Untold Stories:
The Jews of Egypt
November 30, 2022
Day to Mark the Departure and Expulsion of Jews from the Arab Countries and Iran
יוֹם לְצִיּוֹן הָיְצִיאָה וְהַגִירוּשׁ שֶׁל הַיְהוּדִים מֵאַרְצוֹת עֲרָב וּמְאִירָאן
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Objective: Describe how life for Egyptian Jews changed during the 20th century
The wedding of Joyce Sultan and Marco Levy in Egypt, circa 1955.
Map depicting population of Jews in Arab lands in 1948 and today
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The Jewish communities of Egypt were predominantly located in Cairo and Alexandria.
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Timeline of the History of the Jews of Egypt 1945-2022
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Modern Jewish Life in Egypt
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Brit Milah of Eli Harari in Alexandria, Egypt, c. 1953.
“I was born in Tanta, Egypt, in 1921 and later moved to Cairo. The Jewish people were religious, shomer shabbat, and most of the community lived in the same area. I learned to read the Sefer Torah. I became a hazan. Throughout the generations the Jewish women took care of their koser homes, hadlaqat nerot (lighting the candles) and serving meals on Shabbat with suffeh. It was said that there was much more Senee’out (modesty) in those days.”
-Felix Tourgeman
Modern Jewish Life in Egypt
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“I grew up in Alexandria, Egypt and we had the most lavish, comfortable life. We had two helpers and a porter. My father went to k’nees (synagoge) every morning for the first minyan and then to work. Life was very modern, and we were very cosmopolitan. We went to afternoon tea at cafés on the water, where they had music and dancing. I went to a French school where we learned French, Italian and English. The Egyptians traveled and they were very up to date. We were very European.”
-Nelly Doueck Ades
Chehebar Family at a Party, 1944
The Founding of the State of Israel
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Before the vote, Heykal Pasha, an Egyptian delegate, made the following statement: “The proposed solution might endanger a million Jews living in the Moslem countries. If the United Nations decides to partition Palestine, it might be responsible for the massacre of a large number of Jews.”
“Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands”
New York Times Headline, May 18, 1948
1956: Gamal Abdel Nasser Rises to Power
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1956 Sinai War
AKA Suez Crisis
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Soon after taking power, Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal and restricted trade with Israel. In response, Israeli forces invaded Egypt, with support from Britain and France, in what became known as the Suez Crisis.
After Israel invaded Egypt President Nasser brought in a set of sweeping regulations abolishing civil liberties. As part of its new policy, Jews were arrested and Jewish businesses were seized by the government. Jewish bank accounts were confiscated and many Jews lost their jobs.
On November 23, 1956, a proclamation signed by the Minister of Religious Affairs, and read aloud in mosques throughout Egypt, declared that “all Jews are Zionists and enemies of the state,” and promised that they would be soon expelled.
By 1958, the population of Egyptian Jews decreased to 15,000 from 55,000 in 1950.
1967: Six-Day War
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