Jewish travelers find that visiting synagogues/communities adds an interesting dimension to trips. For all travelers, discovering Jewish historical "footprints" leads to greater understanding of cultural forces which have shaped our world. דֶרֶך צְלֵחָה!


Cover photo: Garrett Ziegler

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Middelburg, Zeeland, the Netherlands, has a history of being a haven for Jews

The capital of this southern region of The Netherlands is also known as the City of the Four Freedoms, a tribute to the descendant of a native son, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is home to one active synagogue and two Jewish cemeteries. Pictured below is the entrance to the Ashkenazi cemetery; there is also a Sephardic cemetery, which was in use from the 16th century, when this region of Holland welcomed Jews expelled from Portugal. Middelburg is also home to the Etty Hillesum house, a moving…

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Austria's Mauthausen concentration camp: because turning away shouldn't be an option

Yes, of course, the four capitals of Central Europe we visited on our Danube River cruise with Grand Circle Tours – Prague, Vienna, Bratislava, and Budapest – were all wrapped in wonder, overwhelmed with their impressive history, expansive promenades and architectural grandeur. But it was an experience near Linz in upper Austria that most impacted me – a visit to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp, one of the first to be built by the Nazis, in 1938, and in 1945 the last to be liberated (below).…

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1 Reply · Reply by Buzzy Gordon Apr 23, 2023

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  • This is going back several years, but here´s a look from the New York City "Forward" (and from Tripatini member Michael Luongo, thanks Michael!) at ten awesome but lesser known Jewish sites across the world (and several in destinations that are fairly unexpected): https://forward.com/news/138890/forgotten-history/
    Forgotten History
    Sign up for Forwarding the News, our essential morning briefing with trusted, nonpartisan news and analysis, curated by Senior Writer Benyamin Cohen.…
  • Jewish heritage sites number in the thousands in dozens of countries across the world, so narrowing them down to a "top ten" list is a daunting proposition. But a prominent tour operator in Philadelphia offers its choices: https://www.giltravel.com/blog/must-visit-jewish-heritage-sites/
    10 Must-Visit Jewish Heritage Sites Around the World in 2024 | Gil Travel
    Explore 10 must-visit Jewish heritage sites around the world in 2024, from ancient synagogues to WWII memorials, and embark on a meaningful journey
  • Just last week I had the pleasure of visiting, in my favorite Paris neighborhood, the medieval Marais, the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme, which covers Europe and North Africa fom the Middle Ages into the 20th century. In addition to fascinating historical artefacts (see my photos in the gallery below), there´s a range of artworks ranging from relatively obscure artists to giants such as Marc Chagall and Amedeo Modigliani.
  • Another excellent item about Jewish culture in Rome, this time from the BBC and specifically about its food and restaurants: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250407-where-to-savour-romes-h...
    Where to savour Rome's hidden Jewish food
    Chef Ruben Bondì knows that Rome's Jewish restaurants serve some of the best food in the city. Here are his picks in the historic Jewish quarter.
  • Rome actually has a fair bit of Jewish heritage, including the ghetto and a favorite dish, fried artichokes. The site JewishUnpacked.com lays it all out: https://jewishunpacked.com/the-ultimate-jewish-guide-to-rome-what-t...
  • I´m very interested in travel to UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and so it caught my eye that on UNESCO´s latest list of 43 new sites for 2023 it included a place in north of this country called the Jodensavanne Settlement and Cassipora Creek Cemetery. This is a settlement founded by European Jews in the 1680s, includes the ruins of what they think is the the earliest synagogue in the Americas, along with cemeteries, boat landing areas, and a military post. The Cassipora Creek Cemetery, meanwhile, is the remnant of an older settlement founded in the 1650s. You learn something new every day! https://www.unesco.org/en/world-heritage/committee-2023
    World Heritage Committee 2023
    The Extended 45th Session of the World Heritage Committee was held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 10 to 25 September. On this page, you'll find the la…
  • The progressive New York-based ¨Forward¨ (I can´t stop thinking of it as the Jewish Daily Forward lol) recently went to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and found that tourists are still coming, able to tune out all the drama, demonstrations, and such: https://forward.com/news/557308/tourism-israel-protests-judicial-ov...
    Protests? What protests? Israel's tourists enj
    The protests across Israel haven't impacted its tourism industry — in fact, tourists don't care about the demonstrations capturing headlines.
  • Recently the English-language version of Spain's top newspaper El País took a look at the Sefarad - Jewish Spain: https://english.elpais.com/spain/2023-04-13/synagogues-cemeteries-a...
    Synagogues, cemeteries, and settlements: Spain’s hidden Jewish heritage
    The expulsion of the Jews in 1492 buried homes and synagogues standing for more than a thousand years in the Iberian Peninsula
  • I follow a progressive news site called Daily Kos on a daily basis, and having visited several synagogues in the Caribbean, I was interested to come across this piece about Caribbean Jewish history a few days ago: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/6/2161781/-Caribbean-Matter...
    Caribbean Matters: This Passover, let's explore the Caribbean's Jewish history
    When the Easter holiday season rolls around, many might assume that Spanish-, English-, French-, and Creole-speaking populations of the Caribbean wil…
  • MP COMMENT And now comes the world's first kosher restaurant with a Michelin star, in the Eixample near Diagonal, and this article in the Times of Israel also discusses the city's recent campaigns targeting Jewish and Israeli visitors, called “Shalom Barcelona” and “Barcelona Connects Israel.” Oy! https://www.timesofisrael.com/hungry-for-jewish-tourism-barcelona-g...
    Hungry for Jewish tourism, Barcelona gets world’s 1st kosher Michelin-starred eatery
    The city is rolling out the red carpet and seeking to brand itself as a destination for Jews interested in exploring their heritage
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