"As a Jew and an Israeli citizen, I find Egypt full of
associations, both contemporary and historic, and it was with a mixture of excitement
and anxiety that I made my preparations to go there.
Flying time between Cairo and Tel Aviv is a mere 50 minutes - 50 minutes which separate
two such different cultures. The Egyptians in general are a simple folk, relaxed
and friendly to all, including to their local Jews. In contrast, a feeling of insecurity
pervades the Jewish community. The rise of fundamentalism intensifies the feelings
of insecurity of the Jews, and the community is understandably reluctant to draw
attention to itself. Those Jews who are left, about 100 souls, are mainly elderly
and poor. Their survival, therefore, is more important to them than cooperating
with an unknown photographer.
The infrastructure of the community was very similar to other Jewish communities
in the Diaspora. Today, the synagogues, community centers and offices serve the
handful of Jews left in Egypt. Its schools, which were once attended by Jewish children,
are rented out to the locals - today there are only three Jewish children left in
the community. The old-age homes are empty, and those poorer Jews who can no longer
fend for themselves are sent to Christian old-age homes, and die under the sign
of the cross. There is no longer a rabbi or kosher meat. On Pesach, matzoth are
brought in from Israel.
The synagogues which remain are memorials to a rich and flourishing past, as are
the ornate cemeteries of Alexandria. The Ibn Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo, which
has been restored, is today an historical site, and this will probably be the fate
of the other remaining synagogues, such as the Sha'arei Shamayim and the Karaite
in Cairo, and the Eliyahu haNavi in Alexandria.
At a funeral in Alexandria of an elderly spinster, I was requested by the president
of the community to officiate. I was the only person there who could read Hebrew.
Despite the absence of a minyan I still said kaddish. During the funeral the thought
came to me that in 20 or so years the only Jews in Egypt will be outsiders - visitors,
businessmen, diplomatic corps, etc. The synagogues and Jewish libraries will, like
the pyramids, become possessions of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority."
