The Lebanese Jews are traditionally a Mizrahi community living in the present-day country of Lebanon, mostly in and around the city of Beirut. In Biblical times, the region between Gaza and Anatolia; modern day Lebanon and Israel was a single cultural unit. The region shared a common language of various dialects of the Canaanite language, including Phoenician and Ancient Hebrew, religion and way of life. The biblical Laban, son of Nahor; Uncle of Jacob; father of Leah and Rachel, was the chieftan of the region. Genesis 29. [Laban = Lebanon]

According to biblical accounts, these Jews were members of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh the descendants of Rachel and Jacob. During the time of the Israelite Kingdoms, Lebanon and Israel could be recognised as distinct entities, although they remained close allies, experiencing the same fates with changing regional developments. During this period, parts of modern Lebanon were under the control of Jerusalem, and Jews lived as far north as Baal-Hermon on the slopes of Mount Hermon, sometimes identified with Hasbaya. This included some of the world’s first permanent settlements arranged around early agricultural communities and independent city states, many of which maintained a wide network of trade relations throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.

Following the Bar Kokhba Revolt, in or around 132 BCE several Jewish communities were established in Lebanon. Caliph Muawiya (642-680) established a Jewish community in Tripoli. Another was founded in 922 in Sidon. The Jewish Palestinian Academy was established in Tyre in 1071. In the 19th century hostilities between the Druze and the Maronites led many Jews to depart Deir al-Qamar, with most moving to Hasbaya by the end of the century.

In 1911, Jews from Greece, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey moved to Beirut, expanding the community there to nearly 5,000. The Jewish community prospered under the French mandate and Greater Lebanon, exerting considerable influence throughout Lebanon and beyond. They allied themselves with Pierre Gemayel’s Phalangist party (a right wing, Maronite group modelled after similar movements in Italy and Germany) and played an instrumental role in the establishment of Lebanon as an independent state.

The Jewish community was traditionally centered in Wadi Abu Jmil and Ras Beirut, with smaller numbers in the Chouf, Deir al-Qamar, Aley, Bhamdoun, Saida and Hasbaya. Lebanon was the only Arab country whose Jewish population actually increased after the declaration of the State of Israel in 1948. However, after the 1958 Civil War, many Lebanese Jews left the country, largely for Europe, and the United States.

In 1971, Albert Elia, the 69-year-old Secretary-General of the Lebanese Jewish community was kidnapped in Beirut by Syrian agents and imprisoned under torture in Damascus along with Syrian Jews who had attempted to flee the country. A personal appeal by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan to the late President Hafez al-Assad failed to secure Elia’s release. The Lebanese Civil War, beginning in 1975, proved worse for the Jews.

Lebanese Jews were frequent targets of Islamic militant groups since 1984. Synagogues were often attacked.  In 1991, due to mass emigration of Lebanese Jews into foreign countries, only two Jews remained in Wadi Abu Jimail Street, and with a population of around sixty, the community more or less ceased to exist. Those who still remained now live in Beirut, Aley, Byblos, and Bhamdoun. Jewish infrastructure suffered as well. Lacking a rabbi, Lebanon’s Jews find it difficult to continue their religious traditions and tend to keep a low profile to protect themselves from attacks related to the common misperception that they are agents of Israel.

The Deir el Qamar Synagogue, located in Deir el Qamar, a village in south-central Lebanon, is the oldest synagogue in Mount Lebanon. The synagogue was built in the 17th century to serve the local Jewish population, some of whom were part of the immediate entourage of Emir Fakhreddine II. The building is in good condition, however it has been shut to the public since 1998 due to security considerations. Dory Chamoun, mayor of Deir el Qamar and son of former Lebanese president Camille Chamoun has offered occasional support to members of the Jewish community. Almost all of the community has emigrated to Israel, France, and North America. There are between 50 and 1,000 Jews now living in the country, compared to 24,000 in 1948. Emigration was not great even after Lebanon’s first civil war 1958, as Lebanese Jews were tightly integrated into society and felt no need to abandon their homeland. But emigration increased after Lebanon’s 1975 civil war, and increased further after 1982.

The Maghen Abraham Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in Beirut. Although it is no longer used for worship, it can still be seen in Wadi Abu Jamil district, the former Jewish quarter in central Beirut. Restoration of the synagogue was expected to start by 2009, but is now delayed. The synagogue brought about many benefits to the Jewish community in Lebanon during the early twentieth century. It was constructed in 1925 and named after the son of Abraham Sason. Because of insufficient funding, the head of the Jewish community, Josef Farhi, helped in completing the interior. Yitzchak Mann donated the land to build it. The synagogue was also used for Torah and scientific lectures, weddings and other festive events. The synagogue played an important role in the 1940s in which immigrants were temporarily sheltered within the synagogue while traveling to Israel.

