Egypt Plans $2M Restoration Of Centuries-Old Alexandria Synagogue
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Egypt is planning to shell out $2 million for the renovation of a synagogue in Alexandria that attests to a Jewish presence in the country that has endured for millennia.
“We are experiencing a renaissance,” Samy Ibrahim, a member of the Cairo Jewish community, told the Religious News Service. “The government is elevating the profile of the heritage of Egyptian Jews.”
Renovating the Eli Synagogue will be covered by the government. There are only a few dozen Jews left in Egypt, but there used to be tens of thousands, prior to post-war pogroms that sent most fleeing for Israel, the United States and France.
The Jewish presence in Egypt dates historically to antiquity, with Jews in Hellenic times taking up residence in Alexandria, producing intellectuals like the ancient philosopher Philo.
Constructed in Italianate style, the Eli Synagogue was built in 1860, on the site of a former Jewish house of worship. It lies in the area that used to be the center of the city’s vibrant Jewish life.
_Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter [@DanielJSolomon](www.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
