Image by KKJ/Facebook

In front of 280 Broome St, the Greek Jewish Festival attempted to preserve a forgotten culture. The sounds of a lute and the dulcet tones of Daphna Mor blasted through the streets. Some space was partitioned off for particularly enthusiastic participants to jump in and dance. The festival was in full swing.

From a map of Greece posted on the wall, inviting passersby to label where their ancestors were from, to a list of Greek Jewish proverbs (“get married and your misery increases” was one of them), this was a celebration of the distinct culture of Romaniote and Sephardic Jews.

It’s the only festival of its kind in the world. Organized by the synagogue Kehila Jedosha Janina (the only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere and an NYC-designated landmark), the event boasts an outdoor marketplace filled with vendors hawking their wares, which are anything from membership to the Greek Jewish and Sephardic Young Professional network to a luscious, juicy fresh pickle, still glistening with brine.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“There’s no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than celebrating the culture and beauty of Romaniote and Sephardic Jews,” said Marvin Marcus, president of KKJ. The festival offered bourekas, spanakopitha, Greek salads, and baklava. The baklava was sweet, dripping with honey and festooned with nuts.

From the time of Alexander the Great, there have been Romaniote Jews making history in Greece, for a period of over 2,300 years. Sephardic Jews are a collection of Jews who settled in Greece after being expelled from Spain in 1492. “I have seen the Festival act as an in-gathering of our community,” said Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos, Museum Director of KKJ.

In an attempt to preserve the cuisine, lifestyle and mentality of an under-acknowledged Jewish tradition, the festival seems to have been a roaring success.

Image by KKJ/Facebook

Shira Feder is a writer for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount