Podcasts about salonica

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/intellectual-history

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-studies

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Author Noam Sienna unveils a vast Sephardic world created by these books. This literary network transcended geographical boundaries, connecting Jewish communities from Fez and Tunis to Salonica, Jerusalem, and Livorno. By examining cultural centers and tracing the journey of these texts, Sienna provides depth to our understanding of a remarkably global and worldly book culture, and its evolving role in the growth of Jewish modernity.While the content of Jewish books has long fascinated scholars, Jewish Books in North Africa shifts our focus to the physical context. These books were not isolated artifacts; they were embedded in cultural networks during a period of religious, political, and cultural transformation. Sienna's work sheds light on the intricate interplay between books and the dynamic world in which they existed. Noam Sienna is the Jerome and Lorraine Aresty Visiting Scholar in Jewish Book Arts at the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life, Rutgers-New Brunswick. He received his PhD in History and Museum Studies from the University of Minnesota and is also a Senior Fellow with the Andrew W. Mellon Society of Fellows in Critical Bibliography. His monograph received the 2025 Book Award from the Middle East Librarians Association. Geraldine Gudefin is a modern Jewish historian researching Jewish migrations, family life, and legal pluralism. She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Legal Studies at the National University of Singapore, and is completing a book titled An Impossible Divorce? East European Jews and the Limits of Legal Pluralism in France, 1900-1939. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Romans 1:1-17 Pauls Credentials (vv. 1-7)A. ServantB. ApostleC. PreacherD. Missionary Pauls Concern (vv. 8-13)A. He prayed for themB. He pined for themC. He planned to see them Pauls Conscience (vv. 14-17)A. I am a debtorB. I am readyC. I am not ashamed More to Consider All of the apostles were insulted by the enemies of their Master. They were called to seal their doctrines with their blood and nobly did they bear the trial. Matthew suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia. Mark expired at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece. John was put in a caldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous manner, and was afterward banished to Patmos. Peter was crucified at Rome with his head downward. James, the Greater, was beheaded at Jerusalem, James, the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller's club. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died. Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias was first stoned and then beheaded. Barnabas of the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica. Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero. Such was the fate of the apostles, according to traditional statements. Christian Index During the years of the martyrs Christians fled into the underground caverns outside Rome in almost 600 miles of mole-like tunnels. Ten generations of Christians were buried in the catacombs during approximately 300 years of suppression. No one knows the exact number, but archaeologists estimate between 1,750,000 and 4,000,000 Christians were interred in the dark tunnels. Inscriptions of Scripture can still be seen on the catacomb walls. One of the most frequent inscriptions is the sign of the fish. But the inscription which best describes their faith says: "The Word of God is not bound." (2 Tim. 2:9). Selected

Lea Ypi's new book about her Greek-Albanian grandmother is a philosophical meditation on dignity, a history of Ottoman collapse and Balkan nationalism, and a warning about our own indignant age of manufactured identities and resurgent tribalism.Back in January 2022, Lea Ypi came on the show to discuss Free, her brilliant account of growing up in communist Albania. Now Ypi, who teaches political philosophy at LSE, is back with her follow-up, Indignity, an equally compelling biography of Leman Ypi, her maternal grandmother. “A Life Reimagined” is its subtitle, but it's not just her grandmother whose life Ypi is reimagining. The book is a retelling of the modern stories of Greece, Turkey and Albania as well as a sly backwards glance on the court politics of the late Ottomans. Indignity is a Balkan story, in the grand tradition of Rebecca West. And like West, Ypi shows us that Balkan history is never quite dead - instead, it's prophecy for our own age of resurgent nationalism and manufactured identities. Things don't die in South Eastern Europe, Ypi suggests, they just fester, creating more and more indignity. No wonder the Dracula myth is a Balkan creation. 1. Dignity is what we chase, indignity is what we photograph. Bob Dylan wrote that “dignity never been photographed,” and Ypi iterates an entire philosophical framework around this insight. A 1941 photo of her glamorous grandmother in the Italian Alps sparked the book—but also online accusations that she was a spy. For Ypi, following Kant, dignity is an immaterial ideal we pursue; indignity is the empirical reality we live in. The book oscillates between the two, asking: how do we think about the dignity of the dead when all we have left are degraded facts and hostile interpretations?2. Salonique the Magnificent died in 1912—and took cosmopolitan possibility with it. Leman Ypi was born in 1917 in Salonica, an Ottoman melting pot that was, for a time, considered a potential homeland for European Jews. When it became Greek in 1912, the Hellenization project began dismantling centuries of multicultural coexistence. By the time the Ottoman Empire collapsed after WWI, rising nationalism had replaced cosmopolitan possibility. Leman, an “Albanian” who'd never been to Albania, was told her identity must align with the new nation-state project. The book is a lament for this lost time—not a lost place, but a lost way of being.3. Nationalism is a zero-sum game for dignity. In the world of nation-states that emerged from Ottoman collapse, individual dignity became inseparable from collective identity. To be Albanian meant dignity only as part of the Albanian nation-state project. This homogenizing, exclusionary logic forced people into boxes they'd never inhabited before. Ypi shows how this nationalist manipulation of dignity—promising it while destroying it—ran from the 1920s through fascism and communism. And it's back now, in our age of deportations, border walls, and politicians demanding: “What are you? Where do you really belong?”4. The stoic suicide versus the Kantian fighter—two philosophies of dignity. Leman's aunt Selma, forced into marriage with a German businessman, killed herself on her wedding day—the ultimate stoic assertion of control. “If you see a room full of smoke, do you wait for help or just leave?” Throughout her life, especially during her husband's 15-year imprisonment under Albanian communism, Leman wrestled with this question. Her answer was Kantian: suicide is a betrayal of our moral responsibilities to others. Dignity means staying and fighting, even when the struggle seems futile. But Ypi doesn't romanticize this—Leman's principled decisions often brought tragic consequences.5. Identity is always more complicated than politics pretends. Writing the book forced Ypi to confront how constructed and contingent identity really is. Her “Albanian” grandmother was born in Greece, had never been to Albania, grew up in an Ottoman cosmopolitan elite, and only became Albanian through the accidents of collapsing empires and rising nationalisms. This complexity matters now, Ypi argues, when contemporary politics—from migration to deportation to calls for deglobalization—depends on simplistic, homogeneous notions of identity and belonging. The archive lies; borders shift; people contain multitudes. Any politics built on forcing people to “belong in one place and nowhere else” is both a scam and historically illiterate.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule (Stanford UP, 2024) examines how the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the Eastern Mediterranean navigated the transition from empire to nation-state in the early twentieth century. In this social and cultural history, Paris Papamichos Chronakis shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst revolution and war, rising ethnic tensions, and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Papamichos Chronakis draws on previously untapped local archival material to weave a rich narrative of individual portraits, introducing us to revered philanthropists and committed patriots as well as vilified profiteers and victimized Salonicans. Offering a kaleidoscopic view of a city in transition, this book reveals how the collapse of empire shook all the constitutive elements of Jewish and Greek identities, and how Jews and Greeks reinvented themselves amidst these larger political and economic disruptions. 2024: National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the 2024 National Jewish Book Awards - JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material), sponsored by the Jewish Book Council. Roberto Mazza is currently a visiting scholar at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. He is the host of the Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast and to discuss and propose a book for interview can be reached at by email. Blusky and IG: @robbyref Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule (Stanford UP, 2024) examines how the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the Eastern Mediterranean navigated the transition from empire to nation-state in the early twentieth century. In this social and cultural history, Paris Papamichos Chronakis shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst revolution and war, rising ethnic tensions, and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Papamichos Chronakis draws on previously untapped local archival material to weave a rich narrative of individual portraits, introducing us to revered philanthropists and committed patriots as well as vilified profiteers and victimized Salonicans. Offering a kaleidoscopic view of a city in transition, this book reveals how the collapse of empire shook all the constitutive elements of Jewish and Greek identities, and how Jews and Greeks reinvented themselves amidst these larger political and economic disruptions. 2024: National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the 2024 National Jewish Book Awards - JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material), sponsored by the Jewish Book Council. Roberto Mazza is currently a visiting scholar at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. He is the host of the Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast and to discuss and propose a book for interview can be reached at by email. Blusky and IG: @robbyref Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule (Stanford UP, 2024) examines how the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the Eastern Mediterranean navigated the transition from empire to nation-state in the early twentieth century. In this social and cultural history, Paris Papamichos Chronakis shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst revolution and war, rising ethnic tensions, and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Papamichos Chronakis draws on previously untapped local archival material to weave a rich narrative of individual portraits, introducing us to revered philanthropists and committed patriots as well as vilified profiteers and victimized Salonicans. Offering a kaleidoscopic view of a city in transition, this book reveals how the collapse of empire shook all the constitutive elements of Jewish and Greek identities, and how Jews and Greeks reinvented themselves amidst these larger political and economic disruptions. 2024: National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the 2024 National Jewish Book Awards - JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material), sponsored by the Jewish Book Council. Roberto Mazza is currently a visiting scholar at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. He is the host of the Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast and to discuss and propose a book for interview can be reached at by email. Blusky and IG: @robbyref Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule (Stanford UP, 2024) examines how the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the Eastern Mediterranean navigated the transition from empire to nation-state in the early twentieth century. In this social and cultural history, Paris Papamichos Chronakis shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst revolution and war, rising ethnic tensions, and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Papamichos Chronakis draws on previously untapped local archival material to weave a rich narrative of individual portraits, introducing us to revered philanthropists and committed patriots as well as vilified profiteers and victimized Salonicans. Offering a kaleidoscopic view of a city in transition, this book reveals how the collapse of empire shook all the constitutive elements of Jewish and Greek identities, and how Jews and Greeks reinvented themselves amidst these larger political and economic disruptions. 2024: National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the 2024 National Jewish Book Awards - JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material), sponsored by the Jewish Book Council. Roberto Mazza is currently a visiting scholar at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. He is the host of the Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast and to discuss and propose a book for interview can be reached at by email. Blusky and IG: @robbyref Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