In 1976, a year after the civil war began, Joseph Farhi transferred the Torah scrolls from the synagogue to Geneva and entrusted to renowned Jewish-Lebanese banker Edmond Safra, who preserved them in his bank’s coffers. Most of them have since been relocated to Sephardic synagogues in Israel.

Fundings had already been received by the 65-year-old leader of the minute Jewish community, Isaac Arazi. Arazi estimated that the synagogue would require up to $1 million for renovation. He managed to raise up to $40,000 for the project, promising more to come. Solidere SAL, civil-engineering company owned by the Hariri family, had also given $150,000 to each of 14 religious organizations that are restoring places of worship in Lebanon, about $2.1 million in all. “We help all the communities,” said Solidere chairman Nasser Chammaa. Also, in Switzerland, a couple of banks, whose owners were of Lebanese-Jewish roots, had agreed to provide financing. One offered a sum of $100,000, but Arazi declined to mention its name. The restoration of the synagogue was to have started in November 2008, but the global financial crisis delayed those plans.

Wadi Abu Jamil, located in Beirut’s Centre Ville, was the Jewish quarter in Beirut, Lebanon. The quarter was the center of the Lebanese Jewish community, with Beirut’s largest and most important synagogue, the Maghen Abraham Synagogue, (now abandoned and dilapidated), located there. The neighborhood was home to Lebanon’s centuries-old Jewish community and also for the more recent Jewish refugees from Syria and Iraq.

Although the greater part of the community had already emigrated after the 1958 Crisis and the Lebanese Civil War, Yasir Arafat’s PLO forces who occupied it and the Christian Phalangists actually protected the neighborhood during the 1982 Lebanon War. The presence of Palestine Liberation Organization forces in the quarter led to an Israeli bombardment that damaged the Maghen Abraham Synagogue. In 1982, during the Israeli invasion, 11 Jewish leaders were captured and executed by Islamist terrorists. During the advance of the Israeli Defense Force into Beirut, Yasir Arafat assigned Palestinian gunmen to stand guard at the Maghen Abraham Synagogue, an important symbol of the Jewish community, located within sight of the Parliament. The synagogue was then heavily damaged by Israeli Air Force bombing, perhaps in the presumption that it was being used as a Palestinian weapons storehouse. Further damage resulted from Arab rioters.

Wadi Abu Jamil, Beirut’s Jewish quarter, is now virtually abandoned and the synagogue dilapidated. Promises to rebuild the synagogue, made by former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, who bought up the surrounding land, were left unfulfilled. Around 1500 Jews remain in Beirut today however not more than 60 are registered officially. The most recent community representative, Joseph Mizrahi, lived in Beirut until 2003, when he left for France.

In April 2008, there have been widespread rumours that the Lebanese government plans to demolish the structure along with surrounding buildings. However, the rumours have been criticized by Lebanon as untrue. There was a decision by the late former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, to restore the synagogue and surround it with a garden. However the restoration never took place. The neighboring Talmudic school was demolished so that other new buildings would keep the view of the beach nearby. In the spring of 2008, the Jewish expatriates expressed their desire to renovate the synagogue. They wished to proceed once stability within Lebanon improved. Recently, the expatriates stated that the synagogue, along with the Jewish cementry in Sodeco, will be renovated from October 2008.

According to Bloomberg, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was quoted as saying: This is a religious place of worship and its restoration is welcome. Also, Hussain Rahal, a spokesman for Hezbollah, said his group also supports the restoration of Maghen Abraham: We respect the Jewish religion just like we do Christianity,” he said. “The Jews have always lived among us. We have an issue with Israel’s occupation of land.”

Jewish Community Presidents

Ezra Anzarouth Prior to 1910
Joseph. D. Farhi 1910-1924
Joseph Dichy Bey 1925-1927
Joseph D. Farhi 1928-1930
Selim Harari 1931-1934
Joseph D. Farhi 1935-1938
Joseph Dichy Bey 1939-1950
Joseph Attiyeh 1950-1976
Isaac Sasson 1977-1985
Elie Hallak 1985- ?

