Jewish Life in Egypt

Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 54 PhotoEssay By Ari Z. Zivotofsky and Ari Greenspan Jewish Life in Egypt The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue, Alexandria, Egypt, 1994. The synagogue on Nabi Daniel Street once served as the central synagogue of Alexandria. ONCE PROUD AND FLOURISHING, THE JEWISH COMMUNITIES OF EGYPT ARE TODAY ON THE VERGE OF EXTINCTION. WITH A GENEROUS RESEARCH GRANT FROM THE ORTHODOX UNION, DR. ARI GREENSPAN AND RABBI DR. ARI Z. ZIVOTOFSKY RECENTLY VISITED THE DWINDLING EGYPTIAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES OF ALEXANDRIA AND CAIRO TO OFFER HOPE AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE FEW REMAINING JEWS AND TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE RICH JEWISH LIFE THAT ONCE WAS. Dr. Greenspan (right) and Rabbi Dr. Zivotofsky with two of the four Egyptian policemen who ac- companied them during their visit to Alexandria. Courtesy of Ari Z. Zivotofsky 54 I JEWISH ACTION Summer 5770/2010 Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 55 ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT Even in modern times, Jewish life duration of our stay. With the rise of Is- flourished in Alexandria. Up until the lamic fundamentalism in the country, Jews have lived in Alexandria since 332 1940s, as many as 80,000 Jews lived in we were not ungrateful for the protec- BCE, shortly after the city was first Egypt, significantly contributing to the tion. (In fact, the security situation in founded. Alexander the Great encour- country culturally and economically. Egypt is such that all shuls are heavily aged Jews to move there, and they did But after the birth of Israel in 1948, and guarded at all times.) Interestingly, the in great numbers. Indeed, the Talmud in the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli locals we met were consistently discusses the massive synagogue of wars, thousands of Jews fled Egypt. friendly and gracious. Throughout our Alexandria in which those sitting in the The shuls were sold, torn down and day-and-a-half stay in Alexandria, four back could not hear the cantor, so large built over or locked up. Today, there are policemen did not leave our side, not was the synagogue. Centuries later, in fewer than fifty Jews—most of whom even at 2:00 AM when we went for a Maimonides’ day, Cairo’s Jewish com- are intermarried, elderly and poor—left stroll in the still-bustling souk (market). munity was a center of Jewish com- in all of Egypt. Insecure and afraid, the Yosef Gaon, the head of the tiny merce and scholarship. few Jews left are careful not to draw at- Jewish community in Alexandria, gave tention to themselves. us a fascinating tour of what Jewish Dr. Ari Greenspan, a US-trained dentist While making travel arrangements Alexandria was like decades ago. with a practice in Jerusalem, is a co- we discovered that Israel does not exist Today, the sole intact shul in founder of the Ptil Tekhelet Association. on the Egyptian airline web site. De- Alexandria is the 150-year-old Eliyahu He is also a mohel, shochet and sofer, and spite Egypt’s peace treaty with the Jew- Hanavi Sephardic synagogue. One of has spent more than twenty years collect- ish State, relations between the two the largest synagogues in the Middle ing Jewish traditions from far-flung Jew- countries remain tense. The demoniz- East, the magnificent building sits ish communities. ing of Israel and of Jews is common in within a courtyard that once contained Rabbi Dr. Ari Z. Zivotofsky, a Jewish Ac- the Egyptian press. the Jewish school, the mikvah and the tion columnist, is on the faculty of the Brain A policeman approached us when various communal offices. Science Program at Bar-Ilan University. He we arrived at the Alexandria airport, A viable Jewish community needs a is also a shochet, has a master’s in Jewish and we soon realized that a police es- variety of institutions, and Alexandria history, and writes widely on topics of Jew- cort had been arranged for us for the has at least one very useful one: a well- ish interest. Photos, except where noted otherwise, were taken by Shlomo The former Bet Din of the Jewish community in Alexandria. Taitz, Israel (Beit Hatfutsot Photo Archive). Summer 5770/2010 JEWISH ACTION I 55 Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 56 Entrance to Sha’ar Hashamayim synagogue, Cairo. The site is protected by Egyptian security guards. stocked and organized Jewish library. within the past fifty years. Everything kosher slaughtering house under local It is unfortunately not used much (al- in the library is older than that; many rabbinic supervision, but sadly, today, though we greatly enjoyed leafing are 150 years old and older. The exis- there is no one left in Alexandria to