Page 23 - FINAL catalogue.cdr

religious tradition

the jewish holidays

That the Shabbat day should be a day of rest, devoted to religious studies and spiritual uplifting, is a basic tenet of Jewish worship
and faith. Women had the prominent role as they prepared the home and the food and lit the candles on the eve of the Sabbath, men
attended the synagogue on Saturday morning, in the framework of the religious duties. The typical order of Shabbat on Rhodes, as
in other places, included family walks and visits to friends, while the Jewish-owned shops remained closed.

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are known as Yamim
Noraim, Days of Awe. In the Community of Rhodes, as in all Jewish communities, it was the custom to read forgiveness prayers,
Selihot, visit the cemetery and perform Kaparah, an animal sacrifice. Notable among special New Year customs is that of setting
the table for the New Year feast with sugar instead of salt to make the coming year sweet.

The most important custom associated with Sukkot, the festival of Tabernacles, was the construction of a makeshift hut on open
ground, where Jews had their meals for a period of eight days, often with friends.
Hanukkah, or Dia de la Miranda to the Sephardic Jews of Rhodes, was celebrated for eight days in December, with celebrations
marked by the lighting of the eight-wicked Hanukkah Menorah, and gatherings of friends where ground sesame and honey
pancakes were eaten.
On Rhodes, the Purim festival in March was also an anniversary and an occasion to remember events associated with the anti-
Semitic events in 1840. The good cheer of the two-day celebration was heightened with home-made fancy dress costumes,
portraying the historical figures who had played a leading role in the events, such as Esther, Mordechai and Haman, but there was
also drinking, dancing, and the singing of songs like 'Kuando Haman se Emboracho', meaning 'When Haman got drunk'.
Pessah is celebrated in the month of Nissan, April, in commemoration of the Jews' Exodus from Egypt. It involved expense and
extra work, especially for housewives who washed the Losa, the earthenware vessels, thoroughly cleaned the whole house inside
and out, and prepared the special Pessah fare. The community's unleavened bread was baked in public bakeries, which the
community had rented. At the end of Pessah, fathers brought home grass, symbolizing Red Sea seaweed.
On Rhodes it was customary to take sacred books which were no longer used to the cemetery during Lag Ba-Omer and bury them.
Indicative of their deep faith of the Jews of Rhodes are the nightlong vigils, or Viladas, kept during various festivals, like the first
night of Shavuot, the fiftieth night after Pessah.

Μοαντέι Α-Σεμ Βε-Κριέι Μοέντ, προσευχολόγιο για τις
προσκυνηματικές εορτές, Ιερουσαλήμ, 1844. Το
εξώφυλλο φέρει το όνομα του ιδιοκτήτη, Εζεκία
Μεναχέμ Ταρίκα, από τη συναγωγή της Ρόδου.
Moadei Ha Shem Ve Kriei Moed, prayer book for the
Pilgrimage Holidays, Jerusalem, 1844, with owner’s
name Hezekiah Menahem Tarika on binding, from the
Synagogue of Rhodes.

Μεγκιλά, κύλινδρος της Εσθήρ, με ξύλινη
λαβή,19ος αι.. Βρέθηκε ανάμεσα στα ερείπεια από
μια συναγωγή στη Ρόδο, 1946
Megillah, Εsther Scroll; with wooden handle,
19th c. Found among the ruins of a synagogue
in Rhodes, 1946.