Before the Flame Goes Out... is a work in progress, the goal of which is to create a photographic essay and film documentary that will capture and present Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue in NYC and the Kal Kadosh Yashan Synagogue in Ioannina, and to create a living image of the Romaniote community today. An important component of this work is the documentation of the Bet Chaim Cemetery, also in Ioannina. Local oral history claims that there are tombstones moved from an older cemetery that may be over 700 years old. If this is true, the cemetery will be of unusual historical value. As it stands now, the cemetery is one of the few Romaniote Jewish cemeteries in the world. The fact that little documentation of the aging community and its synagogues and cemeteries exists, sets this work in a much broader context and makes the documentation more urgent. Noted Judaic scholar, Steven Bowman, Ph.D., has extensively researched the Jews of Byzantine Empire and the Romaniotes figure prominently in his study; Michael Matsas has documented the plight of the Greek Jews during the Holocaust; and Rae Dalven, Nicholas Stavroulakis and Eftihia Nachman have written about the cultural and religious traditions of the Romaniotes and life in Ioannina before the Holocaust. Sadly, these fine examples are rare exceptions in the vast study of Jewish heritage. Rabbi M. M. Feldman, an archivist and researcher at the Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, puts great emphasis on the historical importance of the religious traditions of ancient Ioannina and recognizes their rightful place in the study of Jewish liturgical history. In a recent conversation, Rabbi Feldman stated, “…that much of this material, the Minhag Romania, may already be lost due to the dearth of documentation and preservation of the Romaniote heritage”. The core of Before the Flame Goes Out is a fine art book of photographs featuring essays by prominent historians and authorities in the fields of Jewish heritage, Greek studies and synagogue architecture. Along with the book, a traveling exhibition of the photographs will be mounted. The film documentary is underway and once materials are collected and edited, an interactive CD/DVD will be created to take full advantage of this archive. All of this material will form the heart of a teaching plan for institutions wishing to include the subject in broader coursework. Once completed, this archive will find a home at a suitable and accessible repository. Consultants and Historians This work will be carried out with the enthusiastic support of the Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue in New York and the Romaniote community in Ioannina. In addition, Before the Flame Goes Out is sponsored by the International Survey of Jewish Monuments, an organization whose president, Samuel Gruber, Ph.D., has dedicated himself to the documentation, publication, preservation and conservation of important aspects of Greek Jewish heritage. Historians, Jane Gerber, Ph.D., Director of the Sephardic Studies Institute at the Graduate School of CUNY, Steven Bowman, Ph.D., the Judaic Studies Department of the University of Cincinnati, Steven Jaffe, Ph.D., curator of the New York Historical Society and Zanet Bettinou of the Jewish Museum of Greece recognize the importance of this work and each is committed to acting as historical consultant. In addition, Barbara Head Milstein, curator of photography and prints at the Brooklyn Museum has lent her support to Before the Flame Goes Out . Leon Gabrielides, Director of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Athens has played an active role in this work and has offered his considerable knowledge and resources. United States Senator, The Honorable Paul S. Sarbanes has taken a personal interest in this work and has pledged the support of his office to see it brought to a successful completion. Catherine Boura, the Consul General of Greece in the United States, is also interested in seeing this documentation completed and maintained. “As a Greek-American, I am pleased to see this unknown part of Greco/Judeo history revealed and preserved. The connection between Western civilization and Greek history is a long and intimate one, and the Romaniote story is most certainly part of that connection”. The Honorable Paul Sarbanes, United States Senator “Vincent Giordano's project, Before the Flame Goes Out, is a timely and important attempt to capture an ethnic and anthropological relic whose time may have run out”. Professor Steven Bowman, Ph.D., Professor ofJudaic Studies, University of Cincinnati “Giordano correctly realizes that his photographic memorial is more than an exercise in memorialization, as meritorious as that might be. He has set out to capture some of the last signs of a dying tradition”. Professor Jane Gerber, Ph.d., Director, Institute for Sephardic Studies, CUNY Graduate Center “ As presented, Before the Flame Goes Out is a well conceived and planned effort to document this dwindling and endangered community and its little known cultural and liturgical traditions”. Michael Terry, Chief Librarian, Dorot Jewish Divison, The New York Public Library “Your sensitive and evocative photographs, and the fine job you have done in piecing together the history and culture of the Romaniote Jewish community in New York City and Greece, remind us that New York is, indeed, home and haven to many of the world's ethnic and religious groups, each with its own unique history and traditions”. Steven H. Jaffe, Ph.D., Senior Projects Historian, The New-York Historical Society “The Before the Flame Goes Out project is worthwhile and your work to bring it to fruition is excellent. I know you share my feeling that the record you are creating is an important one, both historically and culturally. Your document will become part of our Romaniote Legacy…” Isaac Dostis, Founder, Kehila Kedosha Janina Museum “I believe the photographs your are taking, and plan to take, concerning the Romaniote Jews are of great importance, visually and historically. You are a fine and much respected photographer and the work, I am sure, will prove to be of lasting importance to scholars interested in the history of New York City as well as the fast disappearing religious diversity of Jewish sects”. Barbara Head Milstein, Curator of Photography and Prints, The Brooklyn Museum of Art “Your photographs speak to the changing face of the Lower East Side…I am excited by the work you are doing and believe that your photographs can become an important part of our work to document and interpret the Lower East Side”. Vincent Lenza, Collections Manager, The Lower East Side Tenement Museum “The documentation work accomplished by this project, in both photography and video, is crucial. The work must be undertaken now; there may not be a chance to do it in the future given the nature of the community. As one of your interviewees states, “In ten years, we may not exist…we might not be here”. Susanne Wasserman, Ph.D., Associate Director, The Gotham Center for New York City History “The aim of this project is to explore and uncover the moving story of how a 2300-year-old culture was almost eradicated in less than 100 years. In so doing, ISJM, Mr. Giordano, and the community of Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue will create a body of work that will become part of the Romaniote legacy. We will record this specific time and place and to leave a record for future generations” . Sam Gruber, Ph.D., President, The International Survey of Jewish Monuments “We are honored that Vincent has been inspired by our synagogue and has lent his talents to the recording (through photographs, a documentary film and oral histories) of Romaniote Jews, thereby assuring that our traditions and culture, now in jeopardy of being lost, are preserved for posterity”. Marcia Ikonomopoulos, Museum Director, Kehila Kedosha Janina Museum