The Business of Transition: Jewish and Greek Merchants of Salonica from Ottoman to Greek Rule (Stanford UP, 2024) examines how the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie of the Eastern Mediterranean navigated the transition from empire to nation-state in the early twentieth century. In this social and cultural history, Paris Papamichos Chronakis shows how the Jewish and Greek merchants of Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki) skillfully managed the tumultuous shift from Ottoman to Greek rule amidst revolution and war, rising ethnic tensions, and heightened class conflict. Bringing their once powerful voices back into the historical narrative, he traces their entangled trajectories as businessmen, community members, and civic leaders to illustrate how the self-reinvention of a Jewish-led bourgeoisie made a city Greek. Papamichos Chronakis draws on previously untapped local archival material to weave a rich narrative of individual portraits, introducing us to revered philanthropists and committed patriots as well as vilified profiteers and victimized Salonicans. Offering a kaleidoscopic view of a city in transition, this book reveals how the collapse of empire shook all the constitutive elements of Jewish and Greek identities, and how Jews and Greeks reinvented themselves amidst these larger political and economic disruptions. 2024: National Jewish Book Awards Winner of the 2024 National Jewish Book Awards - JDC-Herbert Katzki Award (Writing Based on Archival Material), sponsored by the Jewish Book Council. Roberto Mazza is currently a visiting scholar at the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University. He is the host of the Jerusalem Unplugged Podcast and to discuss and propose a book for interview can be reached at by email. Blusky and IG: @robbyref Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

As World War I engulfed Europe, Britain and its colonies were not spared. Despite Cyprus avoiding conscription like Canada, the British coaxed Cypriots to enlist in auxiliary roles, notably the mule corps, to aid the Allies on the Salonica front. Promised non-combat duties, Cypriots soon found themselves thrust into conflict. How were they persuaded? What trials did they face? How did they fare upon their return? I welcome back Professor Andrekos Varnava from Flinders University as we discuss one of his latest books, "Serving the Empire in the Great War: The Cypriot Mule Corps, Imperial Loyalty and Silenced Memory," which you can find on Amazon: (this is the Canadian Website).

