The Jews of Lebanon Project

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.

“Today there is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. I feel that we’ve got to look at this total thing anew and recognize that we must live together. That the whole world now it is one–not only geographically but it has to become one in terms of brotherly concern. Whether we live in America or Asia or Africa we are all tied in a single garment of destiny and whatever effects one directly, effects one in-directly.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

Where does one begin…

We started a blog, but we can’t stop there. We were scrutinized for our motives yet we persevered, but we can’t stop there. We launched our project publicly in Montréal upon the invitation of an originally skeptic community, but we couldn’t stop there. It was just one thought inside the mind of a man that built the pyramids of Egypt, just one thought that started the revolutions that stained the long timeline in our historic existence in this world, and it can be one thought that can open the floodgates into a world of justice, equality, and dignity for all. Whether you’re a student in Beirut, a fisherman from Sidon, a baker from Tripoli, a farmer from Baalbeck, a mother mourning the loss of her son, or a father struggling to feed his children, our struggle is one and the same. Our people have been living in a deep trauma, and those shackles of sectarianism and exploitation under the guise of political fraternity or personal indignation are still the underlying premise behind the dire circumstances Lebanon is facing. To change Lebanon, we must change ourselves. It’s conducive to our future that we learn to reconcile and accept ourselves and each other before we rally our neighbors for peace and reconciliation.

We must not ponder on the past, and to answer the questions of the future we must accept the circumstances of today. For years we’ve been dealing with the question of war and peace, but the choice is ours, for it is no longer a matter of nonviolence or violence, it’s either nonviolence or nonexistence, and this is the fundamental question before us.

This project and its consequent manifestations into an embodiment of the Lebanon of yesteryear, the Lebanon of our grandparents nostalgia, the Lebanon of Khalil Gibran is the quintessence of the aspirations of tens of millions of our sons scattered around the world. Though the universal parallels can be assumed, the truth must be told. We need to call upon our leaders to straighten their backs up, because no ambassador can ride their back unless it is bent; we are the guardians of our future, and our salvation rests in the streets and suburbs of Beirut, in the hearts and minds of our children, nowhere else.

Our leaders don’t know history; they know a certain type of physics unrelated to the transphysics we’ve become heirs to, for we hold high in the altars of our dreams a burning fire that no water in the world can extinguish. This fire is eternal, and though we were considered naïve and idealistic in June 2006 when this blog was launched, in 2008 the deep slumber of spiritual death the world has became accustomed to will be addressed. We must reinvent human interaction.

We’re in search for an all-embracing and an unrestricted love for all of humanity, for only when it becomes dark enough will people see the light. Let us not stumble in the valley of anguish and despair, for the sun-drenched road of future security, justice, dignity, and religious tolerance lies within the hopes of each and every human being.

Let our cries be heard, from the halls of the Grand Serail to the Baabda Presidential Palace, let our cries be heard, from every village and every valley. Let our cries be heard in Parliament, let our cries be heard in every Church, Synagogue and Mosque in Lebanon. These broken cries reflect the deep anxiety within each and every one of us. Working together is not an impossibility, joining hands is not an opportunity but a responsibility, the countless interactions and almost flawless historical interaction between Lebanon’s Jews and non-Jewish citizens is noteworthy and still applicable today. Whether through this blog, inside Lebanon or outside Lebanon, the friendships are still existent. Even in South America, we witness the world’s wealthiest man, Carlos Selim Helou (Son of Lebanese immigrants) and the infamous Jewish billionaire-banking family who began in Beirut, the Safra’s, team up to rehabilitate impoverished regions of South America. They are both Lebanese, Jewish and Christian, nonetheless they reflect the countless contributions of Lebanese immigrants throughout the world. When will the day come when all the sons of Lebanon will once again rally behind the homeland and have a place to call home, a country they can be proud of that not only embraces them but is capable of receiving their support, whether moral or financial, away from the religious sensitivities and most importantly, from the flagrant corruption that has crippled Lebanese politics, and by default, the economy, for decades.

We must work harder than ever, so that we may incessantly march forward with this ceaseless and noble march towards the future of coexistence, towards that land they called Lebanon. Let us infuse light inside the dark and pessimistic chambers of reason; our work is already a manifestation of what was and what shall be again. Future generations will look upon the present circumstances and say this is not just, they will look upon the ISF (Internal Security Forces) while they ignore the legal and just appeals from Jewish community leaders asking for their buildings to be cleared of illegal squatters and say this is not just, they will look upon this generation while we refuse to separate religious affiliation to geo-political association and say this is not just, they will look upon this generation while we correlate every religious sect to a foreign sponsorship and say this is not just, they will look upon an impoverished middle-aged Jewish women still living alone in Beirut today, neglected and forgotten by her family merely because she was once in love with a man from a different sect and say this is not just, they will look upon us as we pillage the very foundation of Lebanon’s religious mosaic and say this is not just, and finally, they will look upon the religious clergy as they exploit and meddle in politics and say this is certainly, not just.

This work is a commission, beyond any political or religious affiliations and allegiances, for our brotherhood, for our unity, for our very existence. For we believe that Lebanon has a role to play in the region and the world, and a stable and prosperous Lebanon is a stable and prosperous Middle East, and a cohesive harmony between the various religious communities in Lebanon reflects the chance for a religious harmony throughout the world. Love is the foundation of genuine faith, far from the hollow externalities and trivial ideologies. Should we continue to threaten each other with death or must we not share with our forgotten Jewish brothers our life?

True compassion is more than writing a poem, flipping a coin at a beggar, or starting a blog. We must reinvent human interaction; we must reinvent the way we deal with each other. Change begins with changing ourselves, and while we are surprised the historic and beautiful stories of interaction on our blog are ignored by so many, as we witness people of various religious faith joining hands and working together, we understand that this work does not feed the stereotypes the purported media of the world claim to denounce. We posses something stronger than any media outlet, nor do I boast a PHD, but we have a truth, and we possess a conscience, which is more valuable than any material achievement.

Today, we must unite around vision and values; neither political ideology nor religious affiliation will scratch the surface of the new foundation the human family needs. Let this New Year be a year of togetherness, hope, and love. Your continued support, feedback, and increasing numbers in our registered membership are a source of pride and inspiration. We’re not seeking to start a revolt, and we still adhere to a mindset combining optimism and realism but we do believe that in the final analysis, grassroots initiatives are what will provide the results conducive to the future we seek to build. Neither the political elite nor the religious institutions possess the spiritual maturity necessary to pursue such an initiative, we must all reassess ourselves and our world, and to truly appreciate we’re all children of one God.

Aaron-Micael Beydoun

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

Safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful end of a human being. If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved.
Kahlil Gibran

Our most heartfelt and sincerest blessings on this most holy day; health, happiness and prosperity to all!

www.thejewsoflebanon.org

Lebanese Jewish Community President Joseph Dichy on the Independence of Lebanon, 1943.

Like all Lebanese, we welcome with joy the return to constitutional life. We have already entered the constructive phase of independence and we have the courage to pursue our efforts by all means possible to consolidate and elevate the edifice equally dear to all patriots.

The call for national unity has been voiced by the president of the Lebanese Republic and the eminent heads of all religious communities has profoundly echoed in our hearts. We recognize that to assure the prosperity and duration of our cherished country, all spiritual families which compose it need unity and solidarity. We adhere with enthusiasm to the (national) Pact and attaining the aspirations of Lebanon.

On the occasion of Lebanon’s Independence Day and upon the anticipated Presidential election, we pray for the stability and prosperity of our dear country. Current President, Émile Lahoud today expressed his belief in the Lebanon of religious diversity and plurality, in “Lebanon the message”, also the motto of our entire website. Today we have the opportunity to realize a new day for Lebanon; we yearn for the Lebanon we exemplify on this website, the Lebanon of one people, one civilization. Though our people have been disappointed for years with the dire circumstances in the country, there can never be any great disappointment where there is no great love. For the first time in over 35 years, we have a chance to build the new Lebanon and ultimately the progress of our country is dependent upon the determination of our people, not the selfish interests roaming the foreign capitals of the world under the guise of fraternity, ideology, history or humble sympathy. We, the Lebanese people, Jews, Christians and Muslims are the guardians of our destiny. The medieval laws of survival are obsolete; survival is contingent upon coexistence and not annihilation of Lebanon’s beautiful religious and cultural mosaic. On this day of National Independence, we unite around the universally applicable laws of sovereignty, integrity, dignity, and coexistence of all our people with no exception. Every citizen in Lebanon is an heir to a throne of dignity and worth; we must open our eyes and recognize that the Jewish community is an intricate part of this nation, an ultimate manifestation of our religious diversity, and a community that played a major role in the establishment of Lebanon. People ask why does this website even exist, but they are too short-sighted to recognize the obvious parallels between the Jewish experience in Lebanon and the potentially same experience that many others will face if we fail to rectify the grave situation and the precarious future of our country.

We are the hope of the region, we are the example for the world, and we are the message for humanity.

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

This is a message we received yesterday evening.

Is anyone in the world listening?

I am a Lebanese Jew [and] I was forced to change my family name because my family origins are from Wadi Abu Jmil. I still live there under a false name, my family did not emigrate during the war, we hid in a sieged town in the Shouf district named Deir al Kamar were I got a new name. I am a father of 3 kids, my wife is a Druze women, she knows I am Jewish but my kids don’t [and] I work as a road engineer and [I] give you my life story to tell you that I love Lebanon [and] I want to live in it. I am a Lebanese Jew.

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

Emotional plea by a Jewish youth in Lebanon, previously published by JOL.org. Let us arouse the conscience of the entire world…

I am sitting a few minutes walking distance from the Maghen Abraham [Synagogue in Beirut], writing this letter, but frankly I am at a loss for words. I am not sure what to say, or for that matter what to feel. The past few years have been a monumental struggle for me, a struggle for finding my identity, my roots, my past. My struggle might be unique in its details, but at its core it is all too common.

Perhaps you will not understand the feelings I am trying to convey. Perhaps words cannot do justice to these feelings to begin with. These feelings are better kept in one’s heart, but I have decided to attempt to at least give you a sense of the struggle that rages in me, even today, when I can safely say that I feel confident about my belonging and identity.

It pains me that I have not had the chance to experience the life that some of you in the audience might have experienced in the past in Lebanon. It pains me immensely that I have to pass by the Maghen Abraham every day without being able to enter, if only to view the destruction, to say a prayer (even though I do not know how to say prayers), to stand there and imagine and visualize what the 1940s, 50s, 60s were like. It pains me that some of you, in the audience, wish to deny that I - a Lebanese Jew - exist. That my family and friends exist. It pains me immensely that I have to keep my identity hidden in my own country, but also that I have to prove my Jewishness to you, my fellow Jews, my fellow countrymen and women. I do not consider myself or my family more Lebanese than you the Lebanese Jews in the audience, just because my family chose to stay in Lebanon. No, I do not espouse such elitist views, nor do I wish to impose labels on you. It is up to every individual to define and exert his or her identity based on his or her experiences and feelings. I might not know how to pray, and I might not have had the chance to go to shul / knis, but I am a product of the context and situation I was born into. I might not sound convincing, and I might not impress you with my words, but I seek neither to convince nor impress. And if it matters, I am writing this with tears in my eyes.

If you wish, you may choose to believe that I am not Jewish. You may choose to believe I am not Lebanese. You may choose to believe that I am your enemy in disguise. Go ahead and do it. But I ask you, if I am all these, so what? Is the wish to spread awareness and battle anti-Semitism, the wish to see renovated rather than destroyed Synagogues, the wish to see cemeteries taken care of, the wish to see a Jewish community living openly and being looked at as equals, an act of enmity? If all this is enmity, then I wonder, what does friendship look like? And if you would like, consider me an enemy - I have no objections, as long as you pay attention to these wishes, as long as you listen to those who have been able to reap your trust.

I have this much to say, and no more. I do not believe in throwing fancy words around, words that are void of real feelings and only scratch the surface of the struggle. I believe in expressing honest feelings, the reality of the struggle, the immense pain in my heart. The depth of this issue, its importance for me and my family, necessitate not an amalgamation of fancy words, but a reference to a set of realities that need to be addressed. In the end, I am but one person, ignore me if you will, but do not ignore the question, the issue, the problem, the “non-existent” Jewish community in Lebanon, or whatever else you want to call us.

Maghen Abraham is the symbol of our community. Every day I pass by it, I cannot help but assure myself that it will be the symbol of our renaissance. I wrote my thoughts and feelings in this letter as they came along, but I knew its conclusion from the very beginning. I cannot afford not to know it. For you, it might not be a reality you live with every day, but we are not blessed with that luxury. So I say, let the elderly revel in the nostalgia, but at least give our youth a chance to live it.

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

To our esteemed registered members and hundreds of daily visitors, we have been receiving many inquires regarding contradictory information about the Lebanese Jewish community between information found through this website and other websites. It is our intention to provide factual, objective, and truthful information about this community. However, we condemn the evident bias and propaganda aimed at distorting this community’s history and its very existence in Lebanon today. The Jewish experience in Lebanon is not reflective of the Jewish experience in Europe or in any other Middle Eastern state. It’s by no mere coincidence Lebanon is the only Arab state whose Jewish population increased after 1948- however its regretful that dozens of websites and venues documenting Jewish history overlook these truths and generalize the entire issue within the greater Middle Eastern context. It’s repulsive many coreligionists and even individuals from across the religious spectrum with political motives flaunt hollow and false statistics that Jews number less than 50 or 100 individuals in Lebanon today.

We don’t adhere to a policy of counter-propaganda, we believe in transparency and honesty. In the prelude to the upcoming Presidential elections in Lebanon, the entire nation clings on to hope and as per discussions with the Jewish Community Council in Beirut, this project and our very lives may be contingent upon those results.

This truth we hold so dearly and the barriers we have battled from the onset have only reaffirmed that without hope, we hold no future. For too long we have marginalized different communities for different reasons in Lebanon; we must understand and truly believe that our existence is contingent upon the existence of the other and Lebanon’s only salvation is through the unity of its people- we’re one family. Today in Lebanon, we have witnessed eight political assassinations within just two years, we watch Lebanon exploited mercilessly at the hands of foreign schemes and agendas and each day more and more youth are forced to immigrate for lack of opportunity, for lack of security, and sadly, for a lack of hope.

This project is dedicated to Lebanon, its children and its ancestors, as an example for religious tolerance and coexistence, a message for the world.

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

We would like to wish everyone a blessed and happy Rosh Hashanah, and we hope that the beginning of this Jewish New Year will be a turning point for the Lebanese Jewish community as we progress with this endeavor armed with only our love for mankind, through tolerance and religious coexistence. Lebanon’s salvation is through the unity of its people. Let this coming year be a year of reflection, happiness, health, and prosperity to all- L’Shana Tova!

I speak to you today as a human being and someone who subscribes to an overriding loyalty to all mankind as a whole.

I speak and write to anyone in the world who can hear this call, let us reaffirm our belief in mankind. Let us not stumble in the valley of despair, let us leave this cave of ignorance and hold hands in these days of challenge.

Yesterday afternoon I participated in a historic event, where men and women of goodwill shared their stories of hope and change. I simply asserted, I love God, therefore I love his greatest creation and that is the human being. For what is religion? Is not religion that path of righteousness to the Supreme Being? I ask those of you who may read this, what religion in the world, suffice to say, allows hatred of the other? Is not religion but fingers of the loving hand of God?

This entire website has broken the barriers of hate and has been a venue of love, tolerance, and acceptance of the other. In Montréal this past February, we brought together Lebanese Jews, Christians, and Muslims in one room, with one message and with a common conclusion- we want to see Beirut once again a playground for humanity, for all of God’s children to rejoice. Never in the last 40 years have we witnessed this bond between the Lebanese and all of the Lebanese.

We don’t seek fame or glory, all we seek is a country for all Lebanese, to show the world we can still exemplify the words of the late Pope Jean Paul II, that “Lebanon is more than a country, but a message” and it shall remain as such.

Today we see in Lebanon the emergence of almost two separate governments, Sunni-Shiite tensions now overshadowed by tensions within the respective and various Christian communities. We even witnessed the questioning of the identity of the Lebanese Armenian communities and yet still have not learned. Have the remaining minorities in Lebanon realized they are commencing towards the departure of their existence? Shall we begin working on www.thechristiansoflebanon.org anytime soon?

To the Lebanese, wake up and love the other. Your existence is contingent upon the existence of the other. The most noble and beautiful act any person can do is to help another. We protect ourselves, and we reserve our happiness and wellbeing when we reserve the happiness and wellbeing of the other.

There is a Jewish community in exile but there is also a Jewish population living in Lebanon today, yes they are living in Lebanon today. This community is much larger than 50 or 100 individuals, they have persevered in a society that denies them their freedom to exist and practice their religion openly. The Lebanese Jews have persevered in a society that generalizes their religious belonging to the shallow geo-political circumstances in the region. A community of over 1000 years.

The dangling discord in our nation strings can and should be reunited into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood where all of the children of good rally around the homeland.

This is a responsibility, not an opportunity, for all Lebanese and all mankind who are genuinely interested in peace in this world. Lebanon shall become an example for the world, that all of the children of God are brothers and sisters, that true faith is faith in humanity, not faith in the bomb or the gun. Faith in love, faith in tolerance, faith in coexistence, faith in ourselves.

A boy they called crazy,

A man of principle and persistence,

This will grow out of the flower in our hearts, we shall drink from the cup of life together, one day in Beirut, as Jews, Christians, Muslims, and all mankind. We shall sit together at the table of humanity and eat from the bread of life in Place d’Etoile (Nijmeh Square) -one day we hope to observe Shabbat and Passover in Beirut once again over the echoes of the Church bells and the call to prayer in the city’s Mosques.

We’re one people, we’re one blood, we have one destiny.

Aaron-Micaël Beydoun

Mailing List Registration, Please Click Here

We are three London based filmmakers who are working on a project about Lebanese Jews. We are looking for Jewish people who are living or originate from Lebanon to talk about what it is like to live in Lebanon or if you are in the diaspora, your relationship with Lebanon. We want to make a film about what has happened to one of Lebanon’s oldest communities and what it means to be Lebanese and Jewish today. Among other issues we are interested in exploring whether it is possible to be openly Jewish in Lebanon and if it’s possible to live according to Halakha.

Please get in contact with us on diaspora.film@gmail.com