Prime Minister of North Macedonia visits Kehila Kedosha Janina in New York, meets with Sephardic & Greek Jewish Community leadership

North Macedonian Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski (left) shaking hands with Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan at Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue & Museum

In a first for any of our Sephardic Communities in the United States, one of our affiliate congregations was paid a special visit by a sitting Head of Government of a foreign nation. Kehila Kedosha Janina was honored to welcome Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski from the Republic of North Macedonia and Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan for a special tour of our synagogue and museum.

Located just north of Greece in the Balkans, North Macedonia was once home to tens of thousands of Sepharadim, primarily in the cities of Monastir (today’s Bitola) and the capital of Skopje. Members of our community whose families originated in Bitola (Monastir), including Calderon, Camhi, Elias, Kassorla, Mitrani, Negrin, Rousso, and Youcha were also present to welcome the Prime Minister, help share our Romaniote and Sephardic heritage with him, and celebrate our shared Balkan culture.

Representatives of the Sephardic Jewish Brotherhood of America with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovačevski and Ambassador Gilad Erdan

Haham Isaac Choua, a member of the Brotherhood’s National Central Council, offered a special prayer for the Prime Minister, and Brotherhood Second Vice President Marvin Marcus and Board Secretary Andrew Marcus gave the Prime Minister and Ambassador a special tour of the synagogue and museum. Special thank you to our very own 4th generation Brotherhood member Zachary Youcha, whose extraordinary efforts to revive Sephardic music and culture from Monastir through his new Where Our Roots Meet Project, housed through the Brotherhood, prompted this special visit by the Prime Minister.