The Jews of Lebanon Project

Sir (Ellice) Victor Sassoon, 3rd Baronet GBE (20 December 1881 - 13 August 1961) was a businessman and hotelier from the Lebanese Sassoon Jewish banking family. Interestingly, the Magen Avraham Synagogue awaiting renovation in Beirut today is said to have been financed by a wealthy “Sassoon family from the East” though typically attributed to India, it’s possibly more accurate to assume it was none other than the family from Sassoon Shanghai.

Sir Victor Sassoon walked with the aid of two sticks as the result of injuries in World War I in which he served in the Royal Flying Corps.

He succeeded to the Baronetcy on the death of his father Edward Elias Sassoon in 1924. He had no issue, and the Baronetcy became extinct on his death.

He lived in Shanghai up until the Japanese occupation. The Cathay Hotel, now the Peace Hotel, was confiscated by the PRC after 1949. He was also an avid photographer and held extravagant parties at his hotel. Late in his life, Sassoon converted to Buddhism. Sassoon was related by marriage to the Mocatta family, very prominent Jewish family in England with Arab roots, and he himself was a Sephardic Jew. One of his former employees, Lord Kadoorie (Khadoori), later founded the Hong Kong based utility company China Light and Power. One of his right hand men in Shanghai was Gordon Currie who was put into a concentration camp by the Japanese and remained there for several years.

The Sassoon Road in Hong Kong is named in his honour.

Shanghai Landmark: The Peace Hotel

The Peace Hotel is a colossal art-deco style building, a world-famous architectural landmark an one of Shanghai’s main attractions in Shanghai.

The hotel was originally the pearl in the real estate empire of the Sassoon family and the private mansion of the family heir, Elice Victor Sassoon, who made his fortune from weapons and the opium trade.

In 1929 it was re-opened as The Cathay Hotel and during its 1930s heyday it was one of the most famous establishments in the world, housing innumerable celebrities, politicians and business tycoons, as well as artists such as Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw and Noel Coward, under its characteristic pyramid-shaped roof.

The romantic period lasted until the Second World War put an end to Shanghai’s days as the “Paris of the East”. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the hotel reopened as the Peace Hotel in 1956.

Recently refurbished, the hotel now fully reflects its original splendour. Particularly worth visiting are the Nine Nations Suite and the magnificent roof-top terrace, from which you have a view of the Bund and the Pudong District.

It’s not easy being Jewish in Beirut where the synagogue is crumbling, the rabbis have left, the community is dwindling and where Jews are commonly branded “Israelis.” The last vestiges of the Jewish community in Lebanon, the Magen Abraham synagogue in the Lebanese capital, reflects a community falling into oblivion.

Built in 1920 in the area of Wadi Abu Jmil, formerly known as Wadi al Yahud (the Jews’ Valley), the synagogue is today a place of desolation.

The building is in a state of severe disrepair, the grounds overgrown and the gate shackled with lock and chain.

“Everything was looted during the (civil) war, marble benches and even windows,” bemoaned Samuel, a member of the Jewish Community Council in Lebanon, who preferred to use a pseudonym.

Without a synagogue, or even a rabbi, the handful of Jews still left in the country — about 300 according to official estimates — are forced to pray at home.

“What we (also) lack is a place to buy locally produced kosher. We have no Jewish schools to teach our children prayer and Hebrew,” said the 60-year-old Samuel, sitting in his shop near the seafront.

The seminary near the Beirut synagogue was destroyed during the war and the community has had no rabbi for years.

“We only speak Arabic. We just use Hebrew for prayer,” added Samuel.

In the capital, along the former demarcation line between the Muslim and Christian areas, another vestige survives: the Jewish cemetery.

The inscriptions in Hebrew and stars of David on the entryway are covered with dust. “Very few people come,” said Samuel.

Efforts are now being made, however, to revive the community, with plans under way to renovate the synagogue and the starting of an online blog called “Jews of Lebanon.”

“We hope that this synagogue, one of the largest in the Arab world, will be renovated later this year or in 2009,” said Samuel, adding that the renovations would be funded mainly by expatriate Lebanese Jews.

The blog seeks to raise the awareness of the Jewish community and to make it an active participant in public life.

Judaism is recognized as one of the 18 religious confessions in Lebanon, although the Jewish community has dwindled over the years, in the face of violence and prejudice.

