Trying to put a finger on the essence of Romania is like trying to put a finger on quicksilver. But what else to expect from a country patched together here and snipped away there from decade to decade, century to century.

Though Romania is the Balkan peninsula's largest state, it sees itself as bearer of a Latin rather than Slavic heritage. But its history, if not the progenitor of the concept, surely is a prime example of "balkanization." Consequently, just as it is difficult to generalize about Romania as a whole, despite the notion of "the Romanian Jew" it is also nearly impossible to deal with its Jewish legacy as a whole.

History:
Romania took almost 2,000 years to coalesce, but while Jewish communities did not begin to form in the area until 500 years ago or less, Jews existed in the region almost from the beginning.

Gravestones testify to a Jewish presence when the Roman armies occupied the area, but they don't make recorded appearances again until the Middle Ages.

Of the three major sectors comprising today's Romania-Walachia, Moldavia and Transylvania-Walachia, Romania's southern tier-was, in the thirteenth century, the first to proclaim itself. By the midsixteenth century Jews had already concentrated themselves in Bucharest. Massacred at the end of the century, by the middle of the next a new community established itself and for the next several hundred years existed fairly undisturbed.

In the midfourteenth century Moldavia proclaimed itself. Jassy-pronounced Yash-became its capital and, attracted by its Poland-Black Sea trade routes, Jews settled there by the second half of the fifteenth century. By the end of the eighteenth century they had their own quarter and exclusive control over such commercial fields as cereals, livestock, wool, honey and cheese.

And in the nineteenth century, in addition to having become goldsmiths, furriers and the like, they had replaced Turks and Greeks as bankers and moneylenders. For a while they lived in comparative peace, burgeoning into the area's middle class. But by around 1860, when Walachia and Moldavia united to form Romania, they had begun to be stripped of citizenship.

In the period following World War I, Jassy, now Iasi, saw the birth of the fanatically right-wing Legion of the Archangel Michael, a.k.a. the Iron Guard. The country entered World War II on the Axis side and was put in charge of the Jews from Walachia and Moldavia. Since those from Walachia were seen by this time as "real Romanians," most got to wear yellow bands-not stars-and clean the streets. But in Moldavia atrocities were the norm and Jews were sent to labor camps in the area of the Bessarabian-Ukrainian border known as Transnistria.

Unlike the Jews in most post-World War II Eastern countries, the Romanians were long able to leave for Israel and they continued to emigrate. But when Nicolae Ceausescu came to power in 1965, their departures became big business.

This was due to an alliance between Ceausescu and Chief Rabbi Moses Rosen, who held his position from 1948 until the early 1990's. From Rosen's viewpoint, anything he could do to help Romania's Jews was legitimate. So he became as close to Ceausescu as he could-in the name of preserving Jewish life in Romania and keeping the exit doors open.

After the Six-Day War Romania did not break diplomatic relations with Israel. In return Rosen praised Ceausescu in the West, undoubtedly contributing to the Romanian chief's reputation as a benign Communist leader. What didn't become clear until later was that he was extorting a princely sum for his leniency toward the Jews.

Community:
There were 800,000 prewar Jews in Romania; after the war, 400,000. Over 95 percent of them emigrated, primarily to Israel, leaving only 14,000. Of these 6,000 are in Bucharest, but over 50 synagogues continue operating throughout the country.

In Bucharest and elsewhere there are Sunday-morning programs on Jewish subjects, Talmud Torah classes for youth and television programs and centers for historical studies. The community supports a publishing house, HaSefer, and puts out a bimonthly newspaper, Revista Realitatea Evreiasca. It also sponsors medical and wide-ranging old-age programs. More than 70 percent are over 65 and while some communities know of younger Jews-Bucharest is estimated to have between 600 and 1,000-no one sees much future for them in Romania.

And because today's Jews have been aided by foreign philanthropies, their standard of living is generally better than their non-Jewish peers, thus creating jealousy both on the right and the left. But as one community leader commented, "We'll be better off if no one pays attention." The Federation of Romanian Jewish Communities' headquarters in Bucharest is at Strada Sf. Vineri 9 (telephone: 40-1-211-8080).

Sights:
There are still more than the usual number of spots of Jewish interest to explore, along with some spectacular mountain scenery; fantastical castles; and, in parts, a rural way of life almost completely unaffected by the last couple of centuries.

As Romania's capital, Bucharest is one possible starting point, especially since the complex of buildings around its Choral Synagogue (Str. Sf. Vineri 9-11; 147-257) is currently the nerve center for all Romanian-Jewish communities. Set back in a courtyard, the synagogue itself-dating from the 1860's and founded by the wealthy Reform community-is a lofty sight, with a grand Moorish façade and a still-sumptuous interior. More striking is the large black menora sculpture that proclaims itself boldly near the complex's gated entrance.

Until the surrounding area was razed in Ceausescu's time, it was the Jewish quarter known as Vacaresti. And within its bounds, at Str. Mamoulari 3, is the former Tailor's Synagogue, built in 1850 and now the Jewish Museum of Romania. It contains more than its share of unusual memorabilia: circles of parchment bearing Hebrew writing and small, narrow, horizontal slits that were cut from desecrated Torah scrolls and used in World War II to cover automobile headlights during blackouts; the special money created for use in the Transnistria labor camps. In a more conventional vein are an intricately engraved Megilla; a colorful ketuba and some ornately hand-embroidered cloth bearing kabbalistic text. The building's interior is also noteworthy, with its massive columns topped by fluted arches. In the entranceway is a Holocaust sculpture. At one end of a carpet stands a figure covered with a talit. Bare footsteps approach it; none return. The museum is open Wednesdays and Sundays from 9:30 A.M. to 1 P.M. (615-0837).

It also contains posters and programs from Romania's Yiddish Theater, the world's first, founded in 1876 in Iasi by Abraham Goldfaden, who then moved on to create one in Bucharest. This theater, which currently functions with a troupe composed of, as one local put it, "five Jews and 30 goyim who act in Yiddish," presents works ranging from classic to modern. The building occupies a corner at Str. Dr. Juliu Barasch 15 where it intersects with Str. Vasile Adamache. While its exterior is unassuming, its interior, which seats about 300 (323-4530), is accented by a balcony decorated in gold and white.

In a mess of mud nearby-in great contrast to its interior grandeur-stands the Great Synagogue, once the domain of Bucharest Sefardim. At Str. 9-11 Vasile Adamache (615-0846), but difficult to locate without help, it boasts a large sanctuary occupied by dark-wood pews, a ceiling covered with ornate paintings; and a massive chandelier. It also offers an exhibit of World War II horrors, including photos of corpses being unloaded from the trains en route to Transnistria and the washing of blood from sidewalks following a pogrom.

Side Trips:
Since there's no avoiding the subject, the real, live person upon whom the character of Count Dracula may have been based was a fifteenth-century ruler not of Transylvania but of Walachia. And it was in Walachia that he-Vlad the Impaler, who killed his Turkish enemies by sticking spears up their backbones-built his castle. However, Transylvania's castle of Bran, built by the people of nearby Brasov in the fourteenth century, has come to be known as his, though he may never have spent one night in it. He apparently had contact with some Jews, since they, for their good relations with the Turks, were among those he impaled. Nevertheless, the Bran Castle is a turreted, fairytale-like structure, and a visit to it and its surrounding countryside is a good escape from urban grimness.

IASI: This pleasant city has parks, museums, grand public buildings, churches, statues and offers some sights of Jewish interest. In fact, a statue of Goldfaden stands in the main park on Blvd. Stefan cel Mare si Sfant. Only one synagogue of over 120 remains in this city that was one of Europe's greatest centers of Jewish scholarship. The Great Synagogue, dating from 1671, still stands in the vicinity of Elena Doanna 15 (32-114-414). A metallic-domed building, its main sanctuary features three great arches almost cave-like in their dimensions and placement. The central bima is flanked by two standing triple-tiered lanterns, each seven feet high, and the soaring arch over the Ark features a regal double-headed eagle and crown.

Upstairs in the former women's gallery is a small museum featuring various ceremonial objects from Moldavia, plus books, photographs and documents on the community. There is also a section on the Holocaust and a memorial wall to the thousands who died during a 1941 pogrom. Community headquarters (114-414) are in this complex and they provide museum entrance. BOTOSANI: One of the few frescoed synagogues remaining in Moldavia is in Botosani, about 80 miles northwest of Iasi. Until the end of the nineteenth century, this once-bustling market town was home to the second largest and most important Jewish community in Moldavia, so significant that in 1745, when merchants were granted rights to own their own houses, Jews were included. Despite World War II ravages, enough of a community structure remained in 1944 so that when the Soviets arrived on April 7, they appointed Jews to all public positions on the grounds that they not form a "Jewish Republic."

