans occupied the town they collected all local Jews in a Ghetto, which they located on land of Catholic church. The wooden synagogue building was converted into the stables. When Ivenetz was liberated from Nazis in July 1944, only about 20 Jews returned to their homes, and the synagogue was not used.

Click here for images of Jewish Ivenetz

Click here for selections of the Ivenetz Yitzchor book

The synagogue remained empty until the mid-1950s when the local administration repaired the floor, put on a new roof, disassembled the women's balcony (which had been reached by an exterior stair, destroyed ten years ago) and installed electricity. The building was a movie theater from the late 1950s through the early 1970s and then a dance club until 2006.

The overall condition of the building is not bad. It is an attractive wooden structure. Few traces of its former Jewish use are visible, but at least one interior wall has painted decorations that were recently discovered and then painted over again. In the photo one can see traces of the faux-architecture. The interior space is ample and well lit with the original windows.

The Belarus Jewish community must now decide whether to claim the building – if they do not assert ownership, they will forfeit their rights, and the building will be put up for auction and sold. Most likely a new owner would acquire the building for commercial use (such as a store or small workshop or factory, etc), or demolish it for use of the land.

In order to adapt the 100-year old building for commercial use the new owner would need to invest a lot of money, since there are demanding building codes that have to be met for income-producing buildings that accommodate a large numbers. It is probably cheaper to demolish the building and use existing foundation to construct a new building with modern amenities. The synagogue building is situated in the center of town, where land is pretty expensive (by local standards). Since the land goes with the building, it would be a very attractive investment.

The local authorities in Iventz have done everything right (unlike the recent situation in Luban). They first asked the Belarus Jewish community about interest in the property. Refusal now by the community will protect the municipality from further claims and allegations in case if the building is eventually destroyed or rebuilt.

There are other traces of the Jewish past still visible in Ivenetz. The former rabbi’s house stands, now used as a music school, as well as about 30 other pre-War “Jewish” houses.

The old Jewish cemetery survives with about 400 intact matzevot. A few years ago volunteers from the Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus catalogued and photographed all the stones. Just recently another lot with an old Jewish cemetery was discovered in the town. This cemetery may date back to the beginning of 18th century, but it is hard to tell since so far only 2 surviving gravestones have been discovered. In the woods, not far from the town there is a Holocaust memorial, erected few years ago on the place of execution of Jews from Ivenetz and surrounding villages.

The local historical museum also has a section about the history of the local Jewish community, which Research Group hopes to see expanded through cooperation with the museum. Not far from the museum in a building formerly a Jewish smithy, is a craft center that sells local pottery and weaving, and where artisans demonstrate their work, and where visitors can try their hand at different crafts under expert supervision. This center is a local attraction for school groups and tourists, and local administration is planning to open more cultural attractions like this. Creating a Jewish Heritage Center in Ivenetz would fit in with this type of development

If the Belarus Jewish community does take possession of the former synagogue, they propose to develop it as a research and educational center, to focus on the history of Jewish Ivenetz and the Jeiwsh communities in surrounding places within a radius up to 50 km (30 miles), including Rakov (1,250 Jews before the Holocasut) , Derevnoe (450), Rubezhevichy (1,600), Volozhin (3,200), Volma (200), Kamen (400), Naliboki (380), Koidanovo (2,700). The plan calls for historical and genealogical information from various Belorussian archives will be channeled into this center. The information is unique - never published before. Extracted information will be translated into English. The Center’s genealogists will do this on a voluntary basis, but the idea is also to charge for some services to maintain costs of the Center. Plans are also to involve young people in these efforts, and preliminary arrangements have been made with the youth organization “Hillel”, which will send groups to Ivenetz to collect memoirs from local old residents and help with some construction work for the building.

The admirable intention to protection and preserve the Ivenetz synagogue within a broader vision of a regional Jewish Heritage Center has been inspired by similar projects in Poland, France, Italy, the Czech Republic and elsewhere. Even more than in those places, however, the Belarus has limited resources, and they are unable to leverage significant government funding. Nor are the eligible for EU support – something that this is beginning to really assist Jewish heritage projects elsewhere. On the other hand, the projected costs for this project are relatively modest.

How to Help

Documentation and research costs needed to put forward the legal to the building are less than $1,000 and the International Survey of Jewish Monuments has offered to advance this money from its Emergency Documentation Fund. Repair and adaptive reuse costs for the building over the next five years are estimated at less than $25,000 – a real bargain in these times. How the building will be sustained and how the Center will manage in the long term still needs to be addressed.

U.S. tax-deductible contributions to this project can be sent to:

International Survey of Jewish Monuments
P.O. Box 210,
120 Julian Place,
Syracuse, NY 13210.

Write “Ivenetz” on the check.

From Europe contributions can be made to
(I recommend make contact before sending or transferring money):

The Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus
220002 Minsk
13B Daumana St.
tel/375-173-345612
fax/375-173-343360
www.jhrgbelarus.org

ISJM Receives Koret Foundation Funding for Indian Synagogue

Synagogue at Parur (Kerala), India. Photos: Jay Waronker

ISJM Receives Koret Foundation Funding for Indian Synagogue
by Samuel D. Gruber

(ISJM) The International Survey of Jewish Monuments is pleased to announce the receipt of a grant from the Koret Foundation to assist in planning efforts to protect and preserve the historic synagogue of Parur, Kerala, India.

ISJM member Jay A. Waronker, an architect from Atlanta and Ithaca, NY, is working on behalf of the Association of Kerala Jews in India to initiate a formal effort to restore the very derelict synagogue of Parur, located an hour away from Kochi (Cochin). According to the building's inscription, the synagogue was built in 1616, and for many years it served the local Jewish community before all immigrated mostly to Israel beginning in the 1950s.

According to Waronker, “The now-closed synagogue complex consists of a series of parts linked axially by a gatehouse, walled outdoor spaces, covered passageways, and a succession of rooms. The result is a highly dramatic and memorable spatial experience. The synagogue of Parur was built in the traditional style of Kerala that combines whitewashed chunam (polished lime) over laterite (a soft reddish-brown local stone) walls, timber framing, deep-eaved roofs covered with terra-cotta tiles, wooden latticed screens, and large shuttered windows. Drawing from the vernacular design of the region, the influences of the Portuguese and Dutch imperialists, Hindu and other religious building practices, (and perhaps even descriptions of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem), the Parur synagogue then combines Jewish liturgical elements resulting in a distinct approach to synagogue architecture.”

Waronker has spent several years documenting the thirty-four synagogues throughout India, including the seven found in various states of preservation and function in Kerala, and his work and watercolor renderings of the buildings have been well published and exhibited. An essay detailing the architecture of the synagogue in Parur can be found in the 2009 Indo-Judaic Studies Journal.

A preservation plan for the building was drawn two years ago by Indian conservation firm Thampy and Thampy. This same firm beautifully restored the nearby synagogue of Chennamangalam for Kerala office of the Indian Department of Archeology a few years ago. But until issues concerning project management, subsequent ownership, and long-term care and access to the building are resolved, it is premature to initiate work. Still, in anticipation of a successful outcome to Waronker’s work in India this summer, ISJM and the Association of Kerala Jews welcome pledges of funding support for restoration work.

For those interested in the project, including how they can assist, please contact Waronker at jayawaronker@aol.com or ISJM.