Guide
The Museum of Turkish Jews was founded by the Quincentennial Foundation to tell the public about the traditions and the history of the Jews of Türkiye. It opened on 25 November 2001.
The foundation itself was set up in 1989 by 113 Turkish citizens, Jewish and Muslim, to mark five hundred years since the Sephardim came to the Ottoman empire. The idea of a museum came from Naim Güleryüz, who became its first curator, and it opened with the financial support of the Kamhi family.
The museum first opened in the historic Zülfaris Synagogue building in Galata. It moved on 20 September 2015 to a site beside the Neve Shalom Synagogue at Şişhane and began work in its new home on 14 January 2016.
The display falls into three parts, covering history, traditions and social life. It is fitted out along current museum lines, with interactive panels and touch screens; because the information is held on a touch-screen system rather than on fixed boards, more material can be added whenever it is wanted.
The first part tells the history of the Jews in Anatolia from the fourth century BC to the present, arranged in order of time and taking in the passage from the Ottoman empire to the republic. On the touch panel covering recent history the subjects are supported with pictures and video. A section given to the press holds examples of Turkish Jewish newspapers published before and after the republic, printing objects and an account of that history.
The midrash hall makes the physical link between the synagogue and the museum, and through it the religious ceremonies held in the synagogue can be watched as they happen. Witnessing a circumcision, a wedding or a bar mitzvah makes the visitor a part of the ceremony in practice.
The section of objects used in religious ritual has been recreated around the midrash brought from the Appollon Synagogue, which closed in 1982. Liturgical objects from a number of different synagogues are shown together here.
The ethnography section follows the cycle of life from birth to death through objects, documents, pictures and video, and visitors can watch film of Jewish customs and ceremonies in various cities. The last section covers Jewish traditions, festivals and food.
