Once upon a time in Al Fustat, Cairo, the Ben Ezra Synagogue was the center of celebration, congregations, and prayers to the Jewish community in Egypt. The synagogue, which dates back to the 9th century AD, is the oldest Jewish temple in Cairo. Located in the alleyways of Coptic Cairo, the temple was originally known as El-Shamieen Church. The Church was believed to have been sold to Jewish and bought by Abraham Ben Ezra in 882 AD. Cairo became the center of Jewish life in Egypt following the Crusades of 1168. Its Jewish community lived primarily in Ḥārat al-Yahūd, or the Jewish quarter although Egyptian Jews were known to have been spread across Alexandria and Cairo. Approximately 25,000 Jews lived in Egypt in the 12th century, mostly in the town of Fustat and their language was Arabic, although the wealthier mastered French as well. They excelled in medicine, served at the courts of the rulers, and engaged in crafts. According to contemporaneous sources, Egyptian Jewry was among the world’s most diverse Jewish communities, comprising Jews of all denominations and ethnic backgrounds, particularly from the Levant or the South of…
