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Egyptian Jews

Illustrative: This picture taken on December 2, 2023, shows a view of the interior of the newly restored 19th century Jewish synagogue of Ben Ezra in Coptic Cairo. (Photo by Amir MAKAR / AFP)
August 17, 2024, 7:44 am
Study of Cairo’s synagogues reveals an Egyptian Jewish ‘Golden Age’ abruptly ended
In ‘Sacred Places Tell Tales,’ Ben-Gurion University Prof. Yoram Meital examines the modern history of Cairo’s Jews and its thriving pre-1948 community
By Gavriel Fiske
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli (2nd-R) and Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa (3rd-R) touring around the newly-restored 19th century Jewish synagogue of Ben Ezra in Coptic Cairo on August 31, 2023. (Photo by Egypt's Prime Minister Office / AFP)
December 22, 2023, 3:52 pm
Historic synagogue creates tension between Egypt’s government and few remaining Jews
The antiquities ministry has exerted control over the 1,200-year-old house of prayer it paid to renovate. Now the tiny community fears it doesn’t respect their ownership of the site
By David I. Klein
Illustrative: The president of the Egyptian Jewish Community, Magda Shehata Haroun, talks during an interview with AFP at the Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue in Cairo, also known as Temple Ismailia or Adly Synagogue in downtown Cairo on October 3, 2016. (Khaled Desouki/AFP)
December 10, 2023, 6:20 pm
Fearing attacks, Jews in Egypt cancel public Hanukkah celebrations
Cairo’s dwindling community, numbering only five native members, decides not to hold candle-lighting in a city synagogue, amid growing antisemitism
By Gianluca Pacchiani
Screenshot of video said to show service at Tehran synagogue, September 2023 (Kan, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
September 16, 2023, 9:31 am
Worshipers pack Tehran synagogue for Selichot service ahead of Rosh Hashanah
Prayers also held for Jewish New Year at Cairo synagogue for first time in 70 years
By ToI Staff
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly (center) attends the inauguration of the newly restored Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Egypt, August 31, 2023. (Egyptian Cabinet)
August 31, 2023, 11:59 pm
Egyptian synagogue once home to famed ‘Cairo Geniza’ completes extensive renovation
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly attends ceremony reopening tourist site, following ‘careful architectural restoration work,’ according to Egyptian cabinet
By Amy Spiro
Albert Arie, an Egyptian with Jewish roots, in October 2020. (Screenshot: Facebook/Al-Arabiya)
April 18, 2021, 10:13 am
Albert Arie, one of the last remaining Egyptians with Jewish roots, dies at 90
Former communist, anti-Zionist activist converted to Islam in the 1960s but remained committed to preserving Jewish-Egyptian heritage
By ToI Staff
Clockwise from top left: 'Bukra fil Mish Mish' poster; L to R: David, Shlomo, and Herschel Frenkel, with the poster for a Mish Mish film; director Tal Michael; Mish Mish opposite real-life Lebanese singer Sabah. (Courtesy Menemsha Films/ photo of Michael courtesy Michael)
February 18, 2021, 11:38 pm
‘Jewish Disney bros’ who founded Egypt animation industry make triumphant return
Tal Michael’s film ‘Bukra fil Mish Mish’ focuses on the Frenkels, a long-forgotten trio who launched a cartoon company by their bootstraps in the 1930s before being forced to flee
By Rich Tenorio
180 Jewish guests from around the world visit the newly renovated Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in the northwestern Egyptian city of Alexandria on February 14, 2020. (David Lisbona)
April 6, 2020, 4:11 pm
Israel sends matzahs, Passover items to Jews in… Egypt
Foreign Ministry says boxes of kosher for Passover food went to tiny Jewish communities in Cairo and Alexandria
By ToI Staff
180 Jewish guests from around the world visit the newly renovated Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in the northwestern Egyptian city of Alexandria on February 14, 2020. (David Lisbona)
February 16, 2020, 11:53 pm
Worshipers fete ‘very emotional’ Shabbat in refurbished Alexandria synagogue
After largest Jewish prayer gathering in the city in decades, expats ask Egyptian government to release historic community registers
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Names of deceased relatives from Alexandria are read out inside the newly renovated Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt, February 14, 2020. (David Lisbona)
February 15, 2020, 4:00 pm
Homecoming: Alexandria synagogue hosts Egypt’s largest Jewish prayers in decades
180 members of Egyptian-Jewish Diaspora return to fete renovated Eliyahu Hanavi shul, even as country’s tiny Jewish community prepares for a Jew-free future
By F. Pieter
Burial plots at the historic Jewish cemetery in the Bassatine district in Cairo. (Courtesy)
February 12, 2020, 3:48 pm
US contributes to project aimed at conserving historic Jewish cemetery in Cairo
American Research Center in Egypt says work will focus on creating thorough documentation of the graveyard and putting together a site management plan
By Adam Rasgon
People attend the opening of Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, three years after the Egyptian government started the renovations of the synagogue originally built in 1354. (AP Photo/Hamada Elrasam)
January 10, 2020, 10:02 pm
Egypt unveils historic Alexandria synagogue after three-year renovation
The city’s few remaining Jews praise Egyptian leader Sissi for funding project, part of a push to draw tourists by marketing country’s rich cultural heritage
By AFP and ToI Staff
Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani touring the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue on December 20, 2019. (Egyptian Antiquities Ministry)
December 23, 2019, 10:45 pm
Historic synagogue in Alexandria set to be reopened following major renovation
Eliyahu Hanavi shul is one of two remaining Jewish houses of worship in the coastal city, where only a few Jews live today; Jewish leaders originally from Egypt welcome move
By Adam Rasgon
Illustrative: Marcelle Haroun, the widow of former prominent Egyptian Jewish lawyer Shehata Haroun and the mother of the president of the Egyptian Jewish Community Magda Haroun, speaks during an interview at their home in Cairo, February 11, 2017. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images via JTA)
July 9, 2019, 2:58 am
Death of matriarch reduces Cairo’s Jewish population to 5
Marcelle Haroun, mother of current head of city’s tiny Jewish community, died over the weekend at the age of 93
By JTA
Jewish women light candles at the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia. (Larry Luxner/ Times of Israel)
June 5, 2018, 5:20 am
From other end of world, group races to preserve Middle East’s Jewish heritage
Since 2010, Boston-based Diarna has used 3-D mapping, traditional scholarship and oral interviews to document more than 2,500 locations of Jewish sites in Mideast and North Africa
By Larry Luxner
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