Our 2022 Young Professionals Tour of Jewish Greece was the trip of a lifetime! 24 members of our community, most with Romaniote or Sephardic background, enjoyed our memorable tour of Greece from July 10 to 20. We traced the roots of our ancestors and visited Thessaloniki, Veroia, Kastoria, Ioannina, Athens, and Rhodes. In Thessaloniki our tour was led by Jewish community member Hella Kounio Matalon, who taught us about the history of this once illustrious center of the Sephardic world, the devastation during the Holocaust, and the resilience of the Jewish community in Salonika today.
We were also honored to have the US Consul General in Thessaloniki, Liz Lee, join us for a delightful dinner overlooking the Thessaloniki waterfront at our first group dinner. Next we traveled to Veria, Kastoria, and Ioannina, where we learned about the rich history of Sephardic and Romaniote life in these cities. In Ioannina, Mayor Moses Eliasaf, President of the Jewish Community of Ioannina, took time from his busy schedule to meet with us, and one of our participants discovered she is actually related to Mayor Eliasaf! Allegra Matsa also gave us a moving tour of the Kahal Kadosh Yashan synagogue and the Kastro. Among our participants, members of the Colchamiro, Bakola, Eliasof, Kohen, and Negrin families visited the synagogue where their ancestors once prayed.
We had a special Shabbat weekend in Athens, where Rabbi Gabriel Negrin inspired us with words of wisdom and beautiful Shabbat services. On Saturday night we had a great time sharing dinner and drinks with young members of the Jewish community of Athens, and on Sunday we toured the Jewish Museum of Greece. We also took in the sights and enjoyed a walking tour of Athens, learning about Jewish history during the ancient Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman, and modern eras.
The final stop on the tour was the beautiful island of Rhodes. We were treated to a moving tour led by by Isaac Habib, a child of Holocaust survivors from Rhodes. We walked through the Juderia (old Jewish Quarter), toured the Kahal Shalom synagogue and Rhodes Jewish Museum, explored the ancient ruins of Lindos, and enjoyed amazing beaches. Thank you to all the participants for such an unforgettable experience!
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