The Beautiful Cluj-Napoca Neolog Synagogue is shown on a stamp and cachet postcard issued by Romania to

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1 THE CLUJ - NAPOCA NEOLOG SYNAGOGUE BY Website for previous issues Index GENE EISEN The Beautiful Cluj-Napoca Neolog Synagogue is shown on a stamp and cachet postcard issued by Romania to commemorate the 2000 Romanian-Israeli Philatelic Exhibition (See next page). Cluj-Napoca is the second largest city in Romania with a population of about 325,000 people. It is considered to be the capital of Transylvania. 1,2,3 The Neolog movement originated in the Hungarian-speaking areas of Eastern Europe in the 19 th century 3 and is comparable to Conservative Judaism in the United States, in the sense of being a reform movement. After many attempts by Jews to receive permission from the ruling government to live in Cluj in reasonable numbers in order to establish a viable Jewish community, Jews were finally allowed to establish residence and enter into commerce in the mid-19 th century. The first Orthodox Jewish community was organized in In 1881, a group of Jews left the Orthodox community to establish a Neolog congregation. Six years later the Neolog Synagogue was erected on Hosea Street in Kluj-Napoca. The Arabesque-style temple was built by the Horvath brothers and Karoly Remenyik s construction company based on the plans of one Izidor Hegner, a local engineer. 3,4 An interior view of the synagogue is pictured on the next page. In 1927, the Neolog Synagogue was seriously damaged after being attacked by the anti-semitic right-wing Iron Guard. Three years later, the Romanian government provided funds to rebuild the synagogue. 3 World War II did not arrive with full force in Cluj until German forces took over the city on March 27, Then the Nazis proceeded with their usual nasty efficiency. In May they set ghettos for the Jews in the northeastern section of the city. After the Jews were rounded up, they were systematically deported to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. According to the records left by the railway company, between May 25 and June 9, 1944, six transports from Cluj passed through with 16,148 deportees destined for certain death. 4 1

2 On June 2, 1944, the Neolog Synagogue was severely damaged by explosives. The exact cause of the damage is in dispute. One story is that the synagogue was purposely attacked by retreating Nazi soldiers. Another possibility is that it was damaged in the bombing of the nearby railway station. In 1951, the synagogue was restored thanks to the generous support of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. It was nationalized as a national landmark in ,4 The Neolog Synagogue is now dedicated to the memory of those victims deported during the Holocaust References 2 Encyclopedia Judaica, Cluj, Romania: Virtual Jewish World

3 GEMS FROM MY COLLECTION BY SEYMOUR NUSSENBAUM Since this card below was sent by an Austrian-Jewish Prisoner of War to the Red Cross it bears no postage as POW mail was sent free. It was mailed in Nirtchinsk, Siberia to the Red cross in Lemberg (Lwow), Galicia. The sender's name was Israel Spitzer and he writes that he is sick and needs 20 rubles. The card is censored by both Russian, in Nirtchinsk, Siberia and Austrian authorities in Vienna. If my memory serves me right, this card was purchased for about one dollar at a stamp show. CAN YOU HELP? USPS will issue John Kennedy stamp coincided with President Day onfebruary 20 and 100th Anniversary of John Kennedy later this year. The portrait on the stamps is work by Ted Spiegel and the portrait on the side of the page by artist Aaron Shikler. I have idea that both of them have a Jewish background. - But can any member confirm this? - Vitaly Charny.- vcharny@aol.com 3

