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The Kahal Shalom is the oldest synagogue in Greece, and the sole remaining Jewish synagogue on Rhodes used for services. There was once six synagogues in the Jewish Quarter (called "La Juderia"). The Kahal Shalom is located on Dossiadou and Simiou Streets and was built in the year 1577. The full name of the building is Kahal Kadosh Shalom (Holy Congregation of Peace).
It is used for prayer services when visitors or former residents and their families visit the island for Friday night services, High Holiday services and for special occasions.
The Jewish community of Rhodes has an historical background dating back to ancient times. More recently, and during it's height in the 1920's, the Jewish community had a population of approximately 4,000 people. During the past five hundred years, the background of the Jewish people was made up principally of the Jews who were forced to leave Spain at the time of the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.
Large numbers of Sephardim had traveled across the Mediterranean Sea to the Island of Rhodes, as well as other cities such as Salonica, Istanbul and Izmir. The descendants of the Jewish people from Spain are known as "Sephardic" Jews, because the Hebrew word for Spain is "Sepharad". Since the large migration of Jewish refugees after the Spanish Inquisition, the Jewish community on the Island of Rhodes spoke a language similar to modern day Spanish, called "Ladino".
This is an architectural layout and floor plan of the Kahal Shalom synagogue and the Jewish Museum of Rhodes:
In the courtyard of the building there is a water fountain which was used by the "Cohanim" prior to their giving their priestly blessings. The fountain bears an inscription dated the month of Kislev, 5338 (1577). Apparently, this fountain was constructed at the same time as the synagogue. A short distance outside the main entry to the synagogue, where the three streets of Dossiadou, Simiou and Fidiou meet, is where another fountain stands.
This one was used by the worshippers to wash their hands before going to the synagogue.
There is a top level balcony for the separate seating of the women which was built in the 1930's. Prior to that time the women sat in rooms adjoining the south wall of the synagogue. The women's prayer room viewed the sanctuary only through windows with latticework. There is another courtyard on the west side of the synagogue which led to a library ("yeshiva"). However the library was destroyed during the War in 1944.
At the beginning of this century many Jews left the Island of Rhodes for other lands in search of better economic possibilities. Many more left during the 1930's due to the fear caused by the passing of anti-Jewish laws by the Italian government.
In 1944 the Island of Rhodes was occupied by the Germans and on July 23rd of the same year,1673 members of the Jewish community were arrested and then deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp. There were only 151 survivors. On the right side of the west entry of the Kahal Shalom synagogue is a plaque with the family names of these Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust.
The present Jewish cemetery is located a short distance outside the Old City on the road to Kalitheas. Today, there are only a handful of Sephardic Jews living in Rhodes.
The interior of the Kahal Shalom synagogue follows the traditional Sephardic style of having the "tevah" (Sepharadim refer to the desk or table from which the Hazan reads as the "tevah", not bima, which is purely Ashkenazic) in the center of the sanctuary facing southeast toward Jerusalem. The floor is decorated with black and white mosaic stone patterns, like most of the Old City of Rhodes. The graceful mosaic stone designs have been fashionable in Rhodes for centuries. In the upper background you can notice a balcony. It was created in 1934, as a result of a liberalization of religious policy, to be used as a women's prayer area. Prior to that time the women were only allowed to sit in the adjacent rooms on the south wall (on the left side of the photo).
This is a recording of a portion of a "Ladino" prayer sang on Rosh Hashana, called "Sakrifisyo de Ishak".
It is by Heskia Franco, who was born in Rhodes, and who immigrated to the United States in 1940.
This was recorded in 1966 in Los Angeles.
The Rhodeslis carried on the tradition of selling the "mitzvot", unfamiliar to most Ashkenazic synagogues, although it was once a part of their religious proceedings.
The ritual consists of worshippers bidding for the desirable honors during religious
ceremonies, such as the reading from the torah, or the carrrying of the torahs down
the aisles during the procession part of the service. The money collected went to
supporting the synagogue. The practice consists of the auctioneer ("atriar los mitzvots") walking down the aisles of the sanctuary taking bids and recognizing the highest bidder for a particular honor. An example of the auctioneer chanting down the aisle would be, "Treinta mil dar por meldar la haftorah". This means a person recognized in the bidding is willing to donate to the synagogue thirty monetary units for the reading of the haftorah segment of the service. (This is a 1972 recording from the synagogue of the Jews who emigrated from Rhodes to Los Angeles, which was then called the Sephardic Hebrew Center. The auctioneer is Marco Cohen, who was born in Rhodes in 1898. He attended the Kahal Shalom synagogue in Rhodes as a child, and later he emigrated to the United States. The hazan is Sam Azose.)
This is a 1973 recording of a portion of the blowing of the shofar during Rosh Hashana
and the prayers before it. It is from the synagogue services of the Jews who emigrated
from Rhodes to Los Angeles, which was then called the Sephardic Hebrew Center.
The person blowing the shofar (the "tokeah") is Morris Mizrahi, who was born in
Rhodes in 1905. He attended the Kahal Grande synagogue in Rhodes as a child, and
he emigrated to the United States in 1919. The sound of the shofar in a Rhodesli
Sephardic synagogue is a raw spiritual sound which is louder and more pronounced
than the sounds heard in most other synagogues.
View of the large courtyard with the mosaic floor with the sunburst design. The double doors on the right side lead to the synagogue. The single door in the center is the Museum entrance. On the left side of the photo is an ancient plaque within a stone frame above a fountain that indicates that the Cohanim used the fountain prior to their giving their priestly blessings.
Photo of part of the front room of the Rhodes Jewish Museum. The second room of the Museum is partially visible through the doorway on the right.
Photo of the largest of the three remaining vacant women's prayer rooms. The remaining rooms have not been used since the Nazi deportation and annihilation of the Jewish community in 1944.
The Kahal Shalom synagogue contains several old plaques, primarily which honor the donors for helping to maintain the premises. The following are plaques that have been transliterated from Hebrew or Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) into English.
Ladino/Hebrew Touriel Plaque of 1911:
Translation of the left side of the Judeo-Spanish ("Ladino"):
In memorial of your deceased mother, died in the flower of her youth. From her children: doctor Moshe Touriel.
Translation of the center (part in Hebrew, part in Judeo-Spanish):
With God's help, a gift of memorial.
Jamilah, daughter of Rahel,
wife of Mister Elyakim Touriel.
To the holy Congregation K.K. (Kahal Kadosh) Shalom,
Rodes, 28 Iyar 5671 (1911).
Translation of the right side of the Hebrew:
Sanctify these palaces to elevate the soul of the woman and mother, who passed in the prime of her life. From her sons: Behor Boaz Touriel.
