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.

Etz Hayyim Synagogue
בית הכנסת עץ חיים
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism and other Jewish Denominations[1]
Location
LocationParodos Kondylaki
Chania, Greece
Website
Etz Hayyim Synagogue

The synagogue was the target of an arson attack by a British citizen on 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 the community's Romaniote past, the congregation today uses primarily the sefardic custom of Greece and has developed its own Haggadah text.[1]

See also

References
  1. "Etz Hayyim Synagogue | Visitor Information". Archived from the original on 2016-08-12. Retrieved 2016-08-11.
  2. "ADL To Prime Minister Of Greece: Forcefully Condemn Anti-Semitism". 18 January 2010. Archived from the original on 18 January 2010.
  3. "The Greek Synagogue That's Lacking Only One Thing: Jews". 29 June 2014 – via Haaretz.
  4. Spengler-Axiopoulos, Barbara (5 May 2010). "Die Havurah von Chania - NZZ" – via NZZ.


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