4 THE ZHOVKVA SYNAGOGUE BY GENE EISEN On August 27, 2016, Ukraine issued a set of four stamps in recognition of the Jews as one of the national minorities of Ukraine. (See below). The lowest denomination pictures a couple doing traditional Jewish dances. One of the 4.40 denomination stamps features Jews reading from the Torah. The 5.40 stamp shows a typical old Jewish occupation of a tailor at his sewing machine. Of particular interest is the other 4.40 denomination stamp depicting two Hasidic Jews on the foreground with a large building in the background. The building on this stamp is identified as the Zhovkva Synagogue from the town of the same name. Zhovkva is a town of approximately 13,600 residents, located in Western Ukraine. It was founded in the late 1500s as a privately fortified town by a Polish nobleman and was built in Renaissance style. In the 17 th century, it became the royal residence of a Polish king and a hub of religious life, art and commerce. 1 From 1772 until 1918, it was part of the Austrian monarchy. The area then fell under Polish rule until the Soviet Union annexed Ukraine in The town population was a mix of Poles, Ukrainians and Jews until World War II. 1 The Zhovkva Synagogue was built in the 1690s for a growing Jewish community. It was an amazing structure, built more in the design of a fortress than a synagogue (See pictures on following page). The synagogue was severely damaged by the Nazis during WWII, 2 and the Jewish population was decimated. The World Monument Fund and World Monuments Watch together with the Jewish Heritage program supported development of a restoration plan for the synagogue. 2 Work on restoration of the synagogue was connected with restoration of the town center, which was listed as a State Historical Architectural Reserve in Sadly, there are few Jews remaining in the area to celebrate the restoration. More than a million Jews were killed by the Nazis and their Ukrainian collaborators during the war, and many Jews immigrated to other countries after the war References 3 4

5 I was just curious to find out how far Zhovkva was from my fathers hometown of Berezhany (one version of spelling). It is only a distance of about 50 to 60 miles. It took me awhile to find it because the Soviets had changed the name of Zhovkva for a few years, and that name was on the map I was using. According to Wikipedia, In 1951 Zhovkva was renamed Nesterov after the World War I aviator Pyott Nesterov who became the first to perform aerial ramming in the history of aviation near Zhovkva in The name Zhovkva was restored in 1992, after Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union. VIEW OF FAÇADE, 1998 INTERIOR VIEW WITH COLUMNS,

6 US POSTAL SERVICE LAUNCHED THE ISSUE OF THE 2016 HANUKKAH STAMP IN A BOCA RATON, FLORIDA, SYNAGOGUE A FIRST BY RABBI ISIDORO AIZENBERG Mah nishtanah, what was the difference between the last 1st. November 2016 US Postal Service (PS) issue of the Hanukkah stamp and all the other Hanukkah stamps that the Postal Service has been issuing for twenty years since 1996? (The first one was a joint issue with Israel, also featuring a lit menorah). The one major difference was that the Postal Service authority chose to hold the first day of issue ceremony within the premises of a synagogue. To its credit, the PS searched for an unveiling location in South Florida acknowledging the area s Jewish population, estimated at about 550,000. We re proud to hold this ceremony in South Florida, which has such a vibrant Jewish community, said David E. Williams, the PS s CEO and Executive Vice President. The Hannukah stamp we re dedicating today, he added, honors a religious observance that is more than 2000 years old and how appropriate that the word itself, Hanukkah, means dedication in Hebrew. Starting today, this beautiful image of remembrance, light and love will travel on letters and packages to millions of households and businesses throughout America and around the world. 1 The chosen synagogue for the venue was Temple Beth El, a major Boca Raton Reform Jewish congregation in the area of about 1,500 families. Of all the places in the country, they picked us, said Temple Beth El member Allen Lev of Delray Beach. 2 Indeed, as I heard from friends residing in the neighborhood, they too were astonished to have been chosen, and thrilled at the same time. Hundreds of people attended the stamp s unveiling ceremony that included the participation of the synagogue s three rabbis, Greg Weisman, Jessica Brockman, and Senior Rabbi Dan Levin, and a Hanukkah-centered musical performance by children of the temple s early learning center pre-k. (See photo of the printed program distributed by the Postal Service at the ceremony). On the reverse of the program, following a brief summary regarding Hanukkah, the closing paragraph called my attention (no authorship reported) and merits some comments: Many times in history it was not safe for Jewish families to make such a public declaration of faith, and the menorah was set instead in a prominent place inside the home. Today in the U.S., many families have renewed the tradition of displaying the menorah in windows during the holiday. Although I can t think of specific references to Jewish families feeling unsafe to display the Hanukkah menorah publicly, it is safe to assume that this was the case in the past, to judge by the instructions first stated in the Talmud Shabbat 21b and later quoted in the Shulchan Aruch (SA), the classic text of Jewish practice. The chapter devoted to the laws of Hanukkah indicates that if the entrance to the house does not lead directly to the street, the menorah should be placed next to a window most visible to the street, regardless of whether it is a bedroom or a living-room window. The thought behind the particular placing was the concept of pirsumay d nisah, that is, making the miracle of Hanukkah known to the wider society. But, says, the SA, In a time of danger, placing it [the menorah] on the table [ a prominent place in the home as stated in the PS statement] will suffice. (671:5) The SA implicitly acknowledged then, that there were or there may be intolerant times when public displays of Jewish religious symbols may be perilous to Jews. I imagine that this was the case with the millions of Eastern European Jews living in the hundreds of shtetls dotting the map or, even earlier, with the thousands of Jews living in pre-expulsion Spain. One more extraordinary case of a contemporary public Hanukkah menorah intimidation took place in Billings, Montana, U.S. back in It was during that year s Hanukkah that someone threw a chunk of concrete through the Hanukkah-decorated window of 5-year-old Isaac Schnitzer s bedroom. The event, probably carried out by an Aryan group, galvanized the community and many people in the town placed drawings and photocopies of menorahs in their windows as a sign of support. 3 Today, in the U.S., concludes the PS statement, many families have renewed the tradition of displaying the menorah in windows during the holiday. In reality, Jews, whether all agree or not with this idea, have gone much further than limiting the display of the menorahs just for our families. Much of the increased public display is owed to the Chabad-Lubavitch Hassidic group initiative. It was Lubavitch that started the custom of lighting gigantic 30- feet high menorahs in such places as New York City s Central Park and Columbus Circle, as well as in cities throughout the world, including Moscow. 6

