Ben Ezra synagogue
The Ben Ezra Synagogue is located in Old Cairo
The first synagogue established in an ancient Christian church from the 4th century, which the Copts sold to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun in the 9th century.
So in 882, the patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria sold the church and its grounds to a group of Jews.
There are several legends here at the Ben Esra. Now it serves as a kind of well, believed to be the place where Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses in his wicker basket, and where Mary used water to wash Jesus.
This was the synagogue where scholars found its geniza, or storeroom, in the 19th century, containing a treasure trove of abandoned Hebrew, Aramaic, and Jewish-Arabic sacred manuscripts.
Solomon Schechter insisted on bringing the collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, to Cambridge University in England.
Now, several academic libraries divide it, with the majority held in the University of Cambridge Library.
Ben Ezra as an institution is old and has occupied at least three buildings in its history. There have been many large and small renovations.
The current building dates from 1890.
The date of founding of the Old Ben Ezra Synagogue is not known, and we have little information about the original building.
Around 1012, Fatimid Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of all Jewish and Christian places of worship.
The original Ben Ezra Synagogue was demolished, with its bricks and wood sold for scrap.
The next kalief, Ali az-Zahir, allowed the reconstruction of Christian and Jewish institutions, and the synagogue underwent rebuilding between 1025 and 1040.
Study of a carved Torah Ark door, sheds light on the history of the synagogue’s renovations.
The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore and the Yeshiva University Museum in New York jointly own the door.
Historically, synagogues have had a geniza, or repository, for outdated documents containing the name of God because Jewish teachings require that such papers be kept with reverence and eventually buried in a cemetery.
The 11th-century building contained an unusually large geniza, two stories high.
Some of the documents added to it were stored in the previous building, and the oldest dated document is about 150 years older than the geniza itself.
Documents continued to accumulate there for about 850 years.
In 1168, a deliberate fire destroyed much of the city of Fustat where the synagogue was then located.
Fustat is now part of Cairo.
The Muslim vizier Shawar ordered the burning of the city.
Also in 1168 the Jewish philosopher, physician and astronomer Maimonides settled in Fustat,
a short walk from the Ben Ezra Synagogue.
He lived there until his death in 1204.
Maimonides became Nagid or leader of the Egyptian Jewish community in 1171 and as a follower of the Babylonian Talmud,
he was not a “member” of Ben Ezra.
Many of the geniza documents, including some in his own handwriting, discuss his life and work and are the most important primary biographical sources of him.
The style of the carving on the Torah ark door is incompatible with that of the Fatimid Caliphate 909-1171 AD. B.C. and is more representative of the Mamluk Sultanate 1250-1571 AD. BC, specifically the 15th century.
A medallion adorning the door features a motif common to bookbinding of the period.
In the 15th century, a fire in the synagogue damaged the bimah, or pulpit. One theory suggests that they reused wood from the damaged bimah to make a new door for the Torah Ark.
The synagogue underwent repair and renovation in 1488.
