Thessaloniki, Greece’s second biggest city, has for centuries been a major Jewish center, often dubbed the “mother of Israel” or “Jerusalem of the Balkans.” The city was founded in 315 BCE by Macedonian general Cassander, who named it after his wife, Thessaloniki. She was a Macedonian princess, half-sister of Alexander the Great and daughter of Philip II, and her name commemorates her father’s victory (“niki” in Greek) in Thessaly. In the Jewish world, the city is known as Salonica or Saloniki.

The city’s Jewish community has a history stretching back over 2,000 years, already settled when the Apostle Paul came there to preach the new religion of Christianity in 49/50 CE. The Jewish population increased significantly when, in 1492, thousands of Sephardic Jews fleeing the Spanish Inquisition found shelter in Thessaloniki, at the time under Ottoman control. The newly arrived transformed the city and shaped its economic, cultural and political life for centuries.

On 7 November 1911, David Ben-Gurion arrived in Thessaloniki to learn Turkish ahead of his law studies. The city’s Jewish community impressed Ben-Gurion who famously called it “a Jewish city that has no equal in the world.” He also saw how the community thrived, comprised of all social strata, and noted that “the Jews were capable of all types of work,” increasing his faith that a Jewish state would be........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)