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

The Greek city of Thessaloniki, or Salonica, was once known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans. It was previously home to a large and thriving Sephardi Jewish population whose ancestors had been expelled from Spain in 1492. However, the Nazi occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944 almost completely wiped out that culture and community. More than 90% of the approximately 50,000 Jews living in Salonica in 1943 were deported to Auschwitz and killed. Yeti Mitrani was a young teenager at the time. She speaks to Maria Margaronis about her family's escape and her childhood. (Photo: Yeti as a child. Credit: Doris Mitrani)

Born in Athens, Greece, Esther Gandica came to the United States, on her own, on a Fulbright scholarship in 1967.She was born in 1949. Her parents lived in Salonica, Greece, which had the largest Jewish population at the time, outside of Israel. The family spoke Ladino, a form of archaic Spanish. Esther is a Sephardic Jew. Her father's family did not survive the war. Her Mother's family survived by hiding. She grew up speaking French and 5 other languages.Esther is flexible. She consciously keeps herself from falling into patterns. She avoids habitual living. It was easy to leave her full-time position doing special chemistry testing related to thyroid disease so she could make time to be with her children. After they were born she reimagined her career and went back to school to earn a degree in accounting. This allowed her to work part time and stay at home. Esther always liked the idea of learning new things. She is a perpetual student. Esther and her husband both taught in universities and are now retired. Health challenges have changed the active lives they enjoyed together. She is learning to be active on her own.Intriguing and joyful, Esther Gandica lives life to the fullest.I never want to slow down. I have to keep moving fast. Life has so much to offer. -Esther GandicaCONNECT With Esther:egadinca@gmail.com

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

Episode 169 – Paul’s Places – Part 10: Thessalonica Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: With a loud command and with the shout of the chief angel and a blast of God's trumpet, the Lord will return from heaven. Then those who had faith in Christ before they died will be raised to life. Next, all of us who are still alive will be taken up into the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the sky. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4, verses 16 and 17, Contemporary English Version ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re so grateful we have the opportunity to be with you today. We have been working on a series we call “Paul’s Places” for several weeks now. In fact, this is our 10th lesson in this series. By “Paul,” of course, we’re referring to the Apostle Paul who wrote almost half of the books in the New Testament. In this “Paul’s Places” series we are taking a look at Paul’s letters to the churches that are identified in our Bibles by geographic names – mostly of cities such as Rome or Corinth. But the book of Galatians is named for the province of Galatia which was a region in what is now in modern-day Turkey. Anyone who has missed any of the previous lessons can find them on our website, crystalseabooks.com, or on their favorite podcast app. Today In the studio we have RD Fierro, the author of a number of great Christian books and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, what was the major reason you wanted to do this “Paul’s Places” series? RD: Well, I’d like to start by thanking our listeners for joining us here today. The reason we undertook this “Paul’s Places” series is really quite simple – to help our listeners formulate a better answer to the question: “are the New Testament documents historically reliable?” The New Testament documents are the documents from which we get our information about Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension. These are real events that occurred within real history. So, it is reasonable for people to wonder how we can be sure that we have an accurate record of their occurrence. VK: We are now 2,000 years removed from the time that Jesus walked on the earth, performed His miracles, died, and rose again. And we are almost 2,000 years removed from the time when people began hearing about those events and either accepting or rejecting the meaning of what had occurred. Many of those early hearers celebrated the fact that Christ Jesus the Messiah had come and they became the first Christians. But we tend to forget in our day and age that those first Christians – even though they believed – had questions about exactly what had taken place. So, the Apostles began writing and sending documents to some of those first groups and churches to provide answers to questions and encourage their recipients. And later many of those early documents were gathered into the compilation that we call our New Testament. RD: Right. And the Apostle Paul was one of the hardest working of the Apostles and one of the most prolific writers. Almost half of our New Testament came from his hand. VK: And among the letters that Paul sent that have been preserved for us are the letters he sent to churches in various cities – or in one case – several churches in a region known as Galatia. We call those letters by the name of the group that received them – such as Romans, Corinthians, or Thessalonians. And today we want to take a closer look at the letters Paul sent to the Thessalonians. RD: Yes. Among Paul’s letters that have been preserved for us nine of those letters are identified by place names. There are six cities named and, as you said, one region called Galatia. Two of those cities, Corinth and Thessalonica, have more than one letter preserved in our Bible. So, we call those 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians. In our Bibles 1 and 2 Corinthians are placed earlier in the order of arrangement within the compilation. But most scholars believe that 1 and 2 Thessalonians were actually the earliest of Paul’s letters that have been preserved. VK: The one possible exception to 1 and 2 Thessalonians being the earliest of Paul’s letters that were preserved is the letter to the Galatians. Scholars are pretty much evenly split on the date of the composition of Galatians. Some scholars believe Galatians was written as early as 49 AD right after Paul’s 1st missionary journey. Other scholars place it several years later after or during Paul’s 3rd missionary journey – possibly as late as 57 AD. Since most scholars date 1 and 2 Thessalonians around 51 or 52 AD it is quite possible they were the earliest of his letters, or epistles, that have been retained. RD: Yes. And for anyone who would like more information about the dating of Galatians question they can visit our website, crystalseabooks.com, and listen to the episode in this “Paul’s Places” series that covers Galatia. For today we want to turn our attention to the letters to the Thessalonians. And that first thing that I want to notice is that we know exactly where the city of Thessalonica is located because it is in the same place today as it was in Paul’s time. Today, Thessalonica, is also known as, Thessaloniki, Saloniki, or Salonica. VK: Today, Thessalonica is the second-largest city in Greece, with over 1 million inhabitants. In Paul’s day it’s thought that Thessalonica had about 200,000 residents. Thessalonica is a sea-port. It is at the head of the bay which is on the Gulf of Thessalonica. As a sea port is ideally situated for commerce. Thessalonica was founded by one of Alexander the Great’s successors named Cassander in 315 BC. Cassander named the city for his wife who was also a half-sister of Alexander. Today, Thessalonica is the capital of the geographic region of Macedonia and it pretty much served that same purpose in Paul’s day when Macedonia was a Roman province. The Romans had taken charge of Macedonia and Thessalonica in 148 BC. So, it is fair to say that in Paul’s day was a very important city. Right away it makes sense that Paul would have gone there to preach and establish a church when he had the opportunity. RD: And even more than being an important city Thessalonica was located on what is called the Egnatian Way. The Egnatian Way was a very important transportation artery the Romans had built in the 2nd century BC. It ran through territory that is now part of modern Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, and European Turkey as a continuation of the Appian Way. Essentially the Egnatian Way was the main line of overland travel through Macedonia (northern Greece) all the way from the west coast of Greece to western Turkey. Both Thessalonica and Philippi were on it. So, it makes sense that when Paul was mistreated in Philippi he would have followed the Egnatian Way to the next major city to the west which was Thessalonica. VK: We hear about that in the book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 1 through 3. “Now when [Paul and Silas] had traveled through Amphipolis [AM-PHIP-AH-LIS] and Apollonia [APP-AH-LOAN-EE-UH], they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And according to Paul’s custom, he visited them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, ‘This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.’” RD: Essentially, Paul skipped two smaller towns on the Egnatian Way, Amphipolis and Apollonia, and made his next ministry stop after Philippi in Thessalonica – which we have said was a far more important city. Plus, it is quite likely that there may not have been a synagogue in either Amphipolis or Apollonia, so that would have limited Paul’s normal approach to preaching the gospel when he entered a new area. VK: And here that was Paul’s custom from the section of Acts. When Paul came to a new area he would start preaching the gospel at the local synagogue. Paul was a Jew so he would start at the place where it was most likely he would find people who would know the Jewish scriptures, our Old Testament, and with whom he had a natural bond. If Paul didn’t get a positive response from the Jews in the synagogue he would find a place to preach to the Gentiles, the non-Jews. Then, he would stay, as long as it was profitable for him to be there. All too often the resentment of the local Jewish community would create problems for Paul and his new converts. That’s what happened here. In verses 5 and 6 from chapter 17 of Acts we hear, “But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and they attacked the house of Jason and were seeking to bring [Paul and Silas] out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brothers before the city authorities and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; …” RD: Right. This little vignette that we get from Acts is actually very helpful in giving us insight into the content of the letters that Paul sent to the Thessalonians. So, let’s dig into that a bit. It doesn’t seem like Paul got to spend too much time in Thessalonica before he had to move on. Compare a time period that sounds like it was 2 to 3 months with the 18 months Paul spent in Corinth when he founded the church there and the nearly 3 years he spent in Ephesus. But the church he founded in Thessalonica continued on despite Paul’s limited time there. VK: Possibly because there were some influential people within Thessalonica who had begun to believe when they first heard the gospel. Acts, chapter 17, verse 4 tells us that “a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a significant number of the leading women” had become believers. RD: Quite possibly. I think that reference to “leading women” is particularly important. “Leading” in this context likely means influential, important, and rich. That’s a pretty good start for a church to have a group of influential and wealthy women who have discovered the truth. They would not be easily pushed aside or dissuaded. And, oddly enough, the fact that the Thessalonian church included a large number of wealthy and influential women may give us an interesting clue into one of the primary subjects that Paul addressed in his letters to the Thessalonians. VK: An interesting clue huh? I can’t wait to see where you’re going with this. RD: Yes. It’s sanctified imagination time. A couple of times in this “Paul’s Places” series we’ve mentioned that we can learn more and understand better the content of Paul’s letters, his epistles, if we not only study the individual letters themselves but also look across the letters to see where they compare and contrast. Well, we’ve noticed in the letters that we’ve covered so far that Paul has covered a wide variety of subjects. VK: He covered the relationship between the Jews and Gentiles both before and after Jesus’ coming in the letter to the Romans. Rome had a lot of both Jews and Gentiles in its congregation. He covered how to deal with sexual temptation in his letter to the Corinthians. The city of Corinth contained a temple to the Roman goddess Venus that employed as many as a 1,000 prostitutes. Sexual temptation was a real problem there. In his letter to the Colossians Paul was very emphatic that Jesus was superior to all other supposed gods, goddesses, and celestial powers. Colossae was located in a region that had worshipped the goddess Cybele that some thought had become an astral power. RD: Right. Up to this point we have seen that Paul covered a wide variety of subjects in his letters along with a continuous emphasis on the fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies contained in the Old Testament, which were the Jewish scriptures, about the Messiah. Evidently part of Paul’s evangelistic strategy was to start out by proclaiming that the Messiah had come and that this meant that the major event necessary for redemptive history to proceed to its conclusion had been completed. VK: The New Geneva Study Bible’s introductory section on 1 Thessalonians says this. “… the Thessalonian letters, Paul’s preaching at Athens, recorded in Acts 17, confirms that [Paul’s] strategy among non-Jewish audiences at this time was to stress the coming judgment that God has placed in the hands of the risen Christ.” RD: And, of course, that makes sense. With Jewish audiences Paul had a point of connection that he did not have with non-Jewish audiences. With Jewish audiences Paul could refer to their scriptures which, for most of his listeners, were in the form of the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. But with non-Jewish audiences referring to the Septuagint would have been meaningless. Even if they had a copy they would have had little or no familiarity with its content. But one place Paul could start his evangelistic message was with the fact that all human beings have an innate sense of right and wrong and that the fact that we all know we have done things that are wrong means that someday we are going to face judgment. VK: But, naturally, at the same time that Paul confirmed his audiences fears about the coming judgment he gave them the good news that anyone who placed their trust in Jesus, the Messiah who had come, would have no reason to fear that judgment. The consequences of judgement for those who believed in Christ had already been placed on Christ. Believers, therefore, need have no fear of judgment. Jesus has been judged in our place. We can look forward to eternal life because he paid the penalty for our sin. RD: Amen. And Paul covers this good news in one way or another in every one of his letters. But among all the other subjects we have seen that Paul has covered there is one very obvious subject that we have not mentioned because, surprisingly enough, it is only covered in depth in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians. VK: And that subject is? RD: The question of the order and timing of when judgment and our own resurrection will occur. Think about it. A man has just told you about this prophet in Judea that preached about the kingdom of heaven, claimed he was God in the flesh, and performed miracles to validate his claim. Then that prophet was killed by the Romans … VK: And everybody in Paul’s day knew that the Romans were very good at executing people they thought were criminals ... RD: … and they knew how they executed them. But then you hear that the prophet who said He was the Son of God didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead by His own power, appeared to hundreds of people for a period of 40 days, and then ascended back into heaven. And you are told that someday this prophet is coming back to earth to judge everyone who has ever lived. That whole message is startling and amazing so naturally you have questions. So, what is the first question most people would ask when they hear the prophet is coming back? VK: When. I would want to know when the prophet is coming back. And I would want to know how I’ll be able to recognize that we’re getting close to that time. RD: Exactly. But the only place in his many letters when Paul spends much time on the question of the how and when of Jesus’ return is in 1 and 2 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians. Well, one reason this question seems to have been particularly important to the Thessalonians is that evidently between Paul’s time with them around late 50 or early 51 AD and when he wrote 1 Thessalonians, a number of the Thessalonian believers had died. And evidently the question of what would happen to believers who had died before Christ’s return had become important in the Thessalonian church. Evidently, after Paul left them someone inside or outside the church had started circulating the idea that believers who were still alive when Christ returns would get better treatment than those who had died. So, remember what we said about the church at Thessalonica having started with a number of the “leading women.” VK: Oh. I see where you’re going with this line of thinking. You’re thinking that it would be quite common for wealthy, influential women to be, shall we say, more mature. Or said plainly – a lot of years often pass before people acquire substantial amounts of money, influence, or wisdom. Not always – but it’s certainly not uncommon. RD: And what do older women have? VK: Older husbands. And we all know it’s very common for men not to live as long as women. So, it’s not a stretch to think that some of the concern about the treatment of dead believers may have arisen among some of the older women who had helped found the church. That actually makes good sense. Those women had been early converts. And even though Paul had only been gone from Thessalonica for a year or two before he wrote 1 Thessalonians it’s easily possible some of those early converts had already experienced the loss of the most important person in their life. Naturally, they would want to be sure that if Jesus came back before they died that they would be reunited with their lost loved one. Grief has a way of bringing certain questions into sharp relief. Wow. You don’t think about that when you read those epistles. To us these are letters long dated and established. But when Paul was writing to the Thessalonian church he may very well have been writing to a church where some of his first converts had only recently become widows. RD: The question of the timing of Jesus’ return gets sensationalized in our day and time. There are countless books, movies, and TV dramas that have contemplated the question in one form or another. But we know with absolute certainty that 2,000 years will have elapsed between Jesus’ first and second coming. VK: But those 1st century believers had no way of knowing that. For all they knew it might have been just a matter of a few decades that would elapse. So, to a widow in Thessalonica who had just lost her life partner the question of the treatment of a dead believer would have had a great sense of immediacy. RD: Yep. And remember that those 1st century believers not only didn’t have the benefit of our 2,000 years of hindsight but they also didn’t have any easily accessible resources to get answers to their questions. So, when Paul sent them a letter that said in effect, “don’t worry. If your husband or wife has just died they will also be raised to new life when Jesus comes” that would have been like eating cold watermelon on a hot day. VK: Yes. I recognize that line from your book The Prodigal’s Advocate. RD: Well, for anyone who wants to deepen their faith or help someone else find theirs The Prodigal’s Advocate is a great resource. At any rate, wanting to know how and when Christ will return is still a subject of interest in our day and age. And it would have been a natural question for Paul’s first converts. In a way it is remarkable that after Paul wrote the letters to the Thessalonians Paul only spent much time addressing the question in 1 Corinthians. VK: Well, as we’ve noted 1 and 2 Thessalonians are quite possibly Paul’s earliest epistles that have been preserved. It may be that as Paul moved through his ministry career he began covering Christ’s return so thoroughly in person he no longer had to spend much time on it in his written correspondence. RD: And that is actually a very important observation. One of the topics that Paul does cover in 1 Thessalonians is the divinity of Christ. Paul strongly affirms Christ’s divinity in 1 Thessalonians. So, this tells us that the doctrine that Christ is both fully divine as well as fully human was not a much later development in the Christian faith as is sometimes alleged. Right from the beginning the earliest Christians knew that Jesus was “God in the flesh.” And the Trinitarian nature of the Godhead is also addressed in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verses 13 and 14. VK: Those verses say, “But we ought always to thank God for you, … because God chose you as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you … that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” RD: This demonstrates that rather than such doctrines as dual nature of Christ and the Trinitarian nature of God were well understood from the earliest days of Christianity. Critics will sometimes allege that the belief that Christ was truly God was a later addition to the Christian faith. The critics will assert something like “Christ was a good man and a great teacher but he never claimed to be God.” But as C.S. Lewis pointed out in his well-known discussion of “Lord, liar, or lunatic,” that kind of assertion is just silly. Anyone who reads the gospels carefully knows that Jesus quite clearly claimed to be God and to possess prerogatives that only God possesses such as the authority to forgive sins. So, as Lewis noted any man who believes he is God may be a liar trying to deceive others or he might be a lunatic who is simply crazy. But neither a liar nor a lunatic should be considered a “good man or a great teacher.” But if Jesus is who He claimed to be, God incarnate, then the only appropriate response is to fall on our knees in abject awe and worship Him. VK: Well, that’s a good place to end for today. Again, this “Paul’s Places” series is all about helping people see more clearly that the Pauline epistles, the letters contained in the New Testament written by the Apostle Paul, are exactly what they claim to be. They are letters written by one of Christianity’s first evangelical preachers to convey important truths to those who had begun to place their trust in Jesus. Those letters most certainly assert Christ’s divinity but far from that assertion being some kind of myth it is backed up by solid historical evidence and testimony. Paul’s letters are not only spiritually informative but historically accurate and reliable. The critics who assert that the divinity of Christ was a legendary attribute added hundreds of years after Christ’s death simply do not have truth or evidence on their side. Paul’s letters fit perfectly into an inspired, inerrant, and infallible scripture. Let’s close with prayer as we always do. Today let’s listen to a prayer for our young children and let’s always remember that if we do not train them up in the word of the Lord others will train them up in the way of the world. ---- PRAYER FOR YOUNG CHILDREN VK: Before we close we’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes in this series or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Opening Bible Quotes from the Good News Translation) Philippians, chapter 1, verses 18 thru 20, Good News Translation paultanner.org/English Docs/SpecialArt/Pauline Chronology.pdf

