Jews of Lebanon

[Beiruty]

Here is shared birth certificate of Jewish newborn of Sidon, Lebanon
https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post. ... 6type%3D3&

[Ed4032]

From 1856?

[Beiruty]

From 1856?

The father was born in 1856 and his name was Micheal Bou-Motrib Balaciano. He was the father of Isaac Micheal Balciano.
The certificate was issued in 1948 in the early days of Lebanese Government. And Signed by the Grand Rabbi of Beirut, Lebanon.

As reference for the dates, My grandfather was born in 1880 and died in 1978.

[mojo84]

Beiruty, I have been contemplating your original post in this topic and am having trouble discerning the point you are making. Can you help me out a little?

[Beiruty]

Beiruty, I have been contemplating your original post in this topic and am having trouble discerning the point you are making. Can you help me out a little?

The History of Jewish people in Lebanon as most of Arab world is very old. Also, they lived in peace in Lebanon for very long time. They have never been persecuted or forced to leave Lebanon.
I wanted to show their families, synagogues, and their heritage in Lebanon.

[Beiruty]

Grand Synagogue of Beirut, Lebanon.
Restored after the civil war ended in 1991


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maghen_Abraham_Synagogue

[Redneck_Buddha]

From Wikipedia regarding Jews in Lebanon post 1948:

Anti-Zionist demonstrations began in 1947 and 1948 but initially showed no malice to the Jewish community. As the Arab–Israeli conflict continued, hostility toward the Jews intensified, especially from the Muslim population. The main synagogue in Beirut was bombed in the early 1950s, and the Lebanese Chamber of Deputies witnessed heated debates on the status of Lebanese Jewish army officers. The discussions culminated in a unanimous resolution to expel and exclude them from the Lebanese Army.[13] The two Jewish army officers were discharged, but a few Jews continued to work for the government. The Jewish population of Beirut, which stood at 9,000 in 1948, dwindled to 2,500 by 1969.[14]

In 2010, work began to restore an old synagogue in Beirut, the Maghen Abraham Synagogue. The synagogue had fallen into disrepair after being bombed by Israel several years earlier. The roof had collapsed and trees and bushes had grown under it.[15] Although Solidere agreed to provide funds for the renovation because political officials believed it would portray Lebanon as an open society tolerant of Judaism,[16] none of the Jews involved in the project agreed to be identified, nor were the non-Jewish construction workers willing to show their faces or be photographed. The international media and even some members of the Jewish community (in and out of Lebanon) questioned who would pray there.[17] The self-declared head of the Jewish Community Council, Isaac Arazi, who left Lebanon in 1983,[18][19] eventually came forward but refused to show his face on camera in a television interview, fearing that his business would suffer if clients knew they had been dealing with a Jew.[20]

Philanthropist and civic leader Jack Benaroya and Major League Baseball player John Grabow are of Lebanese-Jewish descent."

[mojo84]

Beiruty, I have been contemplating your original post in this topic and am having trouble discerning the point you are making. Can you help me out a little?

The History of Jewish people in Lebanon as most of Arab world is very old. Also, they lived in peace in Lebanon for very long time. They have never been persecuted or forced to leave Lebanon.
I wanted to show their families, synagogues, and their heritage in Lebanon.

Interesting. How many Jews are there in Lebanon? Are they actively holding services in the restored synagogue?

[Beiruty]

I am not certain about the number. Before the 1975 civil war, the number of Israelites of Lebanon, as they are called, was in thousands. Like many hundred of thousands of the Lebanese they emigrate out of Lebanon due security and safety reasons and financial hardship.
The current number is unknown, but they are still there. I watched once a TV interview with a Jewish lady who said she will never leave Lebanon. The country where she was born and lived.

[Beiruty]

Jewish Cemetery of Beirut.
NB: It was maybe like 1-2 miles away where I was born and raised in Beirut. It is in our district/neighborhood.
http://almashriq.hiof.no/lebanon/700/77 ... ndex2.html

[rotor]

Beiruty, I have been contemplating your original post in this topic and am having trouble discerning the point you are making. Can you help me out a little?

The History of Jewish people in Lebanon as most of Arab world is very old. Also, they lived in peace in Lebanon for very long time. They have never been persecuted or forced to leave Lebanon.
I wanted to show their families, synagogues, and their heritage in Lebanon.

Interesting. How many Jews are there in Lebanon? Are they actively holding services in the restored synagogue?

According to Wikipedia there are 40 Jews living in Lebanon. Imagine, only 40. Do you know why Christianity is being targeted in much of the Arab world, because there are no more Jews to target. The Arab population of Israel is over 1.5 million. All interesting but of no relevance to our 2A.

[o b juan]

Ihae read this thread from the start . I wonder what thye point is and where it will end up

[mojo84]

All interesting but of no relevance to our 2A.

Bet that is why he put it in the Off-Topic section with the other threads that have no relevance to our 2nd Amendment.

I too saw the Wikipedia info along with various other sources that give estimates anywhere from 20 to 4450. Thought he may have more accurate info since he is from there and he started the topic.

