Bulgarian First Day Cover

The envelope was creased from being in my friend's briefcase for several months, but actually, it had much more aging in its history. It was a First Day Cover, an envelope bearing a stamp cancelled on the date the stamp was first available for postal use, dating back to 1992.

The image on the stamp, and on the postcard inside the envelope, was of the Great Synagogue of Sofia. The words on the envelope in Bulgarian explained the significance of the stamp and the year it was issued.

500 years of Sephardic Jewish settlement in Bulgaria.

Of course! 1992 was 500 years after the Jews were expelled from Spain. Although Jews have had a continuous presence in historic Bulgarian lands since before the 2nd century CE, apparently a significant number arrived in the country following their expulsion from Spain.

The Sofia Synagogue is one of the most beautiful buildings in the Bulgarian capitol and its construction, completed in 1909, would serve as the religious home for the city's mainly Sephardic Jewish community.

In 2009, Jodie and I attended the 100th anniversary celebration of the synagogue, a ceremony in which the President of Bulgaria sat a few rows ahead of me in the audience. We returned to the synagogue on a number of occasions, and prayed in the building's main sanctuary on the High Holidays.

Back to the First Day Cover envelope. How did it come to be in my possession, 33 years after the stamp was issued?

In August 2024, I spoke to the Literary Modiin book club about my recently published collection of short stories, Rakiya - Stories of Bulgaria. One of the attendees of the Zoom session listened to my talk about Bulgaria, and afterwards gave the envelope to the book club's founder/organizer, Julie Zuckerman. Julie put the envelope in her brief case, intending to give it to me the next time we met. We very occasionally travel together on a Modiin-bound train after the end of our work day in Tel Aviv.

This week, I attended one of Literary Modiin's monthly gatherings in person, and Jodie joined me. The authors giving talks about their books were  Ayelet Tsabari, Avner Landes, and Joan Leegant. Before the session began, Julie gave me the envelope. The next day I managed to translate the words printed on the envelope.

500 years of Sephardic Jewish settlement in Bulgaria. An amazing milestone in Bulgarian Jewry's story and I had the envelope to mark the occasion.