After the war, 20,000 Jews came to Botosani but today there are only about 120. Nevertheless, they maintain a school, a choir, and various social and cultural groups. And the two-and-a-half-centuries-old Great Synagogue, at 1a Str. Marchian, is a gem. Its central bima is enclosed in delicately curving wrought-iron work and its ceiling and walls are covered with paintings, in the naïve style, of the Ten Commandments, the Twelve Tribes of Israel, menorot and Lions of Judah. Someone from the community can be contacted every day except Saturday between 8 A.M. and noon (031-514-659).

PIATRA NEAMT: Two synagogues stand on the same street in this mountain-surrounded town about 80 miles west of Iasi-a street now called Str. Dr. Dimitrie Ernici, formerly Meteorului.

The one farther up the hill is fairly new. But just below it, near the junction of Str. Petru Rares, stands, half-buried, the wooden Old Baal Shem Tov Synagogue (33-623-815). According to local lore, the Baal Shem Tov worshiped occasionally in its masonry predecessor; upon its façade can still be seen the Hebrew lettering that says Beit Hamidrash.

Maramures District, technically Romania's northern border separating it from Hungary and Ukraine, is part of Transylvania. In many spots virtually unchanged since medieval times, it is a world unto itself. However, two of its cities hold particular attraction for Jews.

SATU MARE: Formerly the seat of the Hasidic Satmar dynasty, which had its origins in Poland, most of the city's 125 Jews today consider themselves Hungarian.

As northern Transylvania, during the war this community, which once numbered 24,000, suffered the fate of Hungary's Jews, with Auschwitz, Buchenwald, Bergen-Belsen and Dachau their camps of internment.

About a block from the main square, two synagogues still stand in the area of Str. Decebal. One is small and in need of repair. The other, in Gothic-Byzantine style, features tall arched windows of blue and gold stained glass and walls covered in strips of powder blue edged with white.

SIGHET: This town of 40,000 is magnificently located among mountains and farmland virtually on the Ukrainian border. Its primary claim to fame today is as the birthplace of Elie Wiesel.

Personalities:
Among others past and present are the playwright Eugene Ionesco; actors Molly Picon, Edward G. Robinson and John Houseman; conductor Sergiu Comissiona; opera star Alma Gluck; pianists Clara Haskil and Theodor Fuchs and writer Isaac Peltz. Violinist Miriam Fried, now an Israeli, was born in Romania as was Saul Steinberg, the artist best known for his New Yorker drawings.

Reading:
Among the nonfiction of recent years are the Romanian sections of Robert D. Kaplan's Balkan Ghosts (Random House, Vintage); similar sections in Charles Hoffman's Gray Dawn (HarperCollins); and Radu Ioanid's The Holocaust in Romania (Ivan R. Dee). Wiesel's Night (Bantam Books) has some autobiographical recollections. Works by poet Paul Celan capture something of the Holocaust and post-Holocaust feeling. As a general guide book Lonely Planet's Romania & Moldova goes beyond most to include Jewish sights. For a picture of Romania earlier in this century, there's Olivia Manning's The Balkan Trilogy (out of print, but check libraries and secondhand dealers).

Recommendations:
For international flights with Western-type standards, Northwest Airlines, thanks to code-sharing arrangements with KLM, connects from nearly every major North American gateway via Amsterdam to daily flights into Bucharest. There, the current doyen of the international hotel scene is-and will probably remain so for the foreseeable future-the Inter-Continental, which is also merely a short walk from the city's primary spots of Jewish interest. In Iasi, the old-style atmosphere of the Traian can be pleasing, as is the Hotel Dacia in Satu Mare. For relaxation relatively near various spots of general sightseeing, including Bran castle, try the Hotel Orizont in Predeal. Various communities maintain kosher kitchens; they are best contacted in advance. Some internal transport can be accomplished by Romania's national airline, Tarom. But first-class tickets for the railroad are quite affordable and train travel can provide some amusing experiences-as long as a sense of humor is maintained. And with this sense of humor, it is possible to endure some of the worst experiences tourism can present (thievery and cheating are all too common)-and some of the best.