The site of El Ghriba synagogue, in the village of Hara Srira, is said to go back either to 586 B.C. or from the Roman conquest in A.D. 71, making it the oldest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The present building was constructed in the early 20th century, with additions made during more recent years.
“Certain historians are convinced that many Djerba Jews are descended from some of the Berbers — Tunisia’s oldest inhabitants, who converted to Judaism. The Jews of Djerba fervently believe that a stone from the altar of the destroyed First Temple in Jerusalem was brought to Djerba by a group of Cohanim (or priests), and now lies under one of the arches of El Ghriba.
During the festival of Succoth David Gerbi, psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst, was invited to the inauguration of a Sepher Torah on the Tunisia island of Djerba, where about 1,500 Jews still live. He found a fearful community, still smarting from the murder of two Jews during the Lag Ba’Omer pilgrimage in May 2023. But rising antisemitism and the razing of the El Hamma synagogue in Gabès following the 7 October massacre in Israel has been the last straw. It has prompted several Djerbian Jews to decide to leave Tunisia. Here is Gerbi’s account of his stay in HaMoked:
I was recently invited to Djerba for the feast of Succoth, during which a new Sefer Torah was inaugurated in memory of a rabbi who was very important for the local Jews. A humble, thoughtful, reserved person with integrity, the rabbi had only one purpose: to serve G-d and the community. He loved educating children about the Torah, teaching them for free. His name was Rabbi Hanina Bughid Saadon. Rabbi Saadon was the uncle of Zachino Haddok, a young Tunisian originally from Djerba who now lives in Rome. Zachino brought his religious contribution to the Rome Jewish community through kashrut, halakha, liturgy, tradition, habits and customs which closely resemble those of the Jews of Libya. A great Torah expert – he knows all the parashot by heart – Zachino frequents the two synagogues of Libyan rite in Piazza Bologna. And it is near Piazza Bologna that Zachino has opened a kosher supermarket to serve the Jewish community in the area, offering foods, products and spices reminiscent of the colours and tastes of the Libyan Jewish tradition.
I arrived on the evening of 3 rd October, Hol Hamoed, at Djerba airport, and before even checking in to the hotel I went to the inauguration party of the Sefer Torah: a fantastic scene attended by all the members of the community full of joy. They opened their homes to welcome the Sefer and offered a wide variety of foods to all of us. Happy children were walking around the street, women dressed to the nines, men happy to enjoy a little joy after the ugly affair of the 2023 Lag Ba’omer attack in which two Jews were murdered by a Tunisian soldier – he who should have been responsible for their safety.
Many came to the Ghriba synagogue not only from Djerba but also from other parts of the world. I was last in Djerba on Lag Ba’omer in 2022, when I accompanied a group from Italy on the Ziara (pilgrimage) to the Ghriba synagogue, also a sacred site for many Libyan Jews. In this place there is a stone from the Temple of Jerusalem that was brought by the Cohanim (High priests) after the destruction of the Temple. Djerba’s Jewish community is the largest in North Africa: the island is full of Cohanim and Torah scholars. In Israel there is a Yeshiva called Kisse Rahamim named for Rabbi Rahamim Hai Huetto HaCoen, originally from Djerba. The habits and customs of Djerba are also preserved in a synagogue in Marseille.
The new Sefer Torah was then taken to the home of the relatives of the two victims of this year’s attack, to give them some relief and consolation. The next morning in the hotel, after prayers, while I was under the Succah, I asked one of the 250 people who had come from France to celebrate Succoth why he had brought his children to a place that proved so dangerous (and which is still bloodstained), especially considering the anti-Zionist tendencies of the new Tunisian president Kaïs Saïed. Saied takes every opportunity to accuse Israel of all sorts of misdeeds. He even held Israel responsible for Cyclone Daniel which devastated Libya and other Mediterranean countries between 4 and 12 September. “Do you experience this situation as a paradox?”, I asked the young Frenchman. “I have to think about it,” he replied. I believe that this type of reaction is widespread for us Jews: we always live with nostalgia for the places where we and our parents were born, beloved places to which we are often not allowed to return.
