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Menahem Alfandari [Aron Ishakh's wife Bela's father] was a son of the rabbi in Silistra [their family moved from Silistra to Ruse after Silistra was annexed to Romania after the end of WWI]. When our fellow Jews immigrated to Israel and we were left without a chazzan, he used to read the prayers in the synagogue. His wife, Roza Alfandari, was a housewife.
The chazzan of the Sephardi synagogue was Yosif Alhalel, who was the secretary of the Jewish community. Albert Yulzari was shammash and in charge of the archives. The rabbi of the Ashkenazi synagogue was Naftali Rut and the shammash was Lupo Geldstein. Simon Segal and Morits Kronberg were in charge of the Chevra Kaddisha. The Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues were religious centers, in which young and old Jews gathered on Erev Sabbath and on religious holidays, which kept the Jewish traditions alive and passed them from generation to generation. The religious activities of the synagogues were part of the overall activity of the Jewish community in Ruse.
There were no major differences between the Sephardi and the much smaller Ashkenazi community in Ruse – neither in religious aspects, nor in everyday life. We shared one Beit Aam [cultural and administrative center, including the head office of the community administration, various clubs, the library, etc.]. Concerts and parties were regularly organized there. The events organized by the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities were for all the Jews; we were not strictly divided into Ashkenazim and Sephardim, only our synagogues were separate. But when the Law for Protection of the Nation was passed, the Ashkenazi community was closed, and their synagogue too. Then the two communities merged. That happened in 1943, when the authorities fired the rabbi Naftali. In 1947 he immigrated with his family to Israel, together with most of the Ashkenazi Jews. Only two families remained – Ayzner and Goldstein. Meanwhile, all property owned by the Jews, including the synagogues, were nationalized by the communist authorities and returned after the political changes in 1989.
The chazzan of the Sephardi synagogue was Yosif Alhalel, who was the secretary of the Jewish community. Albert Yulzari was shammash and in charge of the archives. The rabbi of the Ashkenazi synagogue was Naftali Rut and the shammash was Lupo Geldstein. Simon Segal and Morits Kronberg were in charge of the Chevra Kaddisha. The Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues were religious centers, in which young and old Jews gathered on Erev Sabbath and on religious holidays, which kept the Jewish traditions alive and passed them from generation to generation. The religious activities of the synagogues were part of the overall activity of the Jewish community in Ruse.
There were no major differences between the Sephardi and the much smaller Ashkenazi community in Ruse – neither in religious aspects, nor in everyday life. We shared one Beit Aam [cultural and administrative center, including the head office of the community administration, various clubs, the library, etc.]. Concerts and parties were regularly organized there. The events organized by the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities were for all the Jews; we were not strictly divided into Ashkenazim and Sephardim, only our synagogues were separate. But when the Law for Protection of the Nation was passed, the Ashkenazi community was closed, and their synagogue too. Then the two communities merged. That happened in 1943, when the authorities fired the rabbi Naftali. In 1947 he immigrated with his family to Israel, together with most of the Ashkenazi Jews. Only two families remained – Ayzner and Goldstein. Meanwhile, all property owned by the Jews, including the synagogues, were nationalized by the communist authorities and returned after the political changes in 1989.
Period
Location
Ruse
Bulgaria
Interview
Aron Ishakh