Chief rabbis: Between the years of 1908 and 1978, a series of Chief Rabbis led the Lebanese Jewish community.
Rabbi Danon 1908-1909
Jacob Maslaton 1910-1921
Salomon Tagger 1921-1923
Shabtai Bahbout 1924-1950
Benzion Lichtman 1932-1959
Jacob Attiyeh 1949-1966
Chaoud Chreim 1960-1978

A voice is heard on high, wailing, bitterly crying. Rachel weeps for her children She refuses to be consoled. For they are gone. “Restrain your voice from weeping,” G-d tells her. “Hold back your eyes from their tears. “For your work has its reward and your children shall return.” (Jeremiah 31:14)

Rachel is the embodiment of the Shechina as She descends to care for Her children, even to travel their journey of exile with them. And so she ensures they will return. Rachel is the world of revealed words and deeds. She held beauty that Jacob could perceive and desire. But Leah was too lofty, too far beyond all things, and so Jacob could not attach himself to her in the same way.

Her sister, Leah is also our Jewish mother, the Shechina. It is from Leah that almost all of the Jewish nation descends. She is the transcendent, concealed world; those hidden things of the Divine Mind too deep for men to fathom. She is the Sphere of Royalty as She rises above to receive in silent meditation.

If the Shechina is a diamond and each woman is a different facet, then Rachel is the spark of hope that glistens in each one and emanates from deep inside. The spark that never became detached, that remains above and beyond even while the Shechina that contains it sinks below. A resilient spark that all the rivers of exile cannot wash away and oceans of tears cannot extinguish.

The tomb of Reuben, first born son of Jacob and Leah, is located at Nabi Rubin, Israel. During the Ottoman period Jews and Arabs would gather each year at the Mamluk era structure. Nowadays, infrequent Jewish visitors come to pray at the site. Since the 17th century, Muslims from the towns and villages surrounding these cities, flocked to Nabi Rubin to celebrate the mawsim. Up to 30,000 people made the pilgrimage annually throughout the month of August.

Islamic judge Mujir ad Din wrote in 1495 it is a tomb of our lord Reuben, the burial place of Reuben, son of Jacob and Leah, thereon establishing local Muslim tradition.The shrine of al-Nabi Rubin stands amid shrubs and other wild vegetation. A minaret that has three lancet-arched entrances stands at one end of it. A number of minor shrines built of large stones also remain. Near the shrine is a deserted, free-standing cement structure that consists of a single, box-shaped room.

Al-Nabi Rubin (Arabic: transliteration: an-Nabî Rûbîn) was an Arab village in central Canaan, located 14.5 kilometers (9 mi) west of Ramla and just northeast of Yibna and 18 kilometers (11 mi) south of Jaffa. The village was situated on the southern banks of Wadi al-Sarar also known as Sorek Stream at an elevation of 25 meters (82 ft) below sea level. Nabi Rubin is named after a shrine in the village, revered by Muslims to be the tomb of Reuben.

Nabi Rubin was a place of trade between tribes prior to being inhabited. In 1184, it held a fair where Arab merchants from Damascus traded slaves, Persian and Kurdish- bred horses, weapons and blades from Yemen and India. This trade continued until wars between the Mamluks and crusaders commenced in the 1200′s. The Mamluk governor of Jerusalem built a mosque and shrine there and it was of utmost importance that mosques and shrines were built for all the tombs of the prophets otherwise the Crusaders raided the graves and took away their bones for rituals

The village of Nabi Rubin was first settled by members of the Abu Sawayrih tribe in the 1930s and ’40s who are descendants of the al-Maliha Bedouin tribe who used dwell in the Sinai Peninsula. The village’s land area, most of which was covered by sand dunes, was the second largest in the district after that of Yibna and was designated as an Islamic waqf (“pious endowment”). Some of the houses, which were scattered across the site without any discernible nucleus, were also built inside the fruit orchards. Shops, as well as a movie theater, were built in the neighborhood of the shrine. The villagers worked in agriculture and animal husbandry; they also catered to the visitors during the mawsim. They cultivated mainly grain, followed by citrus and other fruits, such as figs and grapes. In 1944-45 a total of 683 dunums was devoted to citrus and banana cultivation, and 4357 dunums were allocated to cereals. Another 184 dunums were irrigated or used for orchards. In Sami Hadawi’s 1945 land and population survey, Nabi Rubin had a population of 1,420 inhabitants and a total land area of 31,002 dunams of which 683 were planted with citrus trees with no built-up area.

Temporary coffeehouses, restaurants, and stalls selling food and other merchandise were set up, and people sang popular songs, both religious and nationalist — and danced the traditional dabka. Sufi dervishes held dhikr sessions, and pilgrims also watched horse races, magic shows and listened to sermons from imans and poets. In 1933, during the Nabi Rubin celebrations, Arabs went on strike and rioted against British Mandatory rule.

Tomb of Reuben, first born son of Jacob and Leah