Jewish history professor Aron Rodrigue of Stanford University was the keynote speaker at an international conference held this week at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, dedicated to the Jewish history of Salonica. In the late 15th century, the then-Ottoman city (today the Greek city of Thessaloniki) welcomed large numbers of Sephardi Jews who had been expelled from Spain, making it very soon the largest Jewish city in Europe. A series of crises and disasters, culminating in the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, led to its ultimate destruction. This episode of the Tel Aviv Review was made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Daniel-Joseph MacArthur-Seal on “Britain's Levantine Empire, 1914-1923” (Oxford University Press). The book examines British military occupation in Istanbul, Salonica and Alexandria through the letters, diaries and memoirs of servicemen during and after the First World War. Become a member to support Turkey Book Talk. Members get a 35% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Ο καθηγητής Πολιτικής Επιστήμης Στάθης Καλύβας μαζί με τον δημοσιογράφο Μάκη Προβατά συζητούν με τον καθηγητή ιστορίας στο πανεπιστήμιο Κολούμπια, Μαρκ Μαζάουερ, με αφορμή το βιβλίο του «Ελληνική Επανάσταση» που κυκλοφορεί από τις εκδόσεις Αλεξάνδρεια.Βιογραφικό Μαρκ ΜαζάουερΟ Μαρκ Μαζάουερ (Mark Mazower) σπούδασε στην Οξφόρδη και στο Johns Hopkins. Δίδαξε στo Πρίνστον, το Σάσεξ και το Birkbeck College και σήμερα είναι καθηγητής ιστορίας στο πανεπιστήμιο Columbia.Έργα του είναι: Greece and the Inter-War Economic Crisis (1992, βραβείο Runciman) [ελλ. εκδ.: Η Ελλάδα και η οικονομική κρίση του Μεσοπολέμου, ΜΙΕΤ], Inside Hitler's Greece: The Experience of Occupation, 1941-44 (1993, βραβείο Fraenkel και Longman) [Στην Ελλάδα του Χίτλερ, Αλεξάνδρεια], The Balkans: A Short History (2000, βραβείο Wolfson) [Τα Βαλκάνια, Πατάκης], After the War Was Over: Reconstructing the Family, Nation and State in Greece, 1943-60 (επιμ., 2000) [Μετά τον πόλεμο, Αλεξάνδρεια], Salonica. City of Ghosts (2004, βραβεία Duff Cooper, John Criticos, Runciman, National Jewish Book) [Θεσσαλονίκη. Πόλη των φαντασμάτων, Αλεξάνδρεια], Hitler's Empire. Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe (2008, βραβείο Los Angeles Times) [Η αυτοκρατορία του Χίτλερ, Αλεξάνδρεια], Networks of Power in Modern Greece. Essays in Honour of John Campbell (επιμ., 2008) [Δίκτυα εξουσίας στη νεότερη Ελλάδα, Αλεξάνδρεια], Governing the World. The History of an Idea (2012) [Κυβερνώντας τον κόσμο, Αλεξάνδρεια], Τριάντα χρόνια ελληνικής ιστορίας. Μια προσωπική αναδρομή (2015), Πατάκης, What You Did Not Tell: A Russian Past and the Journey Home (2017) [Όσα δεν είπες. Ένα ρωσικό παρελθόν και το ταξίδι προς την πατρίδα, Άγρα], The Greek Revolution. 1821 and the Making of Modern Europe (2021) [Η ελληνική επανάσταση]. Βιογραφικό Στάθη ΚαλύβαΟ Στάθης Ν. Καλύβας γεννήθηκε το 1964 στην Κέρκυρα. Σπούδασε στο Πανεπιστήµιο της Αθήνας και στο Πανεπιστήµιο του Σικάγου στις ΗΠΑ. Είναι καθηγητής Πολιτικής Επιστήμης στο Πανεπιστήμιο της Οξφόρδης, όπου κατέχει την έδρα Gladstone, την αρχαιότερη έδρα Πολιτικής Επιστήμης στη Βρετανία, και είναι επίσης εταίρος (fellow) του Κολλεγίου All Souls. Είναι μέλος της Αµερικανικής Ακαδηµίας Τεχνών και Επιστηµών από το 2008 και της Βρετανικής Ακαδημίας από το 2020. Το ερευνητικό του έργο έχει τιμηθεί µε πολλά βραβεία, όπως το βραβείο Woodrow Wilson της Αμερικανικής Εταιρείας  Πολιτικής Επιστήμης και το βραβείο της Ευρωπαϊκής Κοινωνιολογικής Ακαδημίας.Βιογραφκό Μάκη ΠροβατάΟ Μάκης Προβατάς γεννήθηκε στην Αθήνα. Τελείωσε το 3ο Λύκειο Αμπελοκήπων και είναι απόφοιτος της Οδοντιατρικής Σχολής Θεσσαλονίκης. Από το 1999 κάνει ραδιοφωνικές εκπομπές (ΕΡΑ, ΒΗΜΑ FM και ATHENS VOICE RADIO 102.5). Έχει πάρει πάνω από 400 συνεντεύξεις από ξένους και Έλληνες επιστήμονες, πανεπιστημιακούς, πολιτικούς, συγγραφείς και καλλιτέχνες για το ΒΗΜΑ, το ΒΗΜagazino και την ATHENS VOICE. Mεταξύ αυτών: οι Stephen Hawking, Noam Chomsky, Richard Dawkins, Dario Fo, Eric Hobsbawm, Irvin Yalom, Yuval Noah Harari, John Cleese, Eduardo Galeano, Patti Smith, Eric Burdon, John Malkovich, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Frank Serpico.Συνεργάστηκε με το περιοδικό ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ, για το οποίο έχει γράψει άρθρα και έχει πάρει συνεντεύξεις από πολιτικούς όπως ο Κωνσταντίνος Μητσοτάκης.Έχει συγγράψει έξι βιβλία με τη μέθοδο των συζητήσεων: Στον τρίτο βράχο από τον ήλιο με τον θεωρητικό φυσικό Δημήτρη Νανόπουλο, Μόνο λίγα χιλιόμετρα – Ιστορίες για την Ιστορία και Ρίζες και θεμέλια με την ιστορικό Μαρία Ευθυμίου, Από το Ντεσεβό στο Drone με την Άννα Διαμαντοπούλου, Όλα σε μια ζωή με τον διαστημικό επιστήμονα Σταμάτη Κριμιζή, Διεκδικητικός πατριωτισμός με τον διεθνολόγο Κωνσταντίνο Φίλη. Από το 2019 παρουσιάζει την εκπομπή «Άξιον διαλόγου» με συνεντεύξεις, στο κανάλι ACTION 24

