When MSU professor Ada Finifter died almost a year ago, she left a bequest to the Jewish Studies Program: involve itself in Romaniote Jewry — the history of a community of original Greek Jews.
On Wednesday, the Jewish Studies Program honored Finifter’s bequest by bringing Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos to speak at the Main Library as a part of the Library Colloquia Series. Ikonomopoulos is the director of the museum at Kehila Kedosha Janina, a synagogue for Romaniote Jewry in New York City’s Lower East Side. The synagogue was built in 1927 after a couple thousand Romaniote Jews came to America at the turn of the century.
Ken Waltzer, director of the Jewish Studies Program, said this is one way to honor the late Finifter, who was a professor at MSU for about 40 years, but he said the Jewish Studies Program also is considering starting a scholarship in her honor.
Ikonomopoulos decided to speak at MSU because she was a close friend of Finifter’s and her family — three of which are on the Board of Directors at the synagogue. Her grandfather was a founding member of the synagogue.
“(I came to MSU) to educate people about a community people know very little about,” Ikonomopoulos said. “(And) to honor Ada. She was so (passionate) about her community.”
Although there are many communities of different races and religions that immigrated to the U.S., Ikonomopoulos said this is a story everybody can learn from.
“To me, they are an example of what went right and what went wrong with immigration,” she said.
“The question at the turn of the 20th century was (whether) to become Americans, to blend in. This community never blended in very well, they didn’t want to lose their Greekness and they were happy with being Greek and proud of being Jewish.”
Microbiology senior Angela Detomaso said having events such as this can benefit students.
“It’s always good to be educated on multicultural (events),” she said.
Deborah Margolis, a reference and collection librarian for the Jewish Studies Program, said because MSU values diversity, this is a great way to be more diverse.
“This would be one way to increase our knowledge of other cultures,” Margolis said. “This really provides us to dive into other communities (with rich history).”
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