The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle from Milwaukee, Wisconsin • Page 9

Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle 9 After 40 years, Judaism is reborn in Bulgaria By Ruth E. Gruber 8 Mr, 1 1 TuJ Ruse, Bulgaria (JTA) Jewish communal leader Isidore Ajzner, 45, participated in his first seder this Passover. "About 100 attended and it was very beautiful," recalled Ajzner, president of the 250-member Jewish community in this port town on the Danube River in northern Bulgaria. "There was an Israeli rabbi who was born in Ruse and visiting here for the first time in 48 years. There was matzoh and kosher wine from Israel.

We had all the traditional foods and sang all the songs. There was even a specially prepared haggadah." A similar seder held in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, was spread out over three nights in order to accommodate 1,500 people. Community seders like these symbolize a renaissance of Jewish life in Bulgaria after more than 40 years of rule by a communist government. Bulgaria is the only Eastern European country whose prewar Jewish population survived the Holocaust practically intact. All but a few thousand of those 50,000 survivors immigrated to Israel immediately after World WarH.

Those who remained were subject to the assimilation and secularization policies of the hard-line communist regime. Today, most of Bulgaria's approximately 5,000 Jews are elderly, and there has been much intermarriage. No religion since 1950s "Here in Ruse, there were no religious celebrations since about 1950," Ajzner said. Spain. Few functioning synagogues Sofia and Plovdiv are the only Bulgarian cities with functioning synagogues.

The Sofia synagogue, in the heart of the city, is a magnificent, domed, turn-of-the-century building the biggest Sephardic synagogue in the Balkans. It is in poor repair. The main sanctuary is unusable, full of scaffolding and awaiting reconstruction. There has been a noticeable increase in attendance at Shabbat and other services in Sofia, where more than half of Bulgaria's estimated 5,000 Jews live. Schwartz added that since the ouster of the communists, the Jewish population of Bulgaria has grown despite the emigration to Israel of more than 1,000 people in the past 1 8 months.

Cynics say the higher population figure represents nothing more than people, hitherto not known to be Jewish, coming out of the closet to avail themselves of social benefits and the possibility of aliyah. The Jewish community hopes to recover synagogues and other properties taken over by the state for secular purposes, and restore them to Jewish functions. There are two former synagogues in Ruse. The Sephardic synagogue has been turned into a small factory. The Ashkenazic synagogue, built in 1927 and thus the newest synagogue in Bulgaria, has been turned into offices.

"We hope to get the Ashkenazic synagogue back," said Isidore Ajzner. "We want to make it into a prayer hall and also a Jewish museum. It all depends on local authorities and on money. But I think it will happen. If we don't believe we will win on this, then we'll lose." 'Tit For 40 years, Passover seders and other Jewish ceremonies were rare for the few thousand Jews of Bui garia.

This seder picture is the work of artist Meir Perez. Jewish religion, culture, education and social life in Bulgaria as well as to revive contacts with "Maybe the elderly Jews knew when the holidays were, but that was it. Bulgaria tried to be an example of a place where Jew-ishness was defined by traditions, not religion." This is changing since the downfall of the communist regime in November 1989. A nationwide association called the Shalom Organization was founded in March 1990. "Our main task is to revive Jewish communities all over the world," Eddie Schwartz, president of Shalom, said in an interview at his office in Sofia.

Contacts have been made with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the World Jewish Congress, various European Jewish organizations and individual communities in Europe and Israel. "At least 200 young people in Sofia and Plovdiv are attending Hebrew classes and a young man, Maxim Koen, is studying to become the first rabbi to serve here in years," Schwartz said. In addition, there are Sunday school programs and Talmud Torah classes, and scores of children attend new Jewish camps during holidays. Shalom also provides social assistance programs for the sick and elderly, is preparing a Bul-garianLadino dictionary and is participating in plans for Sepharad 92, the ceremonies and events that will mark 500 years since the expulsion of Jews from Cemetery damage not anti-Semitic: police conclusions reached by the police. The statement said the community also was satisfied with the reactions of various public and state institutions that denounced the desecration, and of public opinion in general.

Police investigations indicated that the Jewish section had been hit because it is closest to the eastern edge of the cemetery, which borders a field with no visible fence. According to the report, 25 of 65 gravestones were damaged. Tombstones in non-Jewish parts of the cemetery sustained similar damage. The Shalom Organization called for a government response similar to the strong pro-Jewish French response over the May 1990 desecration of the ancient Jewish cemetery in Carpentras. till FOOD DISTRIBUTING COMPANY am nm hours mb.

pox pit Located At OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 4425 W. Bradley Road Call 372-3535 Sofia, Bulgaria (JTA) Anti-Semitism and nationalism have been ruled out as motives for recent damage to the Jewish section of the old cemetery in the Bulgarian city of Ruse. A statement released by Eddie Schwartz, president of Bulgaria's Shalom Organization, said the community was satisfied with Warsaw open to Jewish scholprship Chicago An international Institute for the Study of Judaism was established last Friday in Warsaw, Poland, by an agreement between Spertus College here and the Academy of Catholic Theology (Akademii Teologii Katolickie) of Warsaw. "As far as we know, this is an historic first: an agreement between an institution of Jewish higher learning and an institution of Catholic theology in Poland," said Rabbi Dr. Byron L.

Sherwin, vice president and professor at Spertus College. Sherwin was in Poland to sign the agreement The purpose of the institute is to further collaborative academic and theological studies, conferences, publications and faculty-student exchanges between Jewish-American and Catholic-Polish institutions. Sherwin viewed the Warsaw agreement as a "giant leap forward in Catholic-Jewish, Polish-Jewish relations." While in Poland he spoke on "Telling the Holocaust Story" during the conference "Auschwitz: Symbol, History and Theology" at the Academy of Catholic Theology. He also met Cardinal Primate Joseph Glemp and other religious leaders. EARLY BIRD SPECIALS Veal Parmigian breaded cutlet topped with sauce and mozzarella cheese Broiled Chicken Breast broiled in butter Spedin es thin slices of beef rolled with onions and stuffing 5 OZ Filet char-broiled to your specification BBQ Ribs simple The Best Veal ala Vincenzo breaded veal sautied in onion, mushrooms, tomatoes and green peppers Orange Roughy broiled in lemon and butter Sicilian Style Shrimp prepared in special butter and garlic, then broiled Broiled Shrimp plump and fresh broiled in butter Penne Regatti baked mostaccioli topped with meat sauce and mozzarella cheese Spaghetti or Mostaccioli and Meat Balls Mushrooms Meat Sauce Sausage 7 dflys sl week Monday Sunday 4:00 PM 6:00 PM COMPLETE MEAL $7.95 AUCTION Presented by TEMPLE MENORAH Sunday, May 5, 1991 to be held at TEMPLE MENORAH 9363 North 76th Street-Milwaukee, Wisconsin Preview.

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