* * * click HERE for an architectural description of Shaar Hashamayim * * *

BASSATINE NEWS ISSUE No. 22

PHOTOS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES...

 

invitation card

view from the gallery
photos in this issue of BN by Samir Raafat unless otherwise credited

choral from Thessaloniki, Greece

men's pew

women's pew

US ambassador Francis Ricciardone making his speech from the Ark

upper gallery with choral

representatives of of France, Spain, USA, UK, Israel, Vatican

Papal Nuncio Michael Fitzgerald with Sir Derek and Lady Plumbly

Ambassadors Zvi Mazel and Francis Ricciardone (photo courtesy Michelle Mazel)

Carmen Weinstein with British Ambassador and Lady Plumbly

song of peace by Gaber El Beltagui

Rabbi Mark El Fassi making the closing speech from the Bimah desk
painting of Yacoub Cattaui (1801-83) founder of the dynasty by that name
one of Cattaui's grandsons (Moise Pasha ) was responsible for the construction of this synagogue in 1900 and another (architect Maurice Cattaui 1874-1957) was the synagogue's co-designer along with Austrian architect Edward Matasek; a third grandson (Youssef Pasha Cattaui) was minister of finance in King Fouad's government
painting of Yacoub Cattaui generously offered to JCC by his great-great-granddaughter Jacqueline (Cattaui) Wootton-Wolley in the UK. "After being an English gentleman for 50 years he should be content to be back home!"

They came by train from Alexandria, by air from Europe and the USA, and by taxi and private limousines from across Cairo to celebrate the centennial of the 102-year old Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue also known as Temple Ismailia or Adly Synagogue which for this landmark occasion was beautifully decorated.

On behalf of the local government were representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Health the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Department of Antiquities represented by Dr. Mokhtar El Kassabani. Among the other distinguished guests were the honorable ambassadors of the USA, UK, the Vatican and Israel plus envoys from the embassies of France and Spain as well as Dr. Ali El Samman, vice-president of Al-Azhar's Permanent Committee for Dialogue between Monotheistic Religions.

Also present were former Israeli ambassadors Zvi Mazel and David Sultan with their respective wives Michele and Adina accompanied by Nitza the widow of the first Israeli ambassador to Egypt Elihou ben Elizar.

Aside from JCC president Carmen Weinstein's welcome speech other speakers included US ambassador Francis Ricciardone, Mr. Fernando Vara de Rey of Casa Sefarad, Professor Yoram Meital of Beersheba University, Rabbi Mark El Fassi of France who also gave a resounding blow of the shofar, Ms. Magda Haroun on behalf of the members of the JCC, and Rabbi Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee.

Cairo Opera baritone Mr. Gaber El Beltagui (Ministry of Culture) delighted the audience with the song of peace (words by Salah Jahin) which he performed in French, English, Hebrew and Russian.

The showstopper however was the Thessaloniki Sefarad Choir. An excellent performance provoking several encores much appreciated by the 24 Judeo-Greek performers who explained to Bassatine News that they will soon launch their first commercial CD.

The official part of the program over it was time for mingling and memory exchanges between members of Cairo's Jewish community and their out-of-town guests, many of them Egyptian-born come to re-discover their roots. This was followed by a lunch hosted by the JCC in the Synagogue's open air courtyard.

La grande synagogue du Caire fête son centenaire

LE CAIRE (AFP) samedi 3 nov, 06 h 12 - Un cycle de manifestations exceptionnelles a été organisé cette semaine par la désormais très petite communauté juive égyptienne autour du centième anniversaire de la grande synagogue du Caire.

"Je suis sûre que notre communauté juive au passé millénaire connaîtra avant la fin des temps des jours meilleurs", affirme Carmen Weinstein qui préside aux destinées d'une communauté autrefois florissante.

Il reste moins d'une centaine de juifs, en grande majorité des femmes âgées, entre Le Caire et Alexandrie, alors qu'ils étaient plus de 80.000 au début des années 50, avant le grand exil forcé de l'ère Nasser.

C'est en présence de plusieurs ambassadeurs, ceux des Etats-Unis, de France, de Grande-Bretagne, du Vatican et d'Israël, et de quelques dignitaires égyptiens qu'une cérémonie a eu lieu à la synagogue Chaar Hachamayim.