7 Back in 2001, President George W. Bush lit a Hanukkah menorah in the White House. Menorahs can be found today in almost every US store, bank, and bakery, and even TV stations display menorahs side-by-side Christmas trees or Christmas wreaths. The 2016 Hanukkah stamp depicts a warm, elegant illustration of the 9-candles-lit-menorah standing next to an open window, contrasting the vertical candles with the horizontal window frame. A further contrast is made by highlighting the glowing-hot-candles against the white-snow-covered tangled tree branches visible through the window panes. (On a very personal note, my family celebrated Hanukkah in Buenos Aires where I was born. But, at the end of December we were always in the midst of the hot-humid-summer months. No snow for me during the first 19 years of my life, when we lit the menorah dressed in shorts and a t-shirt!) The stamp s designer was veteran art director Ethel Kessler. She heads the Kessler Design Group, Ltd., a leading, woman-owned design communications firm, based in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Kessler s website indicates that she has been the PS art director for over 14 years and responsible for the design of more than 250 U.S. stamps, among them the 1998 Breast Cancer semi-postal, Civil Rights, Alzheimer s, and Louise Nevelson. The award-winning painter William Low of Huntington, NY, and principal of Cobalt Illustrations, added his artistic skills in the stamp s production. The stamp even has a hashtag: #HanukkahStamps to post about the stamp on social media. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE US HANUKKAH STAMPS Although 2016 is the 20 th year since US Hanukkah stamps have been issued, the campaign to have such a stamp goes back to Inconceivable as it may be to us now, it is a fact that a U.S. Postal directive instructed local branches to remove menorahs and other religious symbols from its premises. Ronald Scheiman, who was then the head window clerk in Holbrook, Long Island, NY, found the directive particularly irksome, since he had been trying for over a year to get the PS to commemorate Hanukkah with a stamp. His reasoning was, that since the PS could issue stamps depicting the Madonna and Child for Christmas, it could also print one depicting a Hanukkah scene. The PS maintained at the time that the Madonna and Christ child by Giovanni Bellini was art, not religion, to which Scheiman retorted that it could then choose to depict a dreidl, the four-sided toy, a symbol that the PS in fact used in stamps issued years later. 4 Scheiman s drive was later taken over by Jewish Congresswoman for NY s 17 th. District, Nita M. Lowey. I was personally opposed to a Hanukkah stamp, as much as I was opposed to a Christmas stamp, on the ground that it was not the PS s business to issue religion-themed stamps. Furthermore, I claimed and still maintain, that while Christmas is a pivotal-foundational Christian holiday, Hanukkah is a secondary, non-biblical holiday, and that the only reason Jews lobbied for a Hanukkah stamp was because there had been Christmas stamps. It is a fact that Hanukkah had become for American Jews of far greater importance and practice than the biblically-mandated Shavuot and Succot, for example, only due to its coinciding with the end of the year Christian festivities. My argument went nowhere. By early 1996 a Project Hannukah Stamp committee had been formed, and the first Hanukkah stamp was issued later that year. Since then, not to be outdone, the Moslem American community requested and was granted by the PS its Eid Greetings stamp, followed later by the Diwali stamp to include Hinduism and Kwanzaa stamps honoring the African heritage. One is left wondering as to when other religious or ethnic group will claim its place in the PS list. Time will tell. REFERENCES 1. Lois K. Solomon, U.S. Postal Service unveils new Hanukkah stamp at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, in the Sun Sentinel, Nov. 1, See also the Jewish Journal, Nov. 9, 2016, 1, report by Randall P. Lieberman. We will keep the above spelling of the holiday throughout the article. Alternate spellings will appear since they appear in quotes. 2. Ibid Chanukah (sic) Stamp Saga: Postal worker discouraged after long quest, by Stuart Vincent, in Newsday, Dec, 17,

