CAIRO: Before the 1952 revolution, the Egyptian flag contained a crescent and three stars, each star representing each one of the country’s main religions; one symbolized Egypt’s 75,000 Jews at the time, while today the number has significantly reduced.
“Today, in Israel, many people do not know about the Jewish past in Arab countries, especially the younger generations, says Liron Savion. The 26-year-old student of Middle Eastern Studies came to Egypt with 30 other Israelis to help restore the library of the Chaar Hachamaim Synagogue in Cairo, one of the city’s three Jewish libraries.
Around 8,000 books on the Jewish religion, architecture and literature are collected there, most in Hebrew. They were donated by Egyptian Jews who had to leave the country and were prevented from taking their property with them. Many of the books are very old, some of them dating back to the 16th century. Liron and his colleagues from Israel are preparing the books with insecticides to preserve them for centuries to come.
Another example of a successful restoration is the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo. It was completely renovated in the 1980s and is today an important tourist site. The synagogue gained special fame in 1896, when a genizah, or hiding place, was found below the building, which was used to store books and other documents containing God’s name, before burying them in a Jewish cemetery.
Preserved by the dry Egyptian climate, the papers found in the genizah were more than 1,000 years old. Among the findings were important documents on the economic and cultural life of the Middle East during the medieval ages. Also, the Hebrew original of the “Book of Wisdom was found in the Cairo synagogue. Today, the items are spread all over the world, collected in universities like Cambridge and Princeton.
Not all Jewish sites in Egypt have enjoyed this kind of attention. The majority of small synagogues and community houses have declined due to lack of care. In 1920, around 3,000 Jews lived in Harat Al-Yahoud, Cairo’s Jewish quarter. Their departure in the years 1956 and 1967 left Jewish buildings ripe for decline.
Another place rich in history is the Maimonides Synagogue. Founded 800 years ago, it was a center for the philosophy of Halachic Jews. It contained a school and Maimonides, the father of Halachic thinking, taught there until his death in 1204. Today, with the roof collapsed, the synagogue is in ruin, open to rain and dust.
Still, in the past 20 years, Jews from Europe and the United States have come to Cairo once a year to commemorate Maimonides’ books at the ruined building.
Another site of forgotten fame is the synagogue of Al-Oustaz. The basis of its importance was a special liturgy to celebrate the first day of the Jewish year in the month of Nissan. This ceremony melded Jewish and Christian liturgical elements and was held in Hebrew, Arabic and French; being open to cultural influence, the tradition reinvented itself every year. When the Jews left Egypt, they left behind this tradition and the building, and it is today in ruins.
Seeing their heritage declining, Egyptian and Israeli Jews today seek ways to conserve these sites. The Egyptian government and Jewish organizations across the world contribute money to the cause, but despite the growing awareness among Jews about the danger of losing their heritage, internal discussion delays action.
According to Yoram Meital, chairman of the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle East Studies at Ben-Gurion University in Israel, there is a conflict between two Jewish groups. Some say, since there are no longer Jews in Egypt, the Jewish heritage should be brought to Israel and collected in museums there. Others disagree, saying that Jews were part of Egyptian society, making their heritage part of the Egyptian heritage, so the sites should be restored in Egypt.
Absent in Egyptian society is a discussion about how to deal with Jewish cultural relics. Is there a chance that Egyptians can seriously reflect about their common relationship with their fellow Jewish citizens during the 19th and 20th century?
If so, there might be a chance that the memory of a time when Jews and Muslims lived together on the same streets may help to restore more than just buildings.