through the tomes), and the Egyptian tence of such an impressive library in- support such an enterprise. government prefers that it remain dicates that the kehillah in Alexandria We had another capable, if un- locked. But there are over a dozen was once vibrant and learned. usual, guide, in addition to Gaon: Abed bookcases full of Jewish books includ- We noticed roll-on stampers used Al Nabi, a Muslim from southern ing Gemarot, the Shulchan Aruch and to designate kosher meat among the ar- Egypt, who has worked for the Jewish hundreds of books of responsa. How- tifacts our guide showed us. Not too community for decades and speaks flu- ever, you will not find books published long ago, Alexandria had its own ent Hebrew. Nabi took us to see the mikvah in the community compound, which still exists but is no longer in use. He also showed us the matzah- making machinery, which is rusty and old, but still in the community’s pos- session. The communal offices include a “court room” where the beit din used to convene and a large communal school building, which is today used as a Muslim school. The guided tour through the once Jewish buildings led by a Hebrew-speaking Egyptian was somewhat surreal. Sixty sifrei Torah from all the shuls in Alexandria have been collected by the government and are now housed in the Eliyahu Hanavi Sephardic synagogue. The only other remaining shul Alexandria’s Jewish cemeteries are in various states of disrepair. Courtesy of Ari Z. Zivotofsky 56 I JEWISH ACTION Summer 5770/2010 Summer2010:Layout 1 12/05/10 7:46 AM Page 57 The Teva (detail), Sha’ar Hashamayim Synagogue, Cairo. in town is run down and, although still guarded by police, appears slated for destruction. The city has three Jewish cemeteries in various states of disrepair. Many tombstones are cracked, but the cemeteries are not entirely neg- lected. Non-Jewish caretakers tend to the cemeteries and live on the ceme- tery grounds. The vastness of the cemeteries and the magnificence of many of the tombstones attest to the impressive size and affluence of the community that once existed. During our visit, we heard a fascinating story about a Jewish Anussah, or Marrano, who was taken by a Muslim man as a young girl and wed to him against her will. Although she had to convert to Islam, she stubbornly kept her Jewish soul alive for all sixty years of her married life. During that time, she could not live a Jewish life and even her three daughters do not know that they are Jewish. However, ever since her husband died, she began at- tending shul. Unfortunately, as she lives among Muslims, she was too left of their own accord, hoping for a to complete. The mikvah in the base- afraid to meet with us. brighter future elsewhere. ment is still in a terrible state of disre- Within this crowded city, one can pair. The restoration of the women’s CAIRO still find a number of synagogues. We gallery is in progress, and visitors are We left Alexandria via train and visited the oldest and most famous not allowed in. However, the president headed to Cairo, a filthy, noisy metrop- synagogue in Cairo: the Ben Ezra of the Cairo Jewish community, Car- olis of close to seven million people. Synagogue, thought to date back to men Weinstein, graciously arranged Cairo is home to one of the world’s 882, located in the Fustat area of Cop- for us to visit the women’s gallery and oldest Jewish communities. It is not tic Cairo, the old Jewish neighbor- see the entrance to the “attic” where known exactly when the Jewish com- hood. Today no services are held the genizah was found. munity of Cairo was first established, there. The Rambam used to pray and While we were there, many groups but it was certainly many centuries hold court in this shul, and ago. Currently, no more than a score of in 1896 the famous “Cairo elderly women comprise the Cairo Genizah,” one of the most Jewish community. The majority of valuable troves of historical the city’s Jews were driven out documents ever discovered, decades ago by mob violence and was found in its women’s state-sponsored persecution related to gallery. the Israeli-Arab conflict. Many Jews For the better part of the were evicted or arrested; their bank twentieth century, the build- accounts were frozen and properties ing was left to deteriorate. were seized. Reverberations from However, in 1983, following some of these seizures are still being the Camp David Accords, the felt. (An example is the ongoing litiga- Egyptian government real- tion being handled by Nathan Lewin ized the historical value of on behalf of Refael Bigio, an Egyptian the shul and began to restore Jew who is accusing Coca-Cola of ille- it, down to its marble pillars and ceiling painted in muted The Egyptian Jewish Heritage Library.

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