Galata Tower

Emily

Our morning began with a tour of the Galata, the commercial section in the northern part of the city. We better understand the city's layout each time we visit a new section. We stopped at a building that claimed to have been built in the year 717. That year, however, was the building date of the first structure ever to inhabit that piece of land, not the date of the building that currently stands there. It was a church-turned-mosque; a common description for buildings here. When converting a building from a church to a mosque in Istanbul, the minbar is usually situated slightly at an angle to the building, in order to point towards Mecca. This mosque, however, had neglected to make this few degrees change. The people simply pray directly east in that mosque. The only explanation we were given is that it may have been too difficult to change the direction.



Our first visit today was meeting the Hakham Bashi or Chief Rabbi of Turkey, Isaac Haleva. He shared his insights on the relationship between education and religion in Turkey. The current situation for training rabbis in the Jewish religion here is similar to that of training priests that we had heard about when meeting with His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch. There was a school in Istanbul until the year 1965 that taught theology, however there were not enough students to keep this school open. The rabbi school closed by choice, not by force of law, which was the case for training of priests for the Eastern Orthodox Church. If Jewish students are interested in a career in religion, they are often sent out of the country to further their studies. Rabbi Haleva's son studied in the United States. In closing, the Chief Rabbi expressed an opinion very much against any type of violence, stating that, "War isn't good for anyone. No one ever wins a war." Finally, Rabbi Halevi made a few calls to assist Noah in looking up members of his family who had lived in Istanbul in the late 1800s and early 1900s.




We walked from the Rabbi's office to the main synagogue of Istanbul. There have been two terrorist attacks in that synagogue, and so we had to go through multiple security checks. This was followed by lunch in the Galata Tower, which has a panoramic view of Istanbul. The tower was built by the Genovese in order to oversee and control trade to and from the city. The view was nothing short of magnificent.
We continued our day with a short trip to the Jewish Museum of Istanbul. One of my favorite parts of this museum was the downstairs section, filled with tapestries and clothing. The museum also included a letter written from Einstein to Ataturk in 1933, requesting permission for German scientists to continue their work in Turkey.
Our busy day was followed by a dinner meeting with the Chairman of the Board of Bahçesehir University, Mr. Enver Yücel. We spoke about the mission of their school and the curriculum and mission of Ross School and how we work toward the same goals. Two professors spoke to us during dinner. Dr. Bekir Kaliga, a professor of theology and Islamic history, spoke of a curricular project he has been working on to organize study of world civilizations from ancient Mesopotamian to the present, similar to Ross School. Dr. Binnaz Toprak, a political science professor (who had spent time working in East Hampton in the sixties) spoke of contemporary Turkey, especially the political structure, education, and its westernization. We gained insight into the university's structure and mission, and will maintain contact with them for future collaborations.
We discovered how difficult rush hour traffic is here in Istanbul. On our way to dinner, the bus ride took an hour and forty minutes. On the way back it took eight minutes. The distance was four miles. This is NOT an exaggeration. That is the reason for the construction of an extensive underground rail system in Istanbul at present.





Shola
Today we visited with the Chief Rabbi of Turkey. After making our way through extensive security, we found a very warm man welcoming us into his office. He encouraged us to ask questions and gave thoughtful answers. We spoke a bit after the big group conversation; as I was leaving I said "Shalom" to him which made him smile and reply the same to me. I think he appreciated that. We continued our tour of Istanbul's Jewish history with a visit to a Jewish synagogue that was built in the early 1990's.




We ate lunch atop the Galata Tower, a restored lighthouse which affords visitors tremendous 360 views. I think it is important to see cities from above; it helps me understand the lay of the land. After I have seen the city from above, I feel I can understand it at the street level. After lunch, we stopped in at the only Jewish Museum in Turkey, located in a converted synagogue. We stopped by in our hotel for a few minutes before venturing to a university for dinner and two lectures by local professors. The first was a professor of Islamic Religion and Philosophy, the second, a professor of political science. Both professors were interesting, but I found the latter to be especially engaging and interesting. Asking her questions about the contemporary regime was quite fun!