Etz Hayyim Synagogue בית הכנסת עץ חיים
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Location
Location	Parodos Kondylaki Chania, Greece
Website
Etz Hayyim Synagogue

The Etz Hayyim Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת עץ חיים) is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Chania on the Greek island of Crete.^[1] It is the only surviving remnant of the island's Romaniote Jewish community.

Overview

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 and King Constantine II of Greece, who made a sudden and unannounced visit to the site in March 2006.

Today, the synagogue is seen locally as a symbol of coexistence. Uniquely, almost all of its congregants are non-Jews, with an international team taking care of the congregation work.^[2] Occasionally, a rabbi or (during the Jewish holidays) someone who is able to blow the shofar visits the community. Christians and Muslims are invited to visit.^[3] Despite the community's Romaniote past, the congregation today uses primarily the Sephardic custom of Greece and has developed its own Haggadah text.^[1]

The synagogue was the target of multiple arson attacks in January 2010; fires were set inside the synagogue on 5 and 16 January, and a bar of soap was left outside during the latter, presumably invoking a common Greek-language antisemitic threat which translates to "I'll make you into a bar of soap".^[4] The first fire was quickly contained, but the second destroyed 2,500 rare books and manuscripts.^[5] Two British men aged 23 and 33, and one Greek man aged 24, were arrested in connection with both attacks after the Greek man confessed to police.^[5] Two Americans were also being sought by police in connection with the first attack.^[5]

See also

• Etz Chaim Synagogue (Athens)

References

External links

• Media related to Etz Hayyim Synagogue at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website

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

This article about a synagogue or other Jewish place of worship in Greece is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e