The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Remember
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, And there we wept when we remembered Zion.

Psalms 137:1

From a tourist poster, Synagogues of Europe, outside a store in the Ghetto Vecchia, Venice

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Summary
Who was the Last Bar Mitzvah of Dubrovnik? When did he do his first aliot and reading from the Torah? What does a Bar Mitzvah mean to the vitality of a Jewish Community, and, a Shul specifically? Jews have been in Dubrovnik since Roman times when it was a Greek City known as Ragusa. Now the Synagogue stands empty of prayer for most of the year. At the High Holidays, the rabbi comes from Zagreb to conduct services for the remaining 45 pensioners who make up the Last Jews of Dubrovnik. Their pages in the Book of Life are nearly completed and turned. This is a proposal to bear witness to their lives and those of their forbearers. It is important to hear their personal stories. They must be remembered.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

v1.0 6/12/2013

The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

The Synagogue on udioska Ulica

The Altar: Muted Beauty

A Sephardic Shul is different from an Ashkenazi one in that the cantor does not chant from next to the Torah, but facing it from his own dais. The congregation surrounds him much like a circus maximus.

View of Altar from the Cantors Dais

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

During services, the groups of shiva bochers pray in waves that circulate the Cantors Dais as the head Rabbi performs the rites at the opening of the Altar curtain and the removing of the Torah for reading. Having experience a the Bar Mitzvah of a friends son at a Sephardic Shul in the Upper East Side of NYC in 1990, I can say it is truly spiritually resonant to hear the deep tones of the Cantor and the responsive prayers that undulate around him. It was a bit reformed in that we sat in pews around the Cantor. But there were many praying standing for the entire ceremony of two-three hours. In Dubrovnik, there are benches for the infirmed since the service is conducted with the congregation standing in front of the Altar and around the Cantor.

View from behind the Cantors Dais

View of Cantors Dais and benches from right of the Altar

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

v1.0 6/12/2013

The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Greek Orthodox services follow this tradition as well, ex. Greek Orthodox services follow this tradition as well.t there is no Cantor and, thus, no Dais. Services are vested totally in the Priest.

View of ceiling ornaments, Cantors Dais and benches from the Altar

The Synagogue of Dubrovnik has a quiet beauty in its renaissance ornament and architecture, the three arches in the rear a quite Palladium. The chandeliers and lamps are classic Renaissance. The muted light glow at Kol Nidra and the blowing of the Shofur must be quite ethereal. What is it that has brought such a beautiful and spiritual place to abandonment? We can only weep tears of sorrow for those who were here and might be forgotten.

I have deferred all my other film projects to pursue this project. It feels like an important thing to do. It is my hope that such a documentary film might inspire some to emigrate to Dubrovnik and re-enliven this Shul. This Shul and the accompanying museum (no pictures please) has a captivating display of three Torahs and accoutrements, as well, a s testimony to all the Jews who were killed in the earthquakes of 1663 and 1979 and the Holocaust of WW II. Let it not become Just Another Tourist Attraction. This project is seen as a one-year, $60,000 effort to produce a 60 minute documentarya third of the usual cost/minute of $3,000. More in the Next Steps section below on use of Croatian Film students.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

v1.0 6/12/2013

The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Location
Croatia (Hratskova) is located on the Adriatic Sea across from Italy. Dubrovnik is Point A below in a Google Earth view of the area:

And then zooming in we get the Old City (Stari Grad) View:

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik Going one more click on the zoom sllder:

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Just up from the corner of the Placa Ulica, two streets before the Placa coming in from the West Gate, there is a street sign on the left side about 3 meters above:

Street of the Jews Marker in Dubrovnik

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik Looking up the street we see this

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Google Maps Street View

But that Google Street View is a day when the Synagogue and Museum are not open. When we were there on May 19, 2013, what we saw was the invitational image on the easel between under the window on the front right just after the doorway in the picture above.

Combined Street View and Google Earth Zoom In

In the picture above, the Push Pin on the map is here you stand to see up udioska Ulica, Street of the Jews.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

v1.0 6/12/2013

The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Invitation to the Synagogue and Museum

We took this invitation at 25 Kuna (~$4.25 each) and toured the Museum and then the Synagogue where the caretaker graciously allowed pictures in the Shul because there are no services held there (except on the High Holidays) unlike masses in all the churches we visited.

