Victor Sassoon: Lebanese Legend of ShanghaiJuly 31st, 2008 at 10:57 amSir (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, [...] Beirut: Efforts Underway to Revive Lebanon’s Jewish CommunityJuly 21st, 2008 at 8:36 amIt’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. Beirut: Eternal Capital of Literary Expression in the Middle EastJuly 18th, 2008 at 3:22 pmStrolling 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 [...]
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