Placée sous haute sécurité, sans guère plus de fidèles, ce temple aussi appelé Ismailya ou simplement de la rue Adly, où il est situé, en centre-ville, a été totalement rénové.

En plus d'une inspiration art nouveau, sa façade est de style néo-pharaonique, avec fleurs de papyrus jouxtant étoiles de David, en référence à la naissance de Moïse sur les bords du Nil.

En plus de nombreux discours, une chorale de juifs sépharades venue de Salonique (Grèce) ainsi qu'un baryton de l'opéra du Caire, Gaber al-Baltagui, ont interprété des chants de paix.

"Je suis bouleversée, je ne pensais plus revoir et entendre cela ici," assure Marcelle Haroun, qui avait choisi de rester en Egypte avec son époux, un réputé avocat juif de gauche, par conviction politique.

Des juifs d'Egypte, dispersés aux quatre coins du monde, en particulier aux Etats-Unis et en France, sous l'égide de l'association Nebi Daniel, avaient fait le déplacement, certains pour la première fois depuis leur départ.

"Revenir ici, pas tout de suite, ni demain sûrement, mais l'Egypte nous manque à tous", affirme Joyce Zenana, une enseignante qui réside à Brooklyn.

Un petit musée consacré à la Géniza du Caire a aussi été inauguré près de la synagogue Ben Ezra, peut-être la plus ancienne du monde, à Fostat, dans le Vieux Caire.

C'est dans sa remise d'anciens textes hébraïques, la géniza, qu'a été retrouvé un ensemble unique de 210.000 documents, la plupart du 10e au 13e siècles, y compris de Maïmonide, le grand penseur juif d'origine andalouse.

Certains de ces fragments, écrits en hébreu, arabe, judéo-espagnol ou yiddish, ont été vendus au 19e siècle avant que les grandes bibliothèques de Paris, Londres, Saint-Petersbourg ou New York n'en réunissent des collections.

Mais le plus grand fond - 140.000 fragments - est revenu à Cambridge en 1897 grâce au savant Salomon Schechter. Tous ces textes sont en passe d'être totalement numérisés d'ici trois ans grâce à des dons privées.

"Dans une atmosphère de remarquable tolérance, en particulier sous les Fatimides (969-1171), ces textes nous disent que juifs, musulmans et chrétiens ne vivaient nullement dans des ghettos intellectuels" souligne Stephan Reif, professeur émérite à Cambridge.

Cairo synagogue marks 100 years of grandeur and decline

Two historical moments were recorded Tuesday at the Sha'ar Hashamayim synagogue in Cairo. The first was when Dr. Gaber Baltagi, an academic who writes poetry as a hobby, recited one of his works in Arabic and Hebrew, calling for peace among the nations. The second was when a loud shofar (ram's horn) blast, usually sounded at the closing of the Ne'ila service on Yom Kippur, echoed in the cavernous space of Cairo's great synagogue, bringing tears to the eyes of many of those present.

Members of Cairo's Jewish community - those who have remained here, as well as others who have moved away - plus many guests from Egypt and around the world, were there for a ceremony marking 100 years since the founding of the synagogue.

In attendance were the American ambassador to Cairo, the British ambassador, Israeli envoy Shalom Cohen as well as former Israeli ambassadors.

During the ceremony, the Choir of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki sang songs in Hebrew and Ladino.

The building was recently renovated, with the approval and assistance of the Egyptian authorities. It was rededicated Tuesday.

"Jews lived here throughout the ages," said community president Carmen Weinstein. "I see no reason for Jews not to continue living here."

Weinstein is the second woman president in the history of this Jewish community. The first was her mother, Esther, who served in that capacity for many years.

"When my mother was president, she ran things and I did the dirty work. Nowadays I have to do both," she said with a smile, speaking from the synagogue's pulpit. The ceremony she directed Tuesday was a historic event for the community, whose future is still in question. Weinstein declared that she is proud to be Egyptian. As befits her position as head of the community, she thanked Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak several times.

The Egyptian Jewish community is one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. Rabbi Moses Maimonides (the Rambam) lived and taught here in the 13th century. For generations, hundreds of documents were collected in what became known as the Cairo Geniza, whose discovery in 1896 contributed much to Jewish historical research.