It would be three days later in Venice that I would wonder Who is this artist who combines the motif of Marc Chagal with the color sense of early Vasily Kandinsky? (And, by the way, some of the rare Chagall Synagogues are up for auction.) Is he the same one from the Synagogues of Europe poster in the Ghetto Vecchia in Venice? These questions would be answered in the Documentary Film we are proposing here, The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

v1.0 6/12/2013

The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

A Brief History of Jews in Dubrovnik

We present a brief description taken from https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0021_0_21336.htm: Jews arrived in Dalmatia with the Roman armies. In Solin (Salona), in the vicinity of *Split (Spalato), there are remains of a Jewish cemetery of the third century. There was a Jewish community in Solin until 641, when Solin was destroyed by the Avars. During the Middle Ages, the Jews of Split and Ragusa (*Dubrovnik) engaged in commerce and especially in the brokerage of the trade between Dalmatia and Italy and the Danubian countries. Under the autonomous republic which was established in Dubrovnik during the 15 th century, the Jews lived in relative tranquility. The Christian clergy, however, attempted to oppress them and succeeded in spreading *blood libels in Dubrovnik in 1502, 1622, and 1662. During the 16th century, refugees from Spain and Portugal settled in Dalmatia. When Pope Paul IV expelled the Jews from Ancona in 1556, a considerable number of them requested asylum in Dubrovnik. These included the physician *Amatus Lusitanus and his friend the poet Didacus *Pyrrhus, both Marranos. In 1738 the condition of the Jews in Dalmatia deteriorated. The Jews of Split lived in a ghetto until the arrival of the French in 1806. In 1906 the Austro-Hungarian government passed a law which defined the status of the Jewish communities of Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia. In 1870 there were already 10,000 Jews in Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia; 13,488 in 1880; and 17,261 in 1890. After World War I there were 20,000 Jews in Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia. To understand who these Sephardim: Jews of the Spanish Rite were in practice we present from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefardim: Sephardic Jews in Bosnia and Croatia were ruled by a Germancreated Independent State of Croatia state from April 1941, which subjected them to pogrom-like actions before herding them into local camps where they were murdered side by side with Serbs and Roma (see Porajmos). The Jews of Macedonia and Thrace were controlled by Bulgarian occupation forces, which after rendering them stateless, rounded them up and turned them over to the Germans for deportation.

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Forced Migration to Dubrovnik from Iberia

A littler more specific history from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marranos#The_Inquisition (Jews always expected the Spanish Inquisition.):
Threatened and persecuted by the Inquisition, many conversos left Spain, in bands or as individual refugees. Many migrated to Italy, attracted by the climate, which resembled that of the Iberian Peninsula, and by the kindred language. When they settled at Ferrara, Duke Ercole I d'Este granted them privileges. His son Alfonso confirmed the privileges to twenty-one Spanish conversos: physicians, merchants, and others (ib. xv. 113 et seq.). A thoroughly researched history of these migrations is also contained in the book about one of their leaders called, "The Woman Who Defied Kings", by the historian and journalist, Andree Aelion Brooks. Spanish and Portuguese conversos settled also at Florence and contributed to make Livorno a leading seaport. They received privileges at Venice, where they were protected from the persecutions of the Inquisition. At Milan they materially advanced the interests of the city by their industry and commerce. At Bologna, Pisa, Naples and numerous other Italian cities, they freely exercised the Jewish religion again. They were soon so numerous that Fernando de Goes Loureiro, an abbot from Oporto, filled an entire book with the names of conversos who had drawn large sums from Portugal and had openly avowed Judaism in Italy. In Piedmont Duke Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy welcomed conversos from Combra and granted them commercial and industrial privileges, as well as the free exercise of their religion. Rome was full of conversos. Pope Paul III received them at Ancona for commercial reasons. He granted complete liberty "to all persons from Portugal and Algarve, even if belonging to the class of New Christians." By 1553 three thousand Portuguese Jews and conversos were living at Ancona. Two years later Pope Paul IV issued orders to have all the conversos thrown into the prisons of the Inquisition which he had instituted. Sixty of them, who acknowledged the Catholic faith as penitents, were transported to the island of Malta; twenty-four, who adhered to Judaism, were publicly burned (May 1556). Those who escaped the Inquisition were received at Pesaro byGuidobaldo II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. Guidobaldo had hoped to have the Jews and conversos of Turkey select Pesaro as a commercial center; when that did not happen, he expelled the New Christians from Pesaro and other districts in 1558 (ib. xvi. 61 et seq.). Many conversos also went to Dubrovnik, formerly a considerable seaport. In May 1544, a ship landed there filled with Portuguese refugees.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

