- Details
The High Holidays of Yamim Noraim began in our Community with the Selichot on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. On the first day of the holiday, the morning prayer took place, with the reading of the Torah and the blowing of the Shofar. The function was attended by almost all our members.
In the afternoon we performed the Taslich in the garden of the Synagogue, a traditional Jewish custom, where each person acknowledges his mistakes and begs for the forgiveness of sins. During these days the Synagogue worked with Mr. Haim Ishaki.
Rabbi Mr. Mendel Handel came to Chalkida for the celebration of Yom Kippur. A crowd of visitors filled our Synagogue reminding us of old times. The service and the fast ended with the blowing of the Shofar. At the end of the celebration, as every year, the attendees "cut tanith" in the courtyard of the Synagogue with sweets offered by the Mendel family and refreshments offered by the Community.
We were honored to celebrate Sukkot with the new ambassador of Israel in Greece, Mr. Yossi Amrani. After the evening Arvit service we sat, almost all the members of the Community, in the Sukkah decorated with various fruits, reeds and myrtle, which the men of the Community prepared again in the small back yard of the Synagogue. There we celebrated together and together with our guests we enjoyed a rich dinner.
More: 2019: THE RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS IN THE ISRAELI COMMUNITY OF CHALKIDA
- Details
.jpg)
In a joyful ceremony, I.K. Chalkidas celebrated the coming of age of Solon Ovadias. On Thursday 1η August 2019 at the Synagogue of Chalkida during the service performed by the Most Wise Rabbi of Athens, Mr. Gabriel Negrin, the young Solon put on tefillin.
The function was attended by the president Makis Maisis, the vice-president Savvas Ovadias and the general secretary Marios Maisis of I.K. Chalkidas, as well as members of the Community, who wished the young Solon to be healthy, blessed and fortunate and to become a useful person, as well as a proper Jew. The hazan of the Chalkida Community, Mr. Minas Levis, also attended the service.
- Details
.jpg)
The Central Jewish Council of Greece and the Jewish Museum of Greece organized on 20.5.2019 at the Spiritual Center of I.K. Athens, the presentation of the book "The history of the Jewish Community of Chalkida from 586 BC. until 2001 AD - THE CEMETERY" by Mario Mais, in which the history and customs of the Jews of Chalkida are recorded, after a study of the tombstones of the city's Jewish cemetery.
The event was welcomed by president of KISE K. David Saltiel, who congratulated the author on his valuable work – a contribution to the rescue of historical evidence of the Jewish presence in Chalkida, and underlined the important role of cemeteries as another source of historical information. On the occasion of Mr. Mais's book, 
the president of KISE, Mr. Saltiel, pointed out the important work carried out by the small communities, saying: "I especially want to emphasize how important - and how difficult - is the work carried out in the small Jewish communities, as in this case in Chalkida, but also in others, such as Trikala, Ioannina, Corfu. It is something that is not understood by the large Jewish communities, which operate with a given organized service structure. In the small Communities, the work - whether it is the maintenance of monuments and cemeteries, or the publication of books or cultural activities - is carried out with incalculable personal work and minimal means, while it is based solely on the passion and effort of the people. They deserve our congratulations and admiration." He then urged those present to purchase the book, as the proceeds from sales were generously donated by the author to support his Community.
"What you can dream about, you can also make it happen", characteristically said in his greeting the president of EME Mr. Makis Matsas, referring to the author's systematic work in writing the book about the cemetery of the Israelite Community of Chalkida, one of the oldest communities in Greece.
- Details
of Kostas Tsoushis
A little trip back in time. Fast forward to the last years of the 19th century. On April 5, 1897 - a little over 24 hours before operations began on the Thessaly front that led to the humiliating, for Greek interests, defeat during the Greco-Turkish War - the newspaper "Palirroia" published a news item about an "unexpected visit" to the waters of the Euripus and the city of Chalkida. A city very different from today, as its main feature was the Castle and its Walls.
"The pale white elegant yacht of the flamboyant Baron Rothschild named "Rona" arrived here last Saturday around 4 p.m. adjoined to the South of our Port. Then he, accompanied by his entourage and that of our passing fellow citizen Mr. Symandos Sakkis, on behalf of the local Israeli community, went to our city and following the instructions of Mr. S. Sakkis, he visited the natural beauty of which he was disappointed.
- Details
On Sunday, December 2, 2018, we celebrated the beginning of Hanukkah in the community of Chalkida.
With psalms we lit the Hanukkah candles and we all remembered family gatherings with children's songs and games with the spinning wheel.
This was followed by the speeches of Mr. Mina Levis on the topic of Hanukkah and Ms. Lili Kostis and Viktora Samuel on the topic of the story of Judith.
The evening ended with the traditional loukumades.