One hundred years ago, when the Sha'ar Hashamayim was founded on Adly Street, it was a hub of activity. The community absorbed many waves of immigration from both Europe and the Middle East. The name plates still affixed to some of the seat backs tell the immigration story. Philippe Bach, Yosef Salameh, Felix Schwartz and Herman Horenstein are just a few of the names that can be found there.

Today the Cairo Jewish community has 30-40 members, most of them older women. One of them, Magda Haroun (nee Chehata), stepped up to the pulpit Tuesday to share her feelings. She said that the last time she remembers the synagogue being full was in the in the 1960s.

"We may be only 40 members now," she added, "but we have a glorious history behind us. Please don't let that die."

Haron has never visited Israel, for ideological reasons. Her parents were Communists, and she hopes to come only when a Palestinian state is established. Her father did not attend synagogue services, but Haron came with her grandfather.

"The future is frightening," she said, in an interview with Haaretz, "and I do not know if anyone can replace Carmen. I think that the Egyptian government should help preserve the Jewish heritage. Jews have been here since the time of the Pharaohs."

Among the participants at the event as Meir Cohen, a native of Cairo. He brought with him photographs from his father's wedding at the synagogue in 1947, and from his bar mitzvah in 1963. Like many Israelis born in Egypt, Cohen left along with his family after the deteriorati n of the Jewish community's situation in the late 1960s. He worked for Israel Television's Arabic department and was the spokesman at the Israeli embassy in Cairo in the late 1980s.

"With this event," said Cohen, "Carmen has resuscitated hundreds of years of Jewish life. Every detail here brings back memories of my father, members of my family and the prayer services here. This is the closing of a circle for me."

La synagogue du Caire fête son centenaire

Un cycle de manifestations exceptionnelles ont été organisées cette semaine par la désormais très petite communauté juive égyptienne autour du centième anniversaire de la grande synagogue du Caire. "Je suis sûre que notre communauté juive au passé millénaire connaîtra avant la fin des temps des jours meilleurs", affirme Carmen Weinstein qui préside aux destinées d'une communauté autrefois florissante.
Il reste moins d'une centaine de juifs, en grande majorité des femmes âgées, entre Le Caire et Alexandrie, alors qu'ils étaient plus de 80.000 au début des années 50, avant le grand exil forcé de l'ère Nasser.

Masr al Yom Daily, 5 November 2007

AJC, Egyptian Officials Discuss Preserving Jewish Heritage

November 1, 2007 - Cairo - In Egypt for events marking the centennial of Cairo 's main synagogue, Shaar Hashamayim, an American Jewish Committee delegation met this week with Egyptian officials to discuss efforts to preserve the Jewish heritage in Egypt.

The delegation, led by Rabbi Andrew Baker, AJC's director of International Jewish Affairs, met with Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny and Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The Egyptian officials assured the AJC group that the Maimonides Yeshiva and Synagogue would be properly restored during the coming year.

The Yeshiva was the original study house of the 12th Century rabbinic scholar and is adjacent to a 19th century synagogue named for him. The Yeshiva has been a place of pilgrimage for Jews around the world, although the structures have long-since fallen into a state of disrepair. Dr. Hawass said that a full technical analysis had already taken place and preparatory work could begin almost immediately.

The centennial events were a reminder of the large and vibrant Jewish community that could be found in Cairo and Alexandria during the first half of the last century, when Egypt was a far more culturally diverse society.

Today, there are a dozen synagogue buildings in Cairo and two in Alexandria , but regular prayers do not take place in any of them.

"Memory can be a blessing," Rabbi Baker said in his remarks at the Sha'ar Hashamayim celebration. "It has helped nurture and sustain many of those Jews who were forced to leave Egypt . It surely has given purpose to the work of the people here, who care for the synagogues and for the Bassatine cemetery. And it can also be a blessing for the Egyptian government and the Egyptian people, recalling perhaps a time of greater tolerance and diversity."

Minister Hosny, in his meeting with the AJC group,recalled his own childhood in Alexandria and his family's Jewish friends in what he described as a farmore cosmopolitan city than one finds today. He expressed his willingness to consider the developmentof a Museum of Jewish Heritage in Cairo that would tell the stories of Jewish life in Egypt .