8 Judaica Thematic Society Hanukkah cover 2016:- One cover still available. (Not number 3 as illustrated). Please enquire if interested. 8

9 Judaica Thematic Society Hanukkah First Day Covers:- One of 2008 and 2013 are still available. Please enquire if interested. ISRAEL FIRST DAY COVERS FOR SALE STATE YEAR AND ISSUE REQUIRED CONTACT:- (LUCKY DIP ALSO AVAILABLE:- MY CHOICE OF 6 ASSORTED FIRST DAY COVERS (POT LUCK) FOR 5 PLUS POSTAGE. 9

10 NEW MEMBERS:- (AND ADVERT) 173:- ANT VASSALLO. 7 VAJRINGA, VCT 1310, GOZO, MALTA. - antvassallo@gmail.com 174:- MARVIN WASSER. RHODE ISLAND, UNITED STATES F AMERICA. 175:- STANLEY SOFFA. CARDIFF. UNITED KINGDOM. - stanleysoffa@hotmail.com INTERESTS:- JEWISH THEMES INCLUDING BIBLE & ART. 176:- LEILA MOTHEW. 7 ASHFIELDS, LOUGHTON, ESSEX. IG10 1SB UNITED KINGDOM. TEL: amothew@yahoo.co.uk INTERESTS:- ARDENT STAMP COLLECTOR. FOR SALE:- MINT & USED ISRAEL WITH TABS - IN 7 ALBUMS. ALSO ISRAEL FIRST DAY COVERS. WILL CONSIDER SPLITTING UP. QUOTE S.G.NUMBER OR YEAR AND DESCRIPTION OF ISSUE. I AM SELLING ON BEHALF OF WIZO CHARITY. I HAVE OTHER COUNTRIES TOO. I AM NOT A DEALER. CONTACT DETAILS AS ABOVE. 177:- CHANDER DEV SINGH. 2 GULMOHAR RESIDENCY, 20 GULMOHAR PARK, I.T.I. ROAD, AUNDH, PUNE, , INDIA. TEL: INTERESTS:- SIKHISM, GOD, MALE HEADWARE, FALCONS, PEACOCKS, LIONS, LOTUS. FREE! FREE! FREE! MAINLY GREAT BRITAIN, U.S.A, AND A FEW WORLDWIDE ALL USED STAMPS ON PAPER, AS THEY COME INCLUDES DUPLICATES. JUST FOR THE COST OF POSTAGE JUST STATE HOW MANY LARGE ENVELOPES FULL YOU WANT! garygoodman@talktalk.net 10

11 MARK CHAGALL ISSUE BY FRANCE REPORTED BY GARY S.GOODMAN France recently issued on 13th January 2017, a very attractive sheetlet to commemorate the life of Artist Marc Chagall. Also illustrated below, is silk first day covers and Maximum cards. Surely a contender already for the most attractive Judaica issue of