João Victor Souza dos Santos nasceu em Guarulhos (SP) e teve muitos anos na base do futsal corintiano. O talentoso Vitinho conheceu desde pequeno o ambiente do Corinthians, mas chegou mesmo no campo com o Juventus, da Mooca. Por lá foi bem a ponto de chamar a atenção do Internacional, clube que depois seria seu destino por 3 anos. Se uma lesão o atrapalharia num ambiente tão competitivo e de um time que vinha de conquista de Libertadores, as boas credenciais renderam uma chance de jogar cedo na Europa. Pelo Vejle BK, chegou para um grupo que já tinha bastante brasileiro e num time que estava jogando um futebol de alta qualidade na segunda divisão dinamarquesa. Tendo aparecido já com o time em bom ritmo, acabou sendo emprestado para o futebol finlandês. No ano passado, conheceu a realidade da segunda divisão finlandesa, tendo uma boa sequência de jogos. País tão frio quanto a Dinamarca, por algum motivo ainda não entendido no canal é um caminho mais amigável para brasileiros, tendo vários casos de sucesso nas mais diversas divisões locais. Querendo seguir na Europa, acabou vendo seu projeto pessoal mudado contra a vontade própria na temporada passada. Voltou ao Brasil e atuou pelo Ferroviário e pelo Gama, mas com agentes novos está de volta ao Velho Continente, desta vez na divisão de acesso da Grécia, pelo Iraklis Salonica. #vitinho #iraklissalonica #iraklis - - - - - Cansado de ver sempre o mesmo tipo de conteúdo dos outros canais? Siga este perfil (https://www.youtube.com/canaloutraliga?sub_confirmation=1) e ajude a criar uma mídia alternativa mais forte, dando mais visibilidade a quem busca seu espaço no mundo da bola! Aproveite e também acompanhe o trabalho em outras mídias: https://www.twitch.tv/subs/jorgekadowaki www.instagram.com/jorgekadowaki www.instagram.com/canaloutraliga www.instagram.com/depoisdabola www.instagram.com/foradeserieesporteclube www.instagram.com/esportefeminino www.instagram.com/atletismobrasileiro www.twitter.com/jorgekadowaki https://open.spotify.com/show/7Mn7vZh6aR5r13T27lwanv