“Before the (1975-1990) civil war, there were about 22,000 of us. It was after the 1982 (Israeli) invasion of Lebanon that our presence became considerably diminished,” said Samuel.

For Efraim, also a merchant and a member of the Jewish Council, the community’s official authority, one of the annoyances is living in a country where mixing the terms “Jewish” and “Israeli” is common.

Lebanon is technically in a state of war with Israel, which is commonly dubbed “the Zionist enemy.”

“People still occasionally ask me if I am Israeli,” said Efraim, also speaking under a pseudonym.

To him, “that’s exactly as if we used the term Iranians to describe Lebanese Shiites.”

“They do not understand that Israel means nothing to us. We consider it an enemy country as do all the Lebanese,” he insisted.

“After 1982, very few Jews went to Israel, and those who did, didn’t stay long. They felt deeply Lebanese,” said Efraim.

Having been in Lebanon for over 2,000 years, Jews began to leave the country during the turmoil.

“There has not been a wave of persecutions, despite some incidents. Those (Jews who left) are like thousands of other Lebanese who fled the country in search of a better future,” said Samuel.

“The Jews mostly lived in major cities like Beirut, Baalbek, Tripoli and Sidon, in perfect coexistence with other communities,” he said, adding that synagogues in these cities too had fallen into ruin.

“Many (Jewish expatriates) still have land and do not want to sell, because it would be like selling a part of themselves,” Samuel said.

The expatriates remain committed to their heritage and some even come back every year for vacation, but not to settle.

“Is it possible (to settle) with the current tensions in Lebanon?” asked Efraim, who travels frequently.

“We have always been neutral in politics and we remain so,” he said. “Today, we live peacefully and we want to continue to live like that, in our country.”

Strolling through the suburbs of Beirut, just past Abu Joseph’s (impeccable) sandwich shop, down the cobblestone alley and around the corner, we enter a typical Beirut bookshop. Unlike most facets of Lebanese daily life, poisoned by the routine political discourse, plenty of people, both young and old, are sipping Turkish coffee or even a Starbucks latte over intellectual discussions of worthy substance. The sounds of Fairouz can be heard from a distance as Madame Lila hums the melody and hangs her laundry over the balcony. Beirut, what once was, and what still remains is a city of diversity, where everything in the world meets. We may have lost much in the past 3 decades, but we can no longer live in nostalgia of days that no longer exist. Only with a clear acceptance and an honest review of our history can we plant the seeds of hope today, to witness the rise of our dear nation tomorrow. What still remains in Lebanon is the freedom of expression, maybe not always after we express ourselves, but we still have access to knowledge and information, to believe in our respective ideas. What is most important is that censorship that is readily applied everywhere in the region is not found in Lebanon, books about Jewish history, political and non-political, and most noteworthy, books written by Jewish authors are readily found in bookstores throughout the capital. The following photographs were taken randomly in a Beirut bookstore to really show the world that Lebanon remains an open society, an intellectual beacon in the region, where Jewish writers are not only tolerated but promoted; a city that has proved it is the regions eternal literary capital- period.

Yfrah Neaman / يفراح نيعمان‎ is a world-renowned Lebanese violinist and professor. He was born to Jewish parents in the southern port town of Sidon where at an early age he acquired a keen talent which would later develop into one of the greatest contributions to the classical music world in modern history.

He studied in Paris with Jaques Thibaud, and then settled in London where he continued his studies with Carl Flesch and Max Rostal. He taught at the Guildhall School of Music and was artistic director of the Carl Flesch Competition. Among his students were Krzysztof Smietana, David Takeno, Wolfgang David, and Radoslaw Szulc. He gave the first performances in Britain of the violin concertos of Walter Piston (1952) and Roberto Gerhard (1955).

“You can’t have your career made for you, but it can help if someone opens the door.” For over 4o years he helped students from London all the way to Korea, Japan and China where he forged close links and disposed his musical genius to students in these respective countries.

In honor of Yfrah Neaman, and so many sons from Lebanon who traveled and continue to travel to the farthest corners of the earth pursuing their dreams, and have reached the highest podiums in the world- those who are honored, respected, and commemorated everywhere in the world except in their own home, among their own people- in Lebanon.