[eyedoc]

Jewish Population
1948: 20,000 | 2018: < 1001
When Christian Arabs ruled Lebanon, Jews enjoyed relative toleration. In the mid-50’s, approximately 7,000 Jews lived in Beirut. As Jews in an Arab country, however, their position was never secure, and the majority left in 1967.

Fighting in the 1975-76 Muslim-Christian civil war swirled around the Jewish Quarter in Beirut, damaging many Jewish homes, businesses and synagogues. Most of the remaining 1,800 Lebanese Jews emigrated in 1976, fearing the growing Syrian presence in Lebanon would curtail their freedom. Most Jews went to Europe (particularly France), the United States and Canada.

In the mid-1980’s, Hezbollah kidnapped several prominent Jews from Beirut — most were leaders of what remained of the country’s tiny Jewish community. Four of the Jews were later found murdered.

Nearly all of the remaining Jews are in Beirut, where there is a committee that represents thttps://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bimahhe community.2 Because of the current political situation, Jews are unable to openly practice Judaism. In 2004, only 1 out of 5,000 Lebanese Jewish citizens registered to vote participated in the municipal elections. Virtually all of those registered have died or fled the country. The lone Jewish voter said that most of the community consists of old women.3

The Jewish cemetery in Beirut is decrepit and cared for by an elderly Shiite woman. The gravestones, written in Hebrew and French, are a testament to the Lebanese Jewish community that is now only a shadow of its former self.4

The Arab-Israeli conflict, and Israel’s long military presence in Lebanon, provoked strong anti-Israel sentiment. All travel from Lebanon to Israel is strictly prohibited. Meanwhile, Hizballah uses southern Lebanon as a base for terrorist attacks against Israel.

In September 2008, Isaac Arazi, the leader of Lebanon’s Jewish Community Council announced that he planned to rebuild the Maghen Abraham synagogue in Beirut and that additional plans were underway to restore Beirut’s Jewish cemetery, which is home to some 4,500 graves.5 Originally built in 1926, the synagogue was seriously damaged during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war when looters stole its Torah ark and prayer benches and gutted its electrical system. Renovation work began in August 2009, with approval from the Lebanese government, planning authorities, and Hizballah. Reconstruction was funded by donations from private donors and a donation from Solidere, a construction company privately owned by the family of assassinated prime minister Rafik Hariri.6

Today decrepit buildings are the only vestiges of a once large and vibrant Jewish community in Lebanon. Old Lebanese synagogues are now falling into disrepair or being used as personal dwellings instead of religiously significant landmarks. Tourists often visit these old synagogues but few serve a religious or communal service any more. The Ohel Yacob Synagogue in Saida, with its shoddy wooden door and a metal window grate featuring Stars of David, is the only one that remains open to the public currently. Ohel Yacob has been turned into a home with couches and a television set instead of a bima and a place for the Torah scrolls.7

Lebanon’s oldest synagogue, Magen Abraham Synagogue, located in the mountains of Aley has been undergoing a renovation project after being abandoned as a place of worship following the Lebanese civil war. The building sustained heavy damage and looting during the war and did not reopen afterwards due to structural damage and a dwindling Jewish population. Currently, the renovation project is underway but moving slowly and the ground is littered with dirt, old boots, and garbage. The building also no longer has a roof7.

The synagogue in the town of Deir al-Qamar is currently the most well restored synagogue in the country. A stone building with tall vaulted ceilings, the Deir al-Qamar synagogue is owned by the Lebanese government who took on a project to restore the synagogue along with the rest of Deir al-Qamar’s historic district. Occasionally the building is rented out by local organizations for events, however it is not used on a regular basis7.

The Bhamdoun Synagogue is one of the largest to ever exist in Lebanon, and is the most intact today. The stone slabs in front of the building bear the words of the ten commandments written in Hebrew, and inside the building the remnants of a bima and a “Holy Ark” for the Torah can be found. The Bhamdoun Synagogue was built in 1922 and is known as the “New Temple” because it was one of the last synagogues to be built in Lebanon7.

Sources: Sergio DellaPergola, “World Jewish Population, 2018,” American Jewish Year Book 2018, Arnold Dashefsky and Ira M. Sheskin, Eds., (Springer Nature Switzerland, 2019), pp. 361-449.
1 David Singer and Lawrence Grossman, Eds., American Jewish Year Book 2003, (NY: American Jewish Committee, 2003).
2 Maariv, (June 21, 1991); Jewish Telegraphic Agency, (July 22, 1993); Jewish Communities of the World.
3 Majdoline Hatoum, “Of 5,000 Jewish Lebanese, only 1 voted,” The Daily Star, (May 10, 2004).
4 Stephen Talbot, “Syria/Lebanon: The Occupier and the Occupied,” PBS Frontline, (2004).
5 “Lebanon Jews to rebuild Beirut’s Maghen Abraham Synagogue,” Ya Libnan, (September 18, 2008).
6 “Renovation work underway at Beirut’s main synagogue,” Haaretz, (August 18, 2009).
7 “Uncovering Lebanon’s Jewish Past,” Al Jazeera, (October 7, 2014).

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jews-of-lebanon