A tribute from Sisi:
With the completion of 95% of the renovation work at the site, on September 23 the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism announced that it plans to open the ancient Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo in the near future.
The Ministry of Tourism started the renovation work already in mid-April after 30 years.
The renovations in the synagogue included, among other things, the cleaning of the walls, the decorations and the furniture, the maintenance of the lighting and the repair of the insulation layer of the ceiling that was damaged by moisture.
As part of the preparations for its re-inauguration, the Director General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt, Mustafa Waziri, even visited the synagogue to closely examine the progress of the works in the restoration project.
Waziri emphasized the great interest of the Ministry of Antiquities in the project and the intention to open the synagogue after the inauguration of the tree of the Virgin Mary.
According to the Christian tradition, this is one of the points where the family of the Christian Jesus passed during their journey in Egypt.
A few weeks have passed since the inauguration of the Christian site.
As part of the final preparations for its inauguration, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities inspected the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo.
Its restoration has reached about 95%.
pic.twitter.com/u5cBFUKnYc
— Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (@TourismandAntiq) September 26, 2022
The synagogue is considered the oldest in Egypt.
For many years it was a center for rituals and prayers, but nowadays it is no longer in use.
The synagogue was named after the Jewish philosopher and scholar Avraham ben Ezra.
He was born in 1089 in Spain from which he fled and wandered the world.
Like other Jewish sages, he came to Egypt and settled there.
Old Cairo.
A lost Jewish heritage, photo: Reuters
A treasure trove of rare documents is kept in the synagogue.
The documents were accumulated over a period of 850 years and were discovered back in 1888. Since then, many documents from the Ganzach have been stored in various libraries around the world for research purposes.
The discovery is known as the Cairo Genizah and greatly influenced the study of the Hebrew language and the history of Judaism.
The synagogue itself was built on the ruins of a Christian church in the ninth century AD and is located in the Coptic quarter of Old Cairo.
The American "Al-Monitor" website recently reported that those who visit the synagogue are mainly archaeologists.
It is estimated that there are six Jewish women left in Egypt from the large community that lived there for hundreds of years and at its peak included 80 thousand Jews.
With the establishment of the State of Israel and the outbreak of the War of Independence, thousands of Jews immigrated to Israel, and many others immigrated to the West.
More than two years ago, the synagogue in Alexandria was rededicated, photo: Reuters
Ahmed Badran, professor of Egyptian archeology and civilization at Cairo University, told the "Al-Monitor" website that "the restoration of the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the opening of its doors to citizens and tourists is proof of the Egyptian government's interest in all ancient sites, without discrimination, whether they are Egyptian, Greek, Romans, Christians or Jews. They all represent the national identity of Egypt."
As I recall, more than two years ago the synagogue opened in Alexandria and was renovated by the authorities.
The synagogue named after Elijah the Prophet was established in 1354 and served as an important community center.
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