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

In this episode, we speak with Devin Naar about the Jews of Salonica. Devin is the Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies, Associate Professor of History, and faculty at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington and the author of Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece. Devin discusses Sephardic Jewish history; the history of Ladino speaking populations in North Africa, the Balkans, and the Middle East; and centers the conversation around the city of Salonica and the legacy of Jewish life in the city and its diaspora.Learn more about Devin's work at www.devinenaar.comLearn more about the Joy and Conversation at www.joyandconversationpodcast.comFollow Joy and Conversation on social media:Instagram- joyandconversationpodcastTwitter- @JandCPodcastFacebook- @JoyandConversationPodcastYouTube- Joy and ConversationEpisode Credits:Joy and Conversation is hosted by Dan OsbornMusic supervision, editing mixing, and mastering by Nico Rivers (www.nicoriversrecording.com)Graphics and Klezmer theme song by Alec Hutson (www.alechutson.com & www.warbirdcreative.com)Website design by Jakob Lazzaro (www.jakoblazzaro.com)This episode featured music from the Sephardic group, Voice of the Turtle (www.voiceoftheturtle.com).Par'ó Era EstreyeroEmpesare a Kontar (Sarajevo) (Featuring Lisle Kulbach & Judith Wachs)Ken Supiese Y EntendienseAbenamarThis episode featured music from Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).Careless MorningLakeside PathLiptisMessy InkwellEpisode photo by Dan Osborn

Malte Fuhrmann, research fellow at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, on “Port Cities of the East Mediterranean: Urban Culture in the Late Ottoman Empire” (Cambridge University Press). The book paints a panorama of cultural and social life in the diverse cities of Salonica, Istanbul and Izmir in the late Ottoman era. Support Turkey Book Talk by becoming a member. Members get a 30% discount on all Turkey/Ottoman History books published by IB Tauris/Bloomsbury, English and Turkish transcripts of every interview, transcripts of the whole archive, and over 200 reviews covering Turkish and international fiction, history and politics.

Τέλος στο ενδιαφέρον των αγώνων κατάταξης έβαλε η ΑΕΚ έπειτα από τη νίκη της με 1-0 στην Λεωφόρο επί του Παναθηναϊκού. Πλέον τα ευρωπαϊκά εισιτήρια έχουν κριθεί και το μόνο που απομένει είναι η οριστικοποίηση των θέσεων.

If somebody forgot to count one night of the Omer, and did not count the entire next day, then henceforth he counts each night without reciting Beracha. Since some Rishonim (Medieval Halachic authorities) maintained that all the days of Sefirat Ha’omer comprise a single Misva, such that one who misses even a single day can no longer fulfill the Misva, the Beracha is not recited on the subsequent nights once a day has been missed.The question arises as to whether a person in this position may recite the Beracha if he is counting on behalf of others. Even though he normally does not recite a Beracha over his own counting, perhaps he may recite the Beracha if others will be listening to his Beracha and his Omer counting for the purpose of fulfilling their obligation.The Peri Hadash (Rav Hizkiya Da Silva, 1659-1698) ruled that since the person in this situation is not obligated to recite the Beracha over Sefirat Ha’omer, he is not eligible to recite this Beracjha on behalf of others. The Talmud Yerushalmi, as the Peri Hadash cites, states that a "Ben Ir" – resident of an unwalled city, who is obligated to read the Megilla on the 14th of Adar – is ineligible to read the Megilla on behalf of a "Ben Kerach" – resident of a walled city, who is obligated to read the Megilla on the 15th of Adar. Since the "Ben Ir" is not obligated to read the Megilla that day, he is unable to fulfill the obligation of a "Ben Kerach" by reading for him (and vice versa). Similarly, the Peri Hadash writes, a person who is not obligated to count the Omer with a Beracha, because he had missed a day of counting, is not eligible to recite the Beracha and count on behalf of those who are obligated.Maharam Ibn Habib (Jerusalem, 1654-1696) disagrees, asserting that Halacha does not follow this ruling of the Yerushalmi. The principle of "Kol Yisrael Arebim Zeh La’zeh" ("all Israel are responsible for one another"), Maharam Ibn Habib writes, establishes that even one who has already fulfilled his obligation can fulfill the obligation on a fellow Jew’s behalf, because we are all responsible for each other’s Misva observance. In fact, Rashi, in the beginning of Masechet Megilla, writes that villagers, who are occasionally allowed to read the Megilla before Purim (sometimes as early as the 11th of Adar), can fulfill their obligation by hearing the reading by a "Ben Ir," who is not obligated until the 14th. By the same token, Maharam Ibn Habib rules, one who had missed a day of counting the Omer may nevertheless recite the Beracha and count on behalf of somebody else.Hacham Ovadia Yosef brings those who refute this argument, distinguishing between a person who was obligated but discharged his obligation, and one who is altogether excluded from an obligation. While it is true that one who has already fulfilled a Misva can still fulfill the obligation for another, in the case of one who had missed a day of counting, he is no longer included in the obligation, and so he cannot recite the Beracha and count for somebody else.Hacham Ovadia writes that although the Rabbis of Salonica allowed one who had missed a day of counting to serve as the Hazzan and count on behalf of the congregation, many other Poskim, including the Kenesset Ha’gedola (Rav Haim Banbenishti, Turkey, 1603-1673), and Rav Haim Palachi (Turkey, 1788-1868), followed the Peri Hadash’s stringent ruling. Therefore, we apply the rule of "Safek Berachot Le’hakel" – that one does not recite a Beracha when it is questionable whether it is warranted – and thus one who had missed a day of counting may not count on behalf of others.Hacham Ovadia (Yabia Omer, vol. 8, O.C. 46:2) notes the ruling of the Shebet Ha’levi (Rav Shemuel Wosner, 1913-2015) that if the Rabbi is the one who normally recites the Beracha and counts the Omer for the congregation, he may be allowed to do so even if he had missed a day. Having somebody recite and count for the congregation in the Rabbi’s place would cause the Rabbi great embarrassment, and, in Rav Wosner’s view, the concern for "Kebod Ha’beriyot" – the Rabbi’s dignity – allows for the Rabbi to recite the Beracha in this case. Since in any event the Beracha is omitted only out of doubt – because according to one view, a person who missed a day of counting cannot fulfill the Misva of Sefirat Ha’omer on subsequent nights – the Rabbi may be allowed to recite the Beracha to avoid humiliation. Hacham Ovadia, however, does not accept this ruling, and maintains that even in the case of a Rabbi, or a regular Hazzan, who would suffer embarrassment, if he had missed a day of counting, he may not recite the Beracha and count on behalf of others.Interestingly, Hacham Ovadia in a different context does allow the consideration of "Kebod Ha’beriyot" to override the prohibition of reciting a Beracha Le’batala (Beracha recited in vain). Elsewhere in the eighth of volume of Yabia Omer, Hacham Ovadia discusses the case of a woman who, long before meeting her husband, had an illicit relationship which resulted in a pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage. She never disclosed this information to her husband, and so after she gave birth to a firstborn son, preparations were made for a Pidyon Ha’ben ("redemption" of the firstborn). Hacham Ovadia ruled that due to the concern for "Kebod Ha’beriyot," the wife did not need to reveal this to her husband, even though he would be unnecessarily performing a Pidyon Ha’ben and thus reciting a Beracha Le’batala. The likely distinction between the two cases is that in the situation of the Pidyon Ha’ben, the woman was allowed to keep the information to herself, and not required to embarrass herself in order to prevent her husband from reciting a Beracha Le’batala. In the case of Sefirat Ha’omer, by contrast, Hacham Ovadia was not prepared to allow the Rabbi himself to knowingly recite a Beracha Le’batala in order to avoid embarrassment.Therefore, one who had missed a day of counting may not recite the Beracha and count for others, even if he is a Rabbi or regular Hazzan who would suffer embarrassment by having somebody else count for the congregation.Summary: One who missed an entire day of counting the Omer continues counting henceforth, but without reciting the Beracha. The person in this case may not recite the Beracha and count for others, even if he is a Rabbi or regular Hazzan who would suffer embarrassment by having somebody else count for the congregation.