Report: Bahrain to name Jewish ambassador to US

Bahrain will name a Jewish ambassador to the United States, a report said. Huda Azar Nunu, a Jewish woman who is a lawmaker in Bahrain’s upper house, will be named to the Washington position, according to a report this week in A Sharq al-Awsat, a Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily published in London.

The sources denied that the appointment of Nunu as a woman and a Jew is a public relations campaign by Bahrain in the West, emphasizing that Huda Nunu has proven her qualifications, whether through her membership in the Consultative Council or through her work in human rights associations, of which she is an active participant in Bahrain; the newspaper said.

Bahrain, a Persian Gulf state sandwiched between Iran and Saudi Arabia, has a tiny Jewish population dating back to Talmudic times. Nunu is descended from Iraqi Jews who migrated to the port of Manama in the late 19th century. Jews in Bahrain have kept a low profile but generally have been treated well.

The nation is considered among the more progressive in the region, and was among the first to allow women to run for public office.

The Lebanese pride themselves as being the most progressive, open-minded, and liberal country in the Middle East. We live in nostalgia for golden age of “The Paris of the Middle East” yet we’re so naïve, we still believe we’re better than everyone in the world. The Lebanese today are too proud to clean their own streets; to proud to clean their own homes so we hire cheap labor from neighboring countries all the way to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

We must openly study our history and acknowledge the reality of today if we are to build a country for tomorrow. Who would have thought Bahrain would delegate a Jewish citizen as their ambassador to the United States when it was Lebanon, and only Lebanon, whose Jewish population increased post-1948. Today in Lebanon Jews are forced to live in secrecy and all the way in the Arab Gulf they are securing diplomatic positions.

We must break the shell we’re living in; we must reinvent ourselves and break free of the cheap political and sectarian rhetoric paraded around the streets of our country by the very people who destroyed Lebanon. We must remove the conceit and the delusional image we have of ourselves. Are we to trust those who killed our children and destroyed our country in the past with the keys to the future? Those “uncivilized non-Lebanese” we ridicule and make fun of are now reminding us better than ever before, where Lebanon was and where Lebanon is today…

It is Easter Monday, and the weather is so beautiful, it hurts to stay inside! I am resolved to find where the synagogue is - come rain or come more of this blissful sunshine!! Better hurry, Old Saida won’t stay the same for long, massive restoration work is taking place inside the old souqs.

It is not hard to get into the old Jewish Neighborhood of Saida. From Falafel Ikkawi Shop, walk straight, go right for 100 meters, then through the low entrance of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, most probably the oldest church in the world, you walk through the carpenters’ alley, and left, the arches that lead you inside the Jewish Neighborhood. I ask about the synagogue and two elderly Sidonians point it out, but they hush their voices when they say, but it’s closed. I say, “Closed?” and they clarify, “there are refugee families who live there, and it is in bad shape, there is nobody taking care of it anymore”. I make sure they see the camera, and to introduce myself - nonetheless, the same smile, and the same “Ahlan, Ahlan” you get whether you are a native Sidonians or a Martian!! So much for prudence! The residents of the alley are very friendly, and the children (age 3-7) are overly friendly you can easily mistake them for street muggers, they’re all over “Ammo” (Uncle, and that would be me), and I had to buy my way through by taking their photos, individually and in groups. The little beasts with colored balls would only set me free after I swore I will bring them back the photo-prints.

Another inquiry and a very nice man lead me to the door of the synagogue, and left me there, unsure of what to do! I though he must be kidding me, then a quick reality check, this is not the Temple of Solomon; this is a small place of worship. Another divine miracle, the next door neighbor of the synagogue shows up, and I ask him, is there a man in the house? Negative; I took a photo of the door, broken hearted, I turned away. Something told me, Ask, Ask, and I say – “It is not proper for me to barge into people’s homes (alone.. that is…), can you please ask them if they mind me going in and clicking two photos, and then I’ll be gone?” – That was it, one knock at the door, and the most beautiful child I have ever seen opens the door, followed by her mum. “Tfadal” – meaning “Do us honor” – and I’m in. Sandals have to be taken off at the door. Spotless white marble floor, and arches and a dome in fading blue, crumbling walls, are drenched in humidity. The neighbor points out the Stars of David and the wooden panels. Needless to say, the family living in the synagogue is way below poverty line.

The woman asks: “but what good are these photos?” - I asked her “do you know what this place used to be?” – She does. I told her, “let us show those who left it that it is still there, and that it is still theirs, awaiting their return, and that we are not barbarians. Take care of this place, for it is still a house of God.” One would expect a refugee woman living in a crumbling synagogue with a sick child and 2 infants to be ignorant, but she gave me the knowing proud nod, of “Yes we shall.” I walk out proudly; it is still a house of God, a roof, though wet, for little proud angels.

On the other side of Sidon, not very far from the Land Castle, is the Shrine of Prophet Sidon. I found an old man in the distance under a tree - I was contemplating how to jump of the wall and how I would land into the huge bush of tall grass, praying that snakes are not irritated, I was in shorts and sandals. The man yells, pointing me to a hidden path. I ask him about the story of this place, and he says, “everyone claims this to be their own, Muslims say this is a shrine of Prophet Sidon, and Jews say it is for the Brother of Prophet Joseph (Youssef) Son of Jacob - regardless, we share the same prophets, and this is still a holy place, but for some reason, it has more significance for the Jews - when they lived in Sidon - than for us now. Why? I don’t know.”

The eloquence is not my own, I give you my word; I am only responsible for the translation.

I did my reporter’s duty, and clicked a few photos, mercifully, the snakes were kinder than the kids of the neighbourhood, and they let me be.

I would like to seek feedback from our Sidonian Jewish Compatriots, what is the significance of this place?

Fadi

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Al Jazeera’s reportage on Wadi Abu Jmil and Lebanon’s Jewish community. Whether some call it modernization or a cultural genocide by the government, Beirut is quickly losing it’s identity at the expense of the materialistic ambitions of government leaders and foreign investors. Regardless of intent, what’s certain is that Beirut is losing it’s identity. Wadi Abu Jmil is an integral part of our cultural history and architectural identity, Lebanon’s Jewish community is a pillar and the strongest testament of the country’s multi-cultural and pluralistic identity. Included in the reportage are interviews with members of the community and pictures of the redevelopment plans for the Magen Avraham Synagogue, which is in the heart of Wadi Abu Jmil, Beirut’s historic Jewish district.

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ماذا يجري في وادي أبو جميل؟

جوان فرشخ بجالي
خلال الحرب، ربح وادي أبو جميل تسميات كثيرة، وخسر سكّانه. ثمّ خسر هويته حينما بدأت ورشة إعادة الإعمار بهدم أبنيته قبل أسابيع. وهو اليوم قد يخسر الآثار التي كانت دفينة في أرضه، وكذلك آخر شاهد على هويّته: كنيس ماغن أبراهام.
فقد قامت شركة «سوليدير» في الأسابيع الأخيرة بهدم كل المباني المحيطة بالكنيس، والتي كانت تكوّن الهويّة الهندسيّة للمنطقة، ولم يبقَ من الوادي إلا اسمه. لكنّ عمليّة الهدم هذه تأتي، وفق مفردات «سوليدير»، ضمن إطار «المحافظة على الطابع الهندسي التقليدي». ذلك أنّ الشركة ستستبدل المباني التي هدمتها بمبانٍ أخرى «تشبهها»، وتحمل، من حيث المبدأ، الطابع الهندسي نفسه. الفارق الوحيد هو أنّ اسم المنطقة سيتحوّل من «وادي أبو جميل» إلى «وادي ريزيدانس»!
وكانت «سوليدير» قد استبدلت في الفترة الأخيرة طريقة بيعها للعقارات في منطقة وسط بيروت. وبات المستثمرون الجدد لا يشترون العقار وحسب، بل المشروع ككلّ. فلسوليدير خرائط لكل منطقة مزوّدة بأشكال الأبنية وحتى بخرائطها، وما على الراغب في الشراء إلا دفع المبالغ والشركة العقارية توفّر له المقاولين والمتعهّدين الذين ينجزون الأعمال بسرعة خيالية، فيما يتولّى علماء الآثار تنقيب قطعة الأرض، وإخلاءها من الآثار، مهما بلغت أهميتها.
وحتى الآن، لم تجد الشركة أي صعوبة في «إخلاء» المواقع الأثرية… فقد أزيلت آثار أكثر من مئة وخمسين حفرية. وتأتي ورشة إعمار وادي أبو جميل اليوم تحدّياً إضافياً في وجه وزارة الثقافة والمديرية العامة للآثار. ففي العقار الممتد الى غربي الكنيس اليهودي، عثر الفريق العلمي الذي يعمل تحت إشراف المديرية العامة للآثار على ميدان سباق الخيل الروماني الذي يمتد لأكثر من 90 متراً ويحافظ على الحائط الفاصل الذي كان يدور حوله المتبارون والمدرجات التي ترتفع الى أكثر من مترين. ويحافظ هذا المعلم التاريخي على كل عناصره الهندسية، ما يسمح بترميمه والمحافظة عليه. ولكن ذلك يتطلب قراراً وزارياً وتصنيفاً للموقع من المديرية العامة للآثار، كما يجبر شركة سوليدير على تغيير مخططها وتحويل الموقع الى متحف في الهواء الطلق. وذلك بالطبع، وكالعادة، لا تعتبره من واجباتها. ولكن، هل تصنّف الموقع المديرية العامة للآثار؟ الرد يأتي من أحد المسؤولين فيها بأن «الإدارة تنتظر انتهاء الحفريات وتقديم التقرير في نهاية الشهر الجاري».
وفي انتظار التقرير والقرار، تبقى ورش البناء جارية على قدم وساق في أرجاء الوادي. فتدمير الأبنية القديمة وجرف الآثار الرومانية من أرضه وترك الكنيس اليهودي في مهب الريح إنما يقود الى الطريق نفسها: بناء مدينة غريبة عن تاريخها الحديث وذاكرتها الجماعية… بناء عاصمة لغير أهلها.
لم يبقَ من الوادي اليوم إلا الكنيس الذي تؤكّد شركة «سوليدير» أنها لن تهدمه، لأنه من «أبنية بيروت الدينيّة»، ولكنها ترمي بمسؤولية ترميمه على عاتق الوقف اليهودي، أي إنها تترك تلك المهمة للزمن… فالوقف اليهودي غير موجود على الأراضي اللبنانية، وأملاك اللبنانيين اليهود يديرها مكتب محاماة في لندن لا يتجاوب إلا مع القضايا التي تطرق بابه، أي حينما تتوجه إليه السلطات الرسمية بطلبات محددة. الجدير بالذكر أنّ جدران المبنى شديدة التصدّع من جراء القصف خلال الحرب الأهلية والإهمال الذي طاله من بعدها، ما يعني أنّ التأخير في عملية التعزيز والدعم، سيعرّض الكنيس للانهيار الحتمي.
وكنيس ماغن أبراهام بني في أوائل القرن الماضي ويعد من أهم وأكبر الكنُس اليهودية في الشرق الأوسط. وفي غياب ممثلين رسميين عن الوقف اليهودي، تتحول مسألة المحافظة على الصرح التاريخي الى قضية سياسية تطلب قراراً واضحاً بالمحافظة. «فبغياب أصحاب القرار الرسميين تقع مسؤولية المحافظة على المبنى على عاتق شركة سوليدير التي تدير مشروع وسط بيروت ووزارة الثقافة والمديرية العامة للآثار»، كما يؤكّد محامٍ مطّلع على قانون الآثار. حتى إنه يؤكد أن الحل بسيط، فيكفي أن توفّر إحدى الجهتين الأموال اللازمة لضمان بقاء المبنى وإزالة خطر هدمه (أي تعزيز جدرانه كي لا تنهار) ومن ثم يُدرج على لائحة الجرد العام في المديرية العامة للآثار فتصرف الأموال الضرورية لترميمه وإعادته الى سابق عهده، مثل أي مبنى تاريخي آخر.
ولكنّ خطوة كهذه تدخل في سياق المحافظة على الإرث الثقافي والمعماري، وهو ما لا يجري اليوم في وادي أبو جميل الذي هو في طور التحول الى «منتجع سكني» فاخر لن يدخله إلا أصحاب الأموال الضخمة. حتى إن اسمه قد يمحى من الذاكرة الجماعية، ولن يبقى ما يخبر عن تاريخه الحديث إلا الكنيس اليهودي الذي سيتحول مع الوقت الى منطقة خراب تنهار شيئاً فشيئاً.

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