The local Turks 'want to open up their doors and be part of their community and show people in the community what they have to offer and who they are. That doesn't happen all the time.'

in some of the places there were Stars of David in some of the ruins during the Roman time, during the Ottoman Empire. During the Inquisition, many Jews from Spain were welcomed into Turkey. The sultan opened up the doors and said, ‘Come.’ ” Previously there were hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Turkey, but now there are only about 25,000 left. Cymbrowitz was told that over the years when the Turkish economy has taken a downward turn, the Jews have picked up and moved to Israel or the U.S. Still, the synagogues there are functional, even if visits must be pre-arranged and police are stationed to ensure proper security. On the final day of the trip they visited Turkey’s Jewish museum in Istanbul, located in an old synagogue. “They still have the sefer Torahs in there,” he says. Would Cymbrowitz recommend that his constituents visit Turkey? Is it safe? “Absolutely. When we went on a mission to Israel, in certain cities we had two armed guards. Right outside the West Bank we were in an armored bus. Is that the way it is in Turkey? No. At least in the areas that we went to.”