The head of the Jewish community in Antakya and his wife are both feared dead in the horrific series of earthquakes that struck Turkey beginning on Monday and continuing into Tuesday.
Saving ancient Torah scrolls from the earthquake damaged synagogue of Antakya – home for a Jewish community for 2500 years… #antakyadeprem pic.twitter.com/ZsHzVKdHWZ
— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) February 7, 2023
Saul and his wife Fortuna Cenudioglu remain unaccounted for in the southern Turkish city.
“The president of the Jewish community in Antakya and his wife were apparently killed in the disaster,” Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Irit Lillian said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News.
Antakya, also known as Antioch, is the capital of Hatay province and was home to a 2,300-year-old Jewish community that once was thriving but by Monday, when the earthquake struck, had just 14 members remaining.
There is a small room, for daily prayers… It looks like it hasn't been used for a while. The bigger hall is used regularly. pic.twitter.com/n3dT8fmRYu
— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) August 13, 2021
Miraculously, the Torah scrolls and sacred texts that were in Antakya’s ancient synagogue were rescued, and have been moved to a safe place.
The Torahs are all very old, including one with an inscription from more than 350 years ago, carrying the names of donors and scribes. Other scrolls are even older, handwritten on deer skin.
Day 19 of #TurkeyJewishRoadtrip:
Antakya, or Antioch.
The last 14 Jews of a 2300 year old Jewish community… pic.twitter.com/Q0U1WIacqc
— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) August 13, 2021
The city is in southeastern Turkey near the border with Syria, and southwest of Gaziantep, the epicenter of the first, 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck early Monday morning.
Janudi’s home was destroyed in that initial quake, and it is feared that he and his wife are trapped in the ruins.
Antakya – Antioch – was the seat of power of the Seleucid Empire and of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the monarch responsible for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
