Romanian Jewish Theater Roof Collapses After Heavy Snow
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Heavy snows caused the partial collapse of the roof of the State Jewish Theater, paralyzing one of Romanian Jewry’s foremost cultural institutions.
A snowstorm on Jan. 25 devastated about a third of the roof of the 19th century building that houses the theater, the institution’s director, Maia Morgenstern, told JTA.
“Unfortunately, the part of the roof that collapsed was directly over the stage area, so performances cannot go on,” she said. No one was hurt in the collapse, but now “the water keeps pouring and pouring into the building and part of it is completely flooded.”
According to Morgenstern, “City officials have already pledged to provide resources for fixing the situation, but this building has been neglected for so long, it needs to be reconstructed, not just renovated.”
She was not sure when and even if the theater would be operational again.
Between 100 and 200 people attend the theater’s performances four nights a week, Morgenstern said.
“I think it is one of the most important if not the most important institutions of Romanian Jewry,” she said.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
