Today, among much pomp, Egypt is opening the restored Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria that fell into disrepair.
The Egyptian government spent some $4 million for the restoration.
No Israeli officials are allowed at today’s ceremony, although supposedly they will be allowed to hold a separate ceremony later this year. (Odds are it will be mysteriously canceled for some very valid sounding reason.)
Alexandria once had some 40,000 Jews. Now it has virtually none.
Egyptian archaeologist Dr. Zahi Hawass, who used to be minister for antiquities affairs, said that he is very happy with the work of the restoration of the synagogue in Alexandria, adding that when he took over the responsibility of that department in 2002 Egyptian synagogues were neglected and very damaged “but we repaired them because they are part of the history of this country.”
He said that Egyptian Jews are part of the Egyptians, just like the Egyptian Christians and Egyptian Muslims, and stressed that the Jewish temples in Egypt must be preserved, and the Jews’ heritage and civilization must be preserved because it is part of the Egyptians who lived there.
What Hawass doesn’t mention is how he reacted to the news that some Jews had actually celebrated and worshipped at the re-opening of the Rambam synagogue in Cairo in 2010. He said then that the synagogue will not be handed over to the Jewish community in Egypt in any way, that no Jew will be allowed to pray there, nor will he allow any Israeli to pray there.
For Egypt, the money spent on synagogue restoration is to make Egypt look like a multicultural country and to attract tourists. But to actually allow Jews to pray in these once-bustling synagogues? Not a chance.
Eliyahu Hanavi looks beautiful. It has a rich history back to the 13th century, rebuilt in the 19th. But it is a museum, not a synagogue.
And Egypt likes it that way.
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