Episode 500 with Malte Fuhrmann hosted by Andreas Guidi and Zeynep Ertuğrul At the turn of the twentieth century, Ottoman port cities of the Eastern Mediterranean were sites of vibrant cultural encounters. While infrastructural innovations at docks and quays reshaped the urban waterfront, the inhabitants of Izmir, Istanbul, and Salonica engaged with new forms of entertainment arriving from Europe. Operas, balls, and beerhouses changed the way people mingled and interpreted coexistence and diversity in their urban environment. Migrants from Europe and from the hinterlands of major port cities created an original form of Ottoman Mediterranean modernity. This cosmopolitan urban culture was alluring and festive but also had its discontents, who denounced it as decadent and servile to European imperialism. Exploring the everyday life of late Ottoman port cities reveals an effervescent lapse of time in which notions such as modernity, Europe, empire, and nation could be experienced in manifold ways, before the major conflicts of the twentieth century gave a fatal blow to Mediterranean urban diversity. This episode is cross-listed with The Southeast Passage.« Click for More »

Episode 500 with Malte Fuhrmann hosted by Andreas Guidi and Zeynep Ertuğrul At the turn of the twentieth century, Ottoman port cities of the Eastern Mediterranean were sites of vibrant cultural encounters. While infrastructural innovations at docks and quays reshaped the urban waterfront, the inhabitants of Izmir, Istanbul, and Salonica engaged with new forms of entertainment arriving from Europe. Operas, balls, and beerhouses changed the way people mingled and interpreted coexistence and diversity in their urban environment. Migrants from Europe and from the hinterlands of major port cities created an original form of Ottoman Mediterranean modernity. This cosmopolitan urban culture was alluring and festive but also had its discontents, who denounced it as decadent and servile to European imperialism. Exploring the everyday life of late Ottoman port cities reveals an effervescent lapse of time in which notions such as modernity, Europe, empire, and nation could be experienced in manifold ways, before the major conflicts of the twentieth century gave a fatal blow to Mediterranean urban diversity. This episode is cross-listed with The Southeast Passage.« Click for More »

"A disciple of Patriarch Niphon at the time that the latter was labouring in the asceticism of silence at Vatopedi, Macarius longed for martyrdom for the sake of Christ, and begged St Niphon's blessing to seek it. The discerning Patriarch, perceiving that this was God's will, blessed him for the way of martyrdom. Macarius went to Salonica and, in the midst of a crowd of Turks, began to speak of Christ as the one, true God. The Turks seized him and threw him into prison. When he was brought to trial, Macarius cried out to the Turks: 'Oh, that you would come to know the truth and be baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!' The Turks beheaded him in 1527. At that moment, Niphon saw this in his spirit at Vatopedi, and told a monk of Macarius's death by martyrdom, saying: 'Know, my child, that your brother Macarius has today died a martyr, and is borne to heaven, triumphing and rejoicing in the Lord. May we be worthy of blessing by his prayers!' (From the Athonite Patrology)." (Prologue)

"A disciple of Patriarch Niphon at the time that the latter was labouring in the asceticism of silence at Vatopedi, Macarius longed for martyrdom for the sake of Christ, and begged St Niphon's blessing to seek it. The discerning Patriarch, perceiving that this was God's will, blessed him for the way of martyrdom. Macarius went to Salonica and, in the midst of a crowd of Turks, began to speak of Christ as the one, true God. The Turks seized him and threw him into prison. When he was brought to trial, Macarius cried out to the Turks: 'Oh, that you would come to know the truth and be baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!' The Turks beheaded him in 1527. At that moment, Niphon saw this in his spirit at Vatopedi, and told a monk of Macarius's death by martyrdom, saying: 'Know, my child, that your brother Macarius has today died a martyr, and is borne to heaven, triumphing and rejoicing in the Lord. May we be worthy of blessing by his prayers!' (From the Athonite Patrology)." (Prologue)

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.

"A wealthy and devout woman, she lived on the island of Aegina, but, when the Arabs over-ran the island, she moved to Salonica. There, she gave her only daughter to a monastery, where she received the monastic name Theopista. Her husband Theodorinus died very soon, and then Theodora became a nun. She was a great ascetic. She often heard angelic singing, and would say to her sisters: 'Don't you hear how wonderfully the angels are singing in heavenly light?' She entered into rest in 879, and a healing myrrh flowed from her body, which gave healing to many.