Photographed in Tunisia in May 1995
"From childhood I have been entranced by the magical legends of the Ten Tribes,
lost without trace somewhere beyond the dark mountains and the turbulent River
Sambatyon. As befits a Zionist adventurer, I decided to seek them out, and I
never miss an opportunity to travel and to reflect on the truth and the legend,
the myth and the faith which sustained the children of Israel in all their
far-flung diasporas. Were they exiled by others? Did they choose exile
voluntarily? What force drove them beyond the mountain ranges of Asia or into
caves at the edge of the Sahara desert? Wonderingly, I contemplated the
traditions and customs which they have preserved despite assimilation and
integration.
I reached the island of Djerba on the eve of Lag ba'Omer, for the R. Shimon Bar
Yohai annual hillula. It was here that I grasped the full force of the naive
belief of the Jews of this isolated island, who are convinced that Djerba is
'the corridor to Jerusalem.' The first of the exiles, goes the legend, brought
with them one of the gates of Jerusalem, a remnant of the Temple of Solomon
which lay in ruins, and set it in the foundation of their sacred synagogue. Thus
they preserved the memory of the destruction and marked their own yearning for
redemption. Today, members of the Tunisian Jewish community are drawn to the
Ghriba of Djerba. From France and from Israel they come on pilgrimage and
fulfill
their vows at the graves of great rabbis and miracle-makers who guarded the
embers of faith but died on alien soil, never attaining the promised land.
From the deep south, where time has stood still, we crisscross northward
between modern coastal towns and exotic oases: here a handful of Jewish
goldsmiths, still reluctant to abandon the tombs of their forefathers, and there
a few Jewish merchants prospering from the flood of tourists. We enter the gates
of old cities and picturesque casbahs; bask in the warm welcome, enjoy the
magical marine life and the boukha, a stimulating drink made from figs. In the
north the human landscape undergoes a change: centuries of Jewish migrants from
Italy have maintained their uniqueness, and have left their stamp on the
cemeteries as well.
Now that the gates of North African countries are slowly opening, Israelis are
able to visit them. Tomorrow, who knows, it may be possible to travel from
Jerusalem to Djerba by land, along the coast..
Three thousand kilometers of a journey into the past - a very narrow bridge."
