THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
12 Friday, August 10, 1919
New History Published on Bulgarian Jewry
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
FULL TIME
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"I have rejected the logic
by which grudging recogni-
tion is elevated to friendly
acceptance, while com-
paratively mild anti-
Semitism is reduced to no
anti-Semitism. In this, I be-
lieve, I have remained faith-
ful to my heritage, which
postulates that moral re-
sponsibility exists beyond
time and circumstance. If
being Jewish first and Bul-
garian second is a crime, I
plead guilty."
The above quotation is
from the preface to "Bul-
garia and Her Jews," subti-
tled "The History of a Dubi-
ous Symbiosis," authored by
Vicki Tamir (Sepher-
Hermon Press, Inc. for
Yeshiva University Press).
Mrs. Tamir follows the
psychohistorical method of
inquiry, and combines the
2,000-year chronicle of the
Bulgarian Jews with that of
their country. She traces
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the roots of Bulgarian
Jewry to the First Century
CE, to the area known as
Moesia which was ruled by
the Romans.
Although Josephus
Flavius' "Antiquities of
the Jews" record an in-
flux of Jews to Moesia
around 70 CE, modern
scholars, on the basis of
archeological finds, con-
clude that Jews called
Romaniots settled there
prior to the destruction of
the Second Temple.
The Romaniots, who
named their congregation
"Kahal Kadosh Romania,"
spoke Hebrew among them-
selves, and Latin and Greek
with their neighbors.
In the Seventh Century,
Bulgarians who were "gen-
erically, ethnically, and cul-
turally related to the
Khazars," began settling in
great numbers in the area
now known as Bulgaria.
Like the Khazars, many of
them had been Judaizing.
This motivated certain
historians to theorize that
Ninth Century Bulgaria
constituted fertile soil for
the spread of Judaism. They
reasoned, Had there only
been a concerted effort on
the part of the rabbis to pre-
sent Judaism as an in-
stitutionalized religion, a
church of such authority,
they could have trans-
formed Bulgaria into an-
other Khazar state, a
Jewish kingdom on the
Balkan Peninsula."
Instead, King Boris I in
the middle of the Ninth
Century introduced
Christianity into Bul-
garia, and chose the
Eastern Orthodox faith
as his country's official
religion. The Jews,
nevertheless, prospered
and felt secure in their
land.
As often happened in
Jewish history, King Ivan
Alexander of Bulgaria mar-
ried a Jewess, Sarah, whose
son, Ivan Shishkin, suc-
ceeded his father to the
throne.
A new chapter in the his-
tory of the Bulgarian
Jewish community com-
menced in the 1490s follow-
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REALTOR'
ing the expulsion of the
Jews from Spain and Por-
tugal.
Many of the expelled
Jews settled in the lands
ruled by the Turks. There
they were welcome for their
"expertise in commerce,
handicrafts and textile
production." Sultan
Bayazid is believed to have
said, "They say that Fer-
dinand of Spain is a wise
king, yet he has im-
poverished his own land in
order to enrich mine."
Iberian Jewish refu-
gees settled in the Bulga-
rian cities of Nicopol,
Sophia and Plodiv. In
Plodiv they established
the "Holy Aragon Con-
gregation." Plodiv al-
ready had Romaniot and
Ashkenazi synagogues.
In time, the culturally
superior Sephardim "ab-
sorbed both the indigenous
Romaniots and the various
groups of Ashkenazim and
lent them their idiom, cus-
toms and life-style." Most
important, Judeo-Spanish
became the spoken lan-
guage of all Bulgarian
Jews.
Soon, Hungarian Jews
began coming to Bulgaria.
In their former country they
were persecuted and ac-
cused of betraying their
homeland, strangling
Christian children with
phylacteries and sucking
Christian blood.
Shortly thereafter, Ita-
Tian Jews, victims of the
anti-Jewish laws of Pope
Pius V (1566-1572), settled
in Bulgaria. In 1648, they
were joined by Polish Jews
who fled the barbarities of
Bogdan Chmielnicki's mur-
derous hordes. All of these
Jews were integrated into
the Sephardi communities.
Of particular historic
interest is this unusual
episode. Early in the 18th
Century there was a
shortage of Jewish
women in Bulgaria. As
result, people began to l.
concerned about the fu-
ture existence of the Bul-
garian Jewish commu-
nity. They soon found a
solution: "In those days
slavery was quite com-
mon, a youngUew would
purchase a female slave
on the market, take her
into his home, teach her
the rituals, life-style and
ethics of Judaism, then
free her of bondage, and
make her a legitimate
wife."
Though small numeri-
cally, the Bulgarian Jewish
community produced great
rabbis, maintained yeshivot
and Talmudic libraries.
Vicki Tamir, a native of
Sofia, Bulgaria, graduated
from the American. College
at Lovech and the law
school of the University of
Sofia. She is the author of
scholarly studies on the
German, Russian, and
Spanish drama.
1,000 North Americans
Plan Year of Israel Study
NEW YORK — More
than 1,000 American and
Canadian students, includ-
ing five Detroiters, will
leave for Israel over the
Labor Day weekend for a
year of Torah and Judaic
studies.
More than 60 percent of
the students are recent
graduates of some 30
yeshiva high schools in the
U.S. and Canada and the
remaining 40 percent col-
lege undergraduates and
graduates between the ages
of 20 and 26.
The Study in Israel Pro-
gram, coordinated by the
Torah Education Depart-
ment of the World Zionist
Organization, encompasses
23 yeshivot and 11 women's
colleges in Israel.
The largest number of
students have enrolled in
the WZO's Gold College
for Women and
Jerusalem Torah College
for men. Some 250 young
men and women will
attend teacher training,
pre-rabbinic and post
graduate programs
there.
Programs will also be
conducted at Yeshivot Har
Etzion, Sha'alvim, Kerem
BeYavne, Hakotel, Chofetz
Chaim, Mercaz Harav,
Kiryat Arba, Itri, Neve
Shappel,
Yehoshua,
Dvar
Hamivtar,
Yerushalayim, Kol Torah,
Harry Fischel, Torah Ore,
Porat Yoseph, Or Sameach,
Aish HaTorah, Diaspora
Yeshiva, Beth El, Machon
Meir and Kibutz Hadati.
Colleges for women also
included in the program are
Michlalat Orot, Bruria,
Neve Yerushalayim, Mid-
rasha, The New School, Or
Sameach, Dvar
Yerushalayim and the
Diaspora Yeshiva.
Pcitif girl students at
Akiva Hebrew Day School
in Detroit have been
awarded National Confer-
ence of Synagogue Youth
(NCSY) scholarships to par-
ticipate in the year of study
in Israel. The four are Edie
Katz, Zoe Levin, Rachel
Flatt and Rochelle
Ginsburg.
The girls will study at
Machon Gold College.
Jay Jubas of Akiva also
received an NCSY schol-
arship and will study at
Beis Medresh l'Torah.
Friends Group
for Museum
NEW YORK (JTA) — A
group called the American
Friends of the Hall of
Heroism (Hechal Hag-
vurah) has been formed to
"support, preserve and ex-
pand" this little known
museum located in the Rus- .
sian Compound in the heart
of Jerusalem.
The museum is the
former Jerusalem Central
Prison which was a deten-
tion center fo.r the Irgun and
Lechi soldiers under the
British Mandate.
He without a wife is
without joy.