Egypt Today Magazine January 2008

AL-AKHBAR daily 12 November 2007

AL-AHRAM 12 November 2007

Al SHARQ AL-AWSAT daily published in London 6 November 2007

AL MESREYOON 6 November 2007

AL AYAAM 4 November 2007

RADIO SAWA 6 November 2007

AL ITIHAD 6 November 2007

JCC president Carmen Weinstein, Ms. Nadia Haroun, Alain Navarro

ambassador David and Adina Sultan with Mme Nabhan

Rabbi Andrew Baker and Michelle Mazel

twirling dervish

Maurice Maleh and Alec Nacamuli ( Association Internationale Nebi Daniel)

photos in this issue of BN by Samir Raafat unless otherwise credited

JCC president with Ambassador and Mrs. Francis Ricciardone of the USA; audience attentive to Professor Reif's lecture on the Geniza Papers
(photos courtesy JCC)

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Remarks at Ben Ezra Annex by Roger Bilboul Chairman of Information Today Co-Founder of Nebi Daniel Association October 31, 2007 I am one of the founders of the Nebi Daniel Association and I will only take a few minutes of your time to tell you about our objectives and our raison d’être. Before I do so, I want to thank the organizers of this event for the pleasure they have given me – and people like me who are brought back here after such a long separation to partake in an occasion full of so much meaning for us. I want to single out Carmen Weinstein who, despite many impediments, has courageously struggled to maintain Jewish communal property in and preserve this history. She is the inspiration and force behind this event. The help of Rabbi Andrew Baker of the American Jewish Committee has raised the necessary support to add to the magnitude of the occasion. Rabbi Baker’s mission is to preserve Jewish heritage around the world and, despite a background lacking anything Sephardic or Egyptian – for which we forgive him - he has been a faithful supporter and friend. The Nebi Daniel Association takes its name from the road in Alexandria where our main synagogue is located. We were formed some four years ago as a not-for-profit organization regulated by French law. Our sole objective is to address the issue of preserving our heritage in around the world. As you may know, we were some 80,000 Jews living in until the mid 50’s; today I doubt if we are more than 100. Although the history of Jews in Egypt goes back centuries, the bulk of those who lived here in this past century had only been in this country for four generations or so. They came from many parts of the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. They forged a new identity in a tolerant and, in large part, a welcoming environment where religion was a key element of identification. They built communal institutions with an authority bestowed upon them by government to regulate not only their religious affairs but civil matters that are today the exclusive preserve of government bodies. Jewish communal properties go beyond buildings, cemeteries and objects: they capture a history and an identity for a people scattered to the four corners of the world Some of us have now reached the point in our lives where we have the luxury of time for reflection and advocacy. We feel we have a responsibility to our children and to future generations to preserve the history of a passage and leave a legacy that will better connect them to their identity and share in the pride we have for our heritage in Egypt. We often ask ourselves "if we do not try to do it, then who will?" We are in the fortunate position where a good part of these communal treasures are still standing. An enlightened policy of the Egyptian government has always left them under the control of the Jewish community here. The Supreme Council of Antiquities has also listed under its aegis some of the buildings, such as this one, and we have them to thank for the renovation work they have done to the Adly synagogue in time for this occasion. They have also listed some Torah scrolls and manuscripts. We are in the fortunate position where a good part of these communal treasures are still standing. An enlightened policy of the Egyptian government has always left them under the control of the Jewish community here. The Supreme Council of Antiquities has also listed under its aegis some of the buildings, such as this one, and we have them to thank for the renovation work they have done to the Adly synagogue in time for this occasion. They have also listed some Torah scrolls and manuscripts. Also, through the generous support of Jewish bodies and individuals abroad and through the valiant efforts of Carmen Weinstein here in Cairo, Dr Max Salama in Alexandria as well as their predecessors, these assets have been maintained and preserved to the best of their abilities and within the diminishing human resources at their disposal.

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PAUL BALTA...

 

Temporarily hospitalized Alexanria-born author Paul Balta could not make it to the centennial celebration. BN wishes him a speedy recovery and as we say out here "Okbal meet sanna" in order to make it to the next centennial ! We also congratulate Monsieur Balta for receiving the order of Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur in 2006.
Read Paul Balta.