The Romanian Legacy: Sephardic Jewish Community

Romania sits on the edge of the former Ottoman Empire. The history of Romania's Sephardim has largely been forgotten. Sephardic Jews first arrived in the region in 1496 from Constantinople and established communities in the principality of Wallachia. Subsequently there was significant Ashkenazi immigration. While the Ashkenazim soon came to outnumber the Sephardim, both parts of the Jewish community maintained independent institutions. In 1887 the Romanian-born Moses Gaster was appointed Haham of the Spanish & Portuguese Jews of London.
Peninah Zilberman is an expert on Romanian Jewish genealogy. She was born in Israel to Holocaust survivor parents from Sighet Maramures and Bucharest. She has served the Toronto Jewish Community for over forty years in several capacities. In 2014 Peninah initiated the “70th Anniversary Commemoration of the Sighet Deportations” and established “Fundatia Tarbut Sighet- Cultura si Educatie Iudaica” (FTS). FTS's mission is to assist with genealogical research and with organising “Family Roots Journeys”. They also provide Jewish cultural programmes for regional high schools and cultural centres across Romania.
Fundatia Tarbut Sighet (FTS) is a member of The European Association for the Preservation of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ), Future for Religious Heritage Organization (FRH), Association of Holocaust Organizations (AHO) and A.M.I.R. - The United Organization of Romanians in Israel. Peninah is an active member of the Jewish Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities.
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I am sephardi living now in London from Salonica I made a visit to Bucharest and was there for a Shabbat.Then I attended the services at the Choral synagogue.I was greeted warmly as a visiting jew.And when I was asked where I was from told them London but originally Salonika then I was introduced to local sephardi romanians in the synagogue.I had no idea before of sephardim in romania.