More recent news of the Synagogue in Dubrovnik:

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0021_0_21336.html The civil war led to great suffering and destruction, particularly after fighting spread from Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Jews had to flee their homes along with hundreds of thousands of other citizens, and Jewish monuments and property were damaged or destroyed along with countless other buildings. Among them, the medieval synagogue in Dubrovnik was damaged by bombs; the Jewish community center in Osijek was hit by shelling; and Serbian fighters used the ancient Jewish cemetery overlooking Sarajevo as a position from which to fire onto the city. In Zagreb, terrorist bombs in August 1991 wrecked the Jewish community offices and prayer hall and also damaged the Jewish cemetery.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

Next Steps in Making the Documentary Film

The Last Bar Mitzvah of Dubrovnik is envisioned as a history of the journey of a girl and her family from the Eastern Coast of Portugal to Dubrovnik in 1544. She is the great Eve of the Last Bar Mitzvah of Dubrovnik in 1933(?). The community needs a great infusion today if it were to be revived. This film is a case for the resettling of a dying community in Dubrovnik by World Jewry. In addition to affirming cultural heritage, it can serve as an economic development vehicle for the soon to be (July 1, 2013) member of the EU, Croatia. Croatia will retain their currency, the Kuna, and so will not be subject to the same ills that have infected Greece, Cyprus, Portugal and Spain who fall under the aegis of the Euro. The pristine nature of their coast and lack of significant dirty industries will let them develop a true 21st Century Economy leveraged from the current tourism industry that makes up about 60% of its GDP. The secret is in secular and religious pluralism that accepts ALL beliefs without prejudice and with mutual respect. That was the social success of Rome in its day. Attract highly creative people using the tripartite driver of superior economic growth: Talent, Technology and Tolerance. These factors are noted by Richard Florida in his 2002 landmark book, The Rise of the Creative Class.

Basic Approach
A Web/Social Media/TV Series for On the Edge will be developed using local Croatian talent. From a recent tour, I met several charismatic individuals who could host the Series. One in particular is Matija Radic, who led the 10-day tour through The Dalmatian Coast and the coast of lower Montenegro:

Matija knows the film people at The University of Dubrovnik where he went to school for his degree in history and tourism. He has indicated an interest in making the connections for this film.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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The Last Bar Mitzvah in Dubrovnik

2013Q2 A Documentary on the Last Jews of Dubrovnik

A second person is Leia, the Tour guide in Korula, ran for City Council on a Pluralism, Do Public Good platform:

She is articulate and quite charming in her presentation where she claimed to be the girlfriend of Marco Polo in a past life. Apparently, Korula claims Marco Polo as a native son, despite Venetian assertions otherwise. These two would make perfect co-hosts for the Croatian Edition of On the Edge Programming.

Step 1: Year
As a first step, this idea is being distributed to a small group of interested friends of mine whom I believe have a deep seated desire to see this story told. I am currently writing the script. I will then put a trailer together to promote a crowd funding Indiegogo campaign. At the same time, I will pursue full private funding among my friends and family to make the trailer. The the $60K Indiegogo campaign will be mounted as a follow-on.

Step 2: Years 2 & 3

Year 2: Produce the film; promote at the Jewish Film Festival in the Bay Area. Connect to programming at US Public TV stations and Croatian and other European Stations. Promote an economic development program to repatriate young creative Jews to Dubrovnik who will revitalize the Shul. Year 3: Submit to Sundance, Venice, Cannes and other festivals. Set up a studio operation in Dubrovnik associated to the University. In the tourist off-season, produce three 18-22 minute follow-on shows for Web/TV/Cable distribution.

Step 3: Years 4 & 5

Continue distribution of 60-min feature on the Jews of Dubrovnik, On the Edge Hrvatska Edition shows. Produce six more 18-22 minute shows. Create the Dubrovnik Cultural Film Festival.

Copyright 2013, David M. Sherr

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