That evening it was confirmed to me that for the first time in 2,000 years neither Rosh Hashana nor Yom Kippur were celebrated in the Ghirba synagogue – for safety reasons and because the May trauma was still fresh. A teacher explained to me that for this entire new year there will be no prayers at Ghirba because the Jews do not trust the current president. They don’t fear him, but they don’t trust him either.
For the last night, however, the Jews of Djerba were happy. It is imperative that people be happy during the inauguration of a Sefer Torah (see Samanta be Hagheha). I saw children on the street playing, singing, and playing the darbuka (drum). I saw tables heaving with delicious food for all guests in homes that hosted Sefer Torah. I saw the women dressed very elegantly and colourfully, and the men singing with devotion and faith. In the street in front of the yeshiva, people also celebrated by eating kebab skewers, pizza and sweets on the street. My friends invited me to their house because they preferred to have their meal in the Succah.
I then asked organizer René Trabelsi, former Tunisian tourism minister, who arranged for the group of French Jews and even some Americans to visit, how they had overcome their fear of coming to Djerba. He replied that the tragedy of Lag Ba’omer could have been worse: a single armed soldier had killed three soldiers and two Jews. He tells me that Jews are not afraid of civilians. But yes, they are afraid of the soldiers who ought to be defending them, because they could turn their weapons against defenseless civilians out of fanaticism and hatred for them and Israel.
Tonight is the eve of Hoshana Rabba: the people of Djerba pray all night in the synagogues. We will stay in the hotel: under the large Succah we will listen to the rabbi’s sermon and pray. Since the news of the 7 October massacre in Israel broke, people here have been very tense and worried.
At breakfast in a low voice, his young children and wife at his side, a new friend tells me that the holiday is over. The wife remains silent, many have breakfast in the room. Many will not return, for fear of putting their lives and those of their children at risk. Another friend tells me: “but why do the 1,500 Djerbians continue to stay here?” The waiter, who is Muslim, replies: “Love for their roots and the land overcomes fear.”
Despite everything, we “celebrated” Simcha Torah with children and babies, with young people, adults and the elderly. Many danced. But in the evening the restaurant was almost empty, many ate in their rooms.
That evening I learned that the Minister of the Interior had withdrawn weapons from the soldiers on Djerba because the government fears that the soldiers themselves could enter the Jewish Hara and carry out a massacre. Now the situation has significantly worsened and Jews live in fear. A fear, however, also accompanied by faith and hope. Tension is rising due to the conflict in the Middle East. But this year much misfortune has befallen Djerba: a Jewish goldsmith was falsely accused of smuggling gold. He was taken to the police on this pretext. Shopkeepers in the Hour Souk closed their shops in protest to have him released.
President Kaïs Saïed has declared that those who have contact with Israel will be considered Israeli spies and jailed for a minimum of five years. Thanks to international pressure, he seems to have taken a step back. The president has openly spoken out against Israel several times, increasing fear among Tunisian Jews. Jews who continue to hope to soon be able to emigrate to Israel. Someone told me that he prefers to die in Israel rather than in Tunisia.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
About the Jewish Refugee Blog
In just 50 years, almost a million Jews, whose communities stretch back up to 3,000 years, have been 'ethnically cleansed' from 10 Arab countries. These refugees outnumber the Palestinian refugees two to one, but their narrative has all but been ignored. Unlike Palestinian refugees, they fled not war, but systematic persecution. Seen in this light, Israel, where some 50 percent of the Jewish population descend from these refugees and are now full citizens, is the legitimate expression of the self-determination of an oppressed indigenous, Middle Eastern people.
This website is dedicated to preserving the memory of the near-extinct Jewish communities, which can never return to what and where they once were - even if they wanted to. It will attempt to pass on the stories of the Jewish refugees and their current struggle for recognition and restitution. Awareness of the injustice done to these Jews can only advance the cause of peace and reconciliation.
No comments:
Post a Comment