Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Remarkable Pictures of Extinct Jewish Communities, Part 3 - Israel's History - a Picture a Day (Beta)


Posted: 13 Jan 2014

Original caption: "Jew Tailor in his Booth on a Street in Old Cairo"

(Credit: Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography at UCR 
ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside) 





























We present Part 3 of a series of vintage pictures on the Jews of the Middle East.  Like the communities in previous features -- Baghdad, Mosul, and Constantinople (Istanbul) -- the Jews of Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus are on the verge of extinction. 

Some of the pictures presented here show both the poverty and the wealth of the various Jewish communities.

Egypt

Cairo:  In 1948, the Cairo Jewish community numbered an estimated 55,000. Pogroms and imprisonment caused almost all of the Jews of Egypt to emigrate.

Zaoud-el Mara (Jewish Quarters) Alexandria, 
Egypt.  A Library of Congress photo dates
this picture from 1898.









Alexandria:  According to a Jerusalem Post article from 2008, Alexandria "is said to have boasted a community of tens of thousands of Jews of both Ashkenazi and Mizrahi descent, but some were expelled as French or British citizens during the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. Others were expelled and/or imprisoned for up to three years during the Six Day War. Some, too, left on their own accord, feeling that there was a brighter future for them as Jews in countries like Israel, America and Australia."



There are believed to be around 40 Jews living in Egypt today.



Syria - Damascus
 "Beautiful shaded court of a Jewish Home in Damascus, Syria."
Look at the details of the picture.

(Credit: Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography at UCR 
ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside) 


The Damascus Jewish community numbered an estimated 15,000-17,000 in 1918.  Riots, government discrimination, and imprisonment caused almost all of Syrian Jewry to flee.

Today, perhaps a few dozen Jews live in Syria, but the savage civil war has also engulfed old Jewish neighborhoods and ancient synagogues.

At the start of the 20th century, several wealthy Jewish families lived in Damascus, and photographs of their homes are presented here.

Enlarging the photos disclosed 
several interesting details.


The matron of the home?


Children of the home?





















Grand Mosque and Damascus from the Jewish 
Quarters, Syria. Three women on a balcony 
overlooking city. 

Credit: Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum
 of Photography at UCR ARTSblock, University 
oCalifornia, Riverside) 




 Court of a Wealthy Jew’s Home in Old 
Damascus, Syria. See also here.

Keystone-Mast Collection, California Museum of Photography
 at UCR ARTSblock, University of California, Riverside) 































Click on pictures to enlarge.  Click on the caption to view the original photo.
















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Thanks for sharing. Blessings on your head from the Lord Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach.

Steve Martin
Founder
Love For His People
Charlotte, NC USA