The New York Jewish Travel Guide sat down with Mendy Chitrik, Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Turkey since 2003 and chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States since 2019, to ask a few questions about Jewish life and the community in Turkey. The following interview was edited for clarity:
NYJTG: Rabbi, many thanks for your time. Can you tell us about yourself? Why did you decide to come to Turkey, and how long have you been here? You were also elected in 2019 as Chairman of ARIS (the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States). Can you explain what this organization means to our readers?
Rabbi Chitrik: My wife and I came to Turkey in 2001. We came here at the request of the Turkish Jewish community. We were young people; I was 24; my wife was 23, and my son Elie wasn’t yet born. We came to help the Jewish community with education and other projects. Eventually, I started being involved as the Rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, as well as running the kosher services that the Jewish community here offers. With time, my job has evolved. I’ve also been chosen to be the chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic State. It’s an alliance of some 55 rabbis in 16 different Muslim countries, and it is our responsibility to these communities to strengthen the rabbis, to give them the tools needed to strengthen their commitment to their communities, and also to lobby on behalf of Jews in Muslim countries to let people know about their existence and to strengthen Jewish life in countries where they don’t yet have Jewish communities.
NYJTG: Can you describe Jewish life and the community in Istanbul? What is the community made up of? and what are its demographics?
Rabbi Chitrik: The Jewish community resembles the ancient Jewish community in Turkey and has been in existence for 2,700 years. First, there was the period of the Romaniote Jews, during which the Jews of the Roman Empire existed. Then, before the destruction of the First Temple in Jerusalem, 2,700 years after the Assyrian conquest of Northern Israel, where they brought the Jews into exile into Assyria, all the way as far west as the city of Sardis, which is right off about an hour’s drive from Izmir, that is the oldest settlement of Jews in Turkey. The Jews of Istanbul itself, or Romaniotes Jews, that is, Jews from the Roman Empire, have lived here for more than 2000 years, and they have always remained here under Byzantine rule and later Ottoman rule. The second-largest Jewish community in Istanbul is the Ashkenazi Jewish community. It’s the smallest one today, and it has been here for some 750 years since the Jews were expelled from Hungary in the year 1250. And some 500 years ago, the Jewish community of Spain was exiled by the Inquisition, and they arrived in Istanbul to become the most dominant Jewish community. Today, 95% of the Jews of Istanbul are descendants of those Sephardic Jews who came from Spain to live here. The Jewish community today has a school, a secular Jewish school, and some 15 functioning synagogues open on Saturday. It is not a very religious community. It’s a secular Jewish community, but the services follow the Orthodox Jewish interpretation.
NYJTG: What is the Jewish population in Turkey, and where do most Jews live? I heard a range from 22,000 to as low as 16,000, of which 95 percent are of Sephardic origin and 5 percent are of Ashkenazi origin. What is the correct estimate? Where does the Jewish population live: on the European side or the Asian side?
Rabbi Chitrik: The Jewish population in Turkey is about 15,000 Jews. Jews live in Izmir, and another 500 to 600 Jews are scattered around other cities like Bursa, Antakya, and several other cities. About 13,000 Jews live in Istanbul itself. These are the estimates, although nobody knows the exact numbers. There are a great number of Jewish ex-pats who are coming here, including journalists, diplomats, other businesspeople, and young people who find Istanbul to be cheaper than other cities in Europe. Most Jews live on the European side, where most of the synagogues are. On the Asian side, there are three functioning synagogues, maybe fewer, which are usually open, but most Jews live, as I said, on the European side, where there are more synagogues and Jewish centers.
NYJTG: How do the members of
NYJTG: How do the members of the Jewish community integrate, interact, and socialize? Do these social relationships occur within the context of the larger community, for example, in schools and universities? To understand, keeping a decent kosher diet in Turkey is not so easy as you don’t have all the kosher ingredients needed in the supermarket that you can find elsewhere. How do you manage?
Rabbi Chitrik: Members of the Jewish community meet and interact at weddings, bar mitzvahs, brises, synagogue services, and unfortunately, at funerals and other religious ceremonies. There is also a Jewish club on one of the islands off the coast of Istanbul. Three islands have synagogues where Jews socially interact. They are open during the summer when Jewish members mostly come together and socialize. There is a Jewish club called Buyakata on Princess Island. Unfortunately, there are no Jewish supermarkets, and there are no kosher markets. There is a Jewish slaughterhouse in Istanbul for the Jewish community. Soon there will be a brand new, beautiful kosher restaurant for fine dining, which will be of great interest to tourists and locals, where they can enjoy kosher Jewish Turkish cuisine.
NYJTG: Are there any factories in Turkey that have kosher certification? How many are there?
Rabbi Chitrik: There are hundreds of factories in Turkey that have kosher certification. Turkey used to be the breadbasket. If Ukraine was the breadbasket of food in Europe, Turkey today is the breadbasket of Jewish food, where on any given day there are hundreds of factories preparing kosher food. On a commercial scale, there are always religious supervisors’ rabbis to supervise the production of kosher food all over the country. Turkey has been quite successful in capturing this segment of the Jewish community in the manufacturing of kosher food. I am responsible for the kashrut of the Turkish rabbinate for all exports, and it is my responsibility as a representative of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, the Orthodox Union, and other cultural organizations to supervise kashrut for the factories, among other things, that must be exported from here. We also produce local kosher wine and local kosher arak because arak in Turkey is made from grapes, which is why it requires cautious handling. Other arak sold around the world is made from other grains or fruits, which is why it doesn’t require kosher certification in most cases.
NYJTG: How is the local attitude toward Chabad and the Jewish community in Istanbul?
Rabbi Chitrik: We’ve been living here in Turkey for more than 21 years and have never encountered any direct antisemitic insults or anything like that directed at us in the street. Yes, there are always some, you know, conspiracy theorists who write some things in the newspapers or on social media. And my son encountered antisemitism from some tourists while we visited the Turkish airport some months ago when he was on the way to New York. He told me it was the first time anybody had insulted him as a Jew in his 19 years living in Turkey. So, we have never encountered anything like that. We here at Chabad have an open house where there are some 70 guests every Shabbat, sometimes more, sometimes less. We are always happy to host people for Shabbat and have people with us here. It is our pleasure and honor to serve all local Jews as well as tourists and businesspeople who pass by the Jewish community. The Chabad operation is funded by donations coming from passersby and local donors, and this is how we are maintained. Chabad here in Turkey may be different than in other countries, but it is very much integrated into the local Jewish community. I’m a rabbi of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, and this is unique and may be an example for other communities: to always be embracing, loving, and united, united in a way that makes us different.
NYJTG: Thank you for your valuable time and for all the information you shared with us. I appreciated it, as will our readers.
For more information:
To plan a trip to Turkey, contact the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA) or go to https://www.tga.gov.tr/about-us/.
Fly Turkish Airlines: https://www.turkishairlines.com/
To contact Chabad House of Istanbul, Turkey, or to reserve a seat for Shabbat dinner, email rabbi@rabbimendy.com.
Ela Turizm: Historical religious tours https://www.elaturizm.com.tr/index.aspx
Story by Meyer Harroch, New York Jewish Travel Guide, and New York Jewish Guide.com
The author took part in a press trip sponsored by the Turkey Tourism Promotion and Development Agency (TGA).
