“Azkir Tehilot Hashem” – The Holy Songs of Thessaloniki’s Emigrants in Tel Aviv

"אזכיר תהילות ה'" – שירת הקודש של עולי שלוניקי בתל אביב עם עלייתם אליה

Abstract

Jews from Thessaloniki migrated to Israel in two major waves, in the 1930s, before the Holocaust, and in the 1940s, immediately after it ended. Most immigrants settled in Tel Aviv. They settled in heterogeneous neighborhoods in Southern Tel Aviv and tried to keep observing their traditional customs and their tunes and prayer texts, at home and in their synagogues. 
The article describes the Poetry Societies that were founded in Thessaloniki and their re-establishment in Tel Aviv, as well as the societies Chant books, their synagogues and cantors, their unique customs, and their hopes to establish a "small Thessaloniki" in Tel Aviv and live in their own cultural "bubble". The article focuses on the poetry that was chanted between the "Mincha" and "Arvit" prayers on Shabbat, the double poetry of "Bakashot" and the "Tanda" - the social-musical gathering after the "Musaf" prayer on Shabbat. In the 1930s and 1940s, these immigrants did not aspire to assimilate into their new environment and did not find their place in heterogenic synagogues and synagogues that belonged to other Jewish traditions. In addition, the newcomers attended synagogues where each of them functioned as the center for a specific poets society. While learning Hebrew and trying to adapt to their new lives, the immigrants established themselves as a community within a community in the developing civic society in Tel Aviv, dealing with poverty but aspiring to equality and optimism.