Haskabah 2013
Since the rededication of the Synagogue in 2000 we have annually had a commemoration of the destruction of our Jewish community in 1944.
We either highlight the actual arrest of the community on May 28th 1944 or 10th June when the freight boat Tannais that was carrying them to Athens was torpedoed and sank within minutes. Our service is quite simple and perhaps lacks some of the dramatic speeches that are excited by such events.
This year the service began after Arvith prayers for which we had prepared prayer books when over 80 gathered in the Synagogue that had been prepared in advance with votive candles, a gardenia in its pot, and tapers for lighting the candles.
At the end of Arvith prayers the prayer for Martyrs was read in unison after which the poem ‘Each of Us Has a Name by Zelda Mishkowsky was recited and then together we read out the names of the Community of 1944. The only dramatic moments were when participants took 267 candles, lit them and then placed them around the synagogue or distributed them on parapets, the fountain, stairs and walkways of the north or south courtyards.
Rusks, wine and raki were served at the end of the service.
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