Etz Hayyim Synagogue

Etz Hayyim Synagogue בית הכנסת עץ חיים
Basic information
Location	Parodos Kondylaki Chania, Greece
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism and other Jewish Denominations[1]
Website	Etz Hayyim Synagogue

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת עץ חיים‎‎) is the only surviving remnant of the once Romaniote Jewish community on the Greek isle of Crete. After being restored, the synagogue (with its Mikveh) has become a tourist destination and has attracted visits from foreign dignitaries like Queen Sofía of Spain, the sister of the former King Constantine II of Greece, who made a sudden and unannounced visit to the site on March 6, 2006.

The synagogue was the target of an arson attack by a British citizen in January 5, 2010.^[2]

Today the community is a symbol of a good living together. The community life has revived while almost all congregants are Non-Jews. Occasionally a Rabbi or (at the jewish holidays) someone who is able to blow the shofar visits the community. An International team takes care of the congregation work. Christians and Muslims are invited to visit the meetings and in opposition to other Jewish Congregations in Europe, the visitors have not to show their passport at the entrance.^[3][4]

Despite of the community's romaniote past, the congregation today uses primarily the sefardic custom of Greece and has developed its own Haggadah text.^[5]

References

1. ↑ http://www.etz-hayyim-hania.org/useful-information/
2. ↑
3. ↑ http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/.premium-1.601947
4. ↑ http://www.nzz.ch/die-havurah-von-chania-1.5646941
5. ↑ http://www.etz-hayyim-hania.org/useful-information/

External links

• Etz Hayyim Synagogue

Coordinates: 35°30′56″N 24°01′00″E / 35.51556°N 24.01667°E / 35.51556; 24.01667

Judaism in Greece
Communities	Romaniotes Sephardi Jews
History	Hellenistic Jews Byzantine Jews Jews of Cyprus Internment camps Ottoman Jews Jews of Rhodes Jews of Thessaloniki The Holocaust
Culture	Greek citron Jewish Koine Greek Yevanic language Ladino language
Synagogues	Delos Synagogue Synagogue in the Agora of Athens Kahal Shalom Synagogue Etz Hayyim Synagogue Monastir Synagogue (Thessaloniki) Beth Shalom Synagogue (Athens, Greece)
Notable people	Mary the Jewess Sabbatai Zevi Avraam Benaroya Gina Bachauer Mordechai Frizis Raphaël Salem Roza Eskenazi Karolos Koun Albert Cohen Salamo Arouch
Museums	Jewish Museum of Greece Jewish Museum of Thessaloniki Jewish Museum of Rhodes Kehila Kedosha Janina
Antisemitism	Rhodes blood libel Don Pacifico affair and case National Union of Greece