History
“800 Year-Old Torah”
In 2003, the Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation acquired a short-term permission from the Chalom Temple in Buenos Aires to exhibit and analyze the ancient Torah in the United States in order to promote the education and preservation of the Jewish history of Rhodes.
Prior to its arrival in Los Angeles, this ancient Sefer Torah was scientifically [...]
1426 Siddur
Rhodes Siddur Manuscript of 1426 Acquired for the Museum Archives
In October 2008 the Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation acquired a copy of an ancient prayer book written in Rhodes in 1426. This is the oldest known Hebrew document from Rhodes and becomes a significant link to the island’s religious customs and heritage. The Foundation purchased [...]
Documents
The following are various types of documents and visual artifacts from “La Juderia”. These items have been displayed at the Rhodes Jewish Museum. At the end of this page is a link to a partial reproduction of the newspaper printed in the Judeo-Spanish language (“Ladino”) in Rhodes in the 1930’s called “El Boletin”.
The decorative marriage [...]
Emigration
At the beginning of the 1900’s many Jews left the Island of Rhodes for other lands primarily in search of better economic opportunities. At first, most were young men who traveled with the intention of making some money and then return to pursue their family life on Rhodes. As time went by they tended to [...]
Holocaust
The implementation of the anti-Jewish laws in September 1938 by the Italian Governor caused great alarm and hardship to the Jewish community. This resulted in a swift exodus of over 2,000 Jews from Rhodes which prior to then had a population of 4,000.
Italy, as an ally of Germany during World War II, allowed the Germans [...]
The Rabbis of Rhodes
The Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire operated as self-governing bodies, known as millets. The Jews of Rhodes organized and conducted their communal life according to the teachings of their Jewish traditions. It was therefore natural for them to have teachers and scholars who could interpret and clarify these requirements. Consequently, the rabbinic authorities were held in high regard and respect.
