We came to Papua New Guinea and found a real, genuine love for Israel. This is only possible through the power of the Gospel. Unbelievable!!! Visit of the first Messianic Jew there. This is what the Gospel is doing for Gentiles: they love Israel! They sing here: 'Shma Israel..." - Hear o Israel...

JEWNIVERSE: Greek Jews; From the Ionian Sea

In a remote part of Greece off the Ionian Sea, a small population of Jews--the Romaniotes--have lived for more than 2,300 years.

According to legend, a slave ship carrying hundreds of Jews was sunk in a storm over two millennia ago. The survivors, having reached the shore of Ioannina, were impressed with the land and its beauty, and decided to stay there. Another legend suggests that Alexander the Great, who treated the Jews well, was involved in their choice to settle there.

The Romaniotes are their own distinct Jewish ethnicity;  neither Sephardic nor Ashkenazic. They speak both Greek and their own language, Yevanic (a word that derives from the Hebrew word for Greek). The Romaniote community lived mostly in isolation from other Jewish communities until 1492, when Spanish Jews joined the transport industry following their expulsion from Spain.

After Greece was occupied by Germany in World War II, as much as 86% of Greece's total Jewish population was exterminated, as well as most Romaniote Jews. When the war ended, the majority of survivors moved to Israel or New York. Today, there are small Romaniote communities in both places, as well as 4,000 Jews--Romaniotes and others--who still live in Greece.

The City Concealed: The Last Greek Shul In The Western Hemisphere

The City Concealed: Kehila Kedosha Janina from Thirteen.org on Vimeo.

Manhattan, NY - Tucked away on the corner of Broome and Allen Street on the Lower East Side, a relatively hidden historical treasure makes its home. The last Greek synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, Kehila Kedosha Janina remains a gathering place for the Romaniote Jews (Greek Jews) of the city nearly a century after its construction in 1927.
A minority within a minority, the Romaniotes are unknown to most Greeks, who are predominantly Greek Orthodox. When I mentioned the existence of Greek Jews to my grandmother, who hails from the not-so-bustling Greek island of Nisyros, she seemed stunned, to say the least. Which is why, perhaps more than any other reason, the presence of Archbishop Demetrios – the archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – at the opening of the synagogue’s exhibit “Dikoi Mas, Los Muestros” on Greek-Jewish Families this past Sunday (running through late October 2011) was so significant.
Watch below video report by Thirteen News Michelle Michalos and Danial Goldberg.

Born in Thessaloniki, the Archbishop was well aware of the presence and history of Jews in Greece. As he addressed the congregation, he recalled a Jewish French teacher he had growing up, and the “empty space” and sadness left behind by his Jewish neighbors who were lost in the Holocaust, including a schoolmate of his. He thanked the congregation for preserving their own memories, and encouraged the young people to keep the culture alive.
“Dikoi Mas, Los Muestros” is an exhibit dedicated to Greek-Jewish families, but, more specifically, to Kehila Kedosha Janina’s community, who are featured throughout. I watched as several generations came together for the exhibit to honor their common history and share memories of times past. With the Romaniotes’ traditional Greek music playing (and the smell of burekas and spanakopita nearby), it became clear to me how unique this small group really is. Small, but thriving – and hopefully here to stay.