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Cynthia Erivo & the cast of The Color Purple on Broadway. Photos by Matthew Murphy, 2016
“A MIRACLE on Broadway.”
everal Detroiters, including
me, recently toured “Jewish”
Bulgaria, Macedonia and
northern Greece. We were guided by
Dr. Joseph Benatov, who will speak
three times for Synergy
Shabbat at Adat Shalom
Synagogue Oct. 27-29.
What will you speak
about at Adat Shalom?
Benatov: One of my lec-
tures will focus on events of
World War II. Even though
Bulgaria was allied with
Dr. Joseph
Germany, Bulgaria was
Benatov
able to protect all 50,000
Bulgarian Jews from its pre-
war territories.
At the same time, Bulgaria deport-
ed to the death camps about 11,400
Greek and Yugoslav Jews from ter-
ritories it occupied. I will speak
about this complicated history and
provide some historical and political
context.
I will also talk about Salonica
in Greece as a Jewish metropolis,
often termed “the Jerusalem of the
Balkans.”
You are a Bulgarian Jew who
grew up in Sofia, but now you
are a Hebrew professor at the
University of Philadelphia. Tell us
about this journey.
Benatov: Yes, I was born and
raised in Sofia, and after the end of
communism, I moved with my fam-
ily to Israel. I returned to Bulgaria,
got degrees in English from Sofia
University, and then came to the
U.S. for graduate school, together
with my wife, who is also Bulgarian.
We live in Pennsylvania and have
two sons who are growing up
bilingual, so we make sure to visit
Bulgaria every summer to keep their
Bulgarian active.
How do you incorporate your
background into your tours and
lectures?
Benatov: My father was 5
in 1943, when the Bulgarian
Jews were spared from
deportation at the very last
moment. He was also the
person who initially encour-
aged me to research the fate
of Bulgaria’s Jews during
WWII, and he has been an
enormous help in my explo-
ration of the Sephardic his-
tory and culture of Bulgaria and the
Balkans.
Both my parents are Sephardic,
and my father’s Ladino is near-
native; my mother’s is also very
good. Even though our parents
did not speak to us in Ladino, my
brother and I grew up with common
Ladino sayings, songs and with our
maternal grandmother’s delicious
Sephardic dishes. She was known
across town as the absolute master
of masapan, a wonderful almond-
and-sugar dessert.
What led you to lead Jewish
tours?
Benatov: In Bulgaria, I worked as
a Hebrew-language tour guide for
Israeli visitors. I became more and
more interested in the history of
the Bulgarian Jewish community. I
thought the best way to get a sense
of their Sephardic past could be
achieved by visiting the Balkans, and
I recently expanded to focus further
west with a trip to Bosnia, Croatia,
Slovenia and Triest. •
Details
SYNergy Shabbat will start with Shabbat Appella at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27, at
Fisher Theatre • Nov. 7–12
ticketmaster.com, 800-982-2787 & box office.
Info: BroadwayInDetroit.com, 313-872-1000.
Groups (12+): Groups@BroadwayInDetroit.com
8PM 11/10.
or 313-871-1132.
20
October 19 • 2017
jn
Adat Shalom in Farmington Hills. Following Shabbat dinner, Dr. Joseph Benatov
will speak on “The Untold Story of the Jews of Bulgaria.” On Saturday, Oct. 28,
at 12:30 p.m., his topic is “The Balkan Jews from Antiquity to the Present.” On
Sunday, Oct. 29, he will speak on “Balkan Sephardic Flavors and Sights” after a
Sephardic brunch.
Benatov’s lectures are co-sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Center;
Sunday’s brunch and lecture are co-sponsored by Keter Torah Synagogue and the
Cohn-Haddow Center for Jewish Study.
For details and cost for meals, call (248) 851-5100 or visit adatshalom.org.