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Succat Rahamim Synagogue, Addis Ababa, Ethiopa (Approximate Location)

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Succat Rahamim is a synagogue in Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. It was established by a group of Yemenite Jews who came to Addis Ababa in the 1920s and remains in use to this day.

Description

A HISTORY OF JEWS IN ADDIS ABