The Jews of Lebanon Project

Under Construction.This is a major work in progress and will be published once it is completed. Lebanese Jews were fully Lebanese in every sense and still are, they were an intricate part of Lebanese history and society and were constitutionally protected. It’s by no mere coincidence, Lebanon is the only Arab state whose Jewish population increased after 1948. This section of the website will be continuously updated and an extensive, thorough, factual, and above all, an unbiased account of the history and the present status of the community will be provided.

And YES, there is a Jewish community IN Lebanon TODAY.

Jewish Community Presidents, 1910-Present

Prior to 1910 Ezra Anzarut
1910-1924 Joseph. D. Farhi
1925-1927 Joseph Dichy Bey
1928-1930 Joseph D. Farhi
1931-1934 Selim Harari
1935-1938 Joseph D. Farhi
1939-1950 Joseph Dichy Bey
1950-1976 Joseph Attiyeh
1977-1985 Isaac Sasson
1985-Present, we prefer to not disclose names for privacy.

Chief Rabbis, 1908-1978

1908-1909 Rabbi Danon
1910-1921 Jacob Maslaton
1921-1923 Salomon Tagger
1924-1950 Shabtai Bahbout
1932-1959 Benzion Lichtman
1949-1966 Jacob Attiyeh
1960-1978 Chaoud Chreim

Community President Joseph Farhi on the occasion of a visit by the Maronite Patriarch Antoine Arida to the Jewish Community in 1937:

For us Jews our attachment to this country is not of recent date. It has existed for thousands of years. Already Moses solicited God’s favor to see the Promised Land –the enchanting Lebanon. Later our biblical poets celebrated the marvelous sites, the majestic cedars which Solomon preferred for building the Eternal Temple. Time has not diminished our attachment to the land which we inhabit, has nothing but forfeited our feelings of loyalty and devotion to Lebanon, which in our days, following the example of its glorious ally France, is maintaining rights and a regime of liberty and justice for all its citizens without distinction of race or confession.

Community President Joseph Dichy Bey on the occasion of the liberation of Lebanon from the French Vichy regime and the departure of British and French forces during Passover 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.

Editor and Publisher of a Jewish magazine in Beirut –Le Commerce du Levant, Toufic Mizrahi, published February 21, 1950 in a letter addressed to the New York Times:

I must admit, as a Jew living in Lebanon, that Lebanese Jews, even in the most critical hour of the Palestinian crisis never suffered from any particular treatment, either from the authorities or the people. At no time have the Lebanese Jews been deprived of their rights as citizens, or their liberties. They went about their business enjoying the same rights as their compatriots.

The Jewish officials of the Administration have always maintained their posts, and the same kind of treatment was experienced by the Jews fleeing from the neighboring Arab states.

The Lebanese Jews consider their sympathetic ties to Palestine as purely religious, while all other ties – those of nationality, culture, language, and customs bind them to their mother country, whose faithful citizens they wish to remain.

…One month later, March 17, 1950, Toufic Mizrahi published another article in the Hebrew newspaper HaDor:

(During the 1948 war) not a hair fell from the head of a Lebanese Jew. The authorities did not change their attitude towards Jews. The rights of Jews were not harmed. They could continue with their business and their work just like everyone else in Lebanon. Not one Jewish clerk was removed from office, as happened in neighboring Arab states.

All information may not be reproduced in any way.