Comments on: JOL Exclusive: Tour Sidon’s Historic Jewish Neighborhoods

By: Omar

Omar — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:20:02 +0000

Also, concerning Sidon as a whole, are there plans for Jewish diaspora of the Lebanese city to return? Sidon seems less complicated to address than Beirut, appearently. Sidon seems to be a good project the Jewish diaspora musn’t let down, for the sake of the old sites and structures no longer in use presently.

By: Omar

Omar — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:10:54 +0000

Sala’am, “A Lebanese Jew”. The pictures seem intreging. But, what is that structure, what was its importance to the Lebanese Jews, Is there any plan for the Maghen Abraham Congregation to restore them, and what may be the cost and time required? It’d been 25 years or so, and every structure belonging to the Lebanese Jews must be treated as national heritage. It seems intreging to restore more than just the Beiruti structures and places of the Jews, if you know what I mean.

By: A Lebanese Jew

A Lebanese Jew — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 19:45:15 +0000

@maghenabraham.com

Here are the pictures of Sojod that are of interest to us :

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo303/LJShM/Maqam2.jpg
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo303/LJShM/Maqam.jpg

Those are the old pictures, before the Israeli invasion, of course. Unfortunately, the place was blown to smithereens by Israel prior to its withdrawal from S. Lebanon.

By: jean-pierre zahar

jean-pierre zahar — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:22:46 +0000

Dear Rachel,

My name is Jean-pierre Zahar. I am a 42year old architect from Saida and live between Europe and Lebanon.I know well the neighborhoods of the old city. I am a collector of old documents about Lebanon and recently focussing on my family tree since 1848 and Sidon. I will help you find back your roots since all the Ottoman and French documents are still available and saved in archives. I never searched for any information about the Jewish community of Saida. I will enquire for you by the end of this year when I will be working on my roots and see how to get there.
If you have more info, surnames of more family members, dates of birth etc..
my profile on skype is jipzz1. Feel free to contact me so we I can be briefed before I go there from Dec. 15 to Jan. 10

Regards

By: Rachel Balassiano

Rachel Balassiano — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 03:54:56 +0000

Hi Fadi,
Thank you so much for all the precious info in your blog. I’m a brazilian sephardic jew living in Rio de Janeiro, my grandparents came from Sidon around 1930, and I have almost none information from their origins… They both died a long time ago, but I’d love to find out about history and remains from the jews from Lebanon. My grandmother surname was Nigri and my grandfather was Balassiano. I was once told that the origin of the Balassiano surname is from Valencians (jews from Valencia, Spain), but I’m not sure. I would love to see pictures or documents from Sidon in the late 19th Century. Do you have any idea where can I find anything?
Thank you so much and please keep on posting!
Peace.

By: Rana

Rana — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:33:11 +0000

hi Fadi,
I love ur blog and what ur doing is great not only for jews of lebanon but for all lebanese to learn from. i’ve always been curious about the jewish community of lebanon and i feel sorry that they had to leave because it is their homeland too.
i always get emotional when i pass by the synogogue in wadi abou jmil. it must have been fabulous and it should be renovated and opened again!
by the way, when i was a little girl my grandfather used to tell me that he learned from the jews how to run his business successfully i think im lucky to be from a family that is not sectarian and that accepts everyone no matter what sect or religion.
next time im in lebanon, i’ll make sure to pass by the sidon synogogue!
good luck again!
will keep checking whats new on here…

peace

By: Zouheir

Zouheir — Sun, 25 May 2008 14:12:14 +0000

Thanks for the report. The Jewish Quartet in Sidon used to house one of the important jewish communities in Lebanon indeed. My grandmother and her family came from there indeed (she used to be jewish). The family was forced to leave to Israel in the wake of the Israeli invasion and no contact has been maintained with them afterwards.

Just for historical correctness, the shrine you were referring to is not that of Prophet Saidun or any other prophet. It is that of Zebulun, one of the sons of Jacob. Zebulun is important to Jews because he is believe to be one of the 12 fathers of the original jewish tribes. The shrine has been renovated lately and is being maintained greatly as you may have noticed. I believe the Hariri Foundation took care of that. I remember the shrine of being shabby and extremely neglected back in the old days.

By: andreas.

andreas. — Thu, 15 May 2008 11:13:01 +0000

I have some pictures of Haret al Yahood I took during my journey in Leb in April 08. Unfortunately I could not locate the 2nd synagogue (there are 2).
But I could locate the old cemetery in Saida, I could share the pics with you if you like, so drop me a line…
a.

By: Sandrinou

Sandrinou — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:38:47 +0000

Fadi, I was re-reading your article : at the beginning you say that massive construction works are to be done in the old city. Does it mean old buildings will be destroyed or restaurated only ? What about the synagogue and the shrine ?

By: Sandrinou

Sandrinou — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:32:11 +0000

Beetle, you should be cooler when you post your messages… You made me cry :’) … But thank you for saying it. Hope you come back someday if you’re out of leb, when all this craziness is over.
Fadi… You’re an angel
I only have 1 request: could you also post some pics of the children ? It would make my day to have the full “parcours”
Hope you’re not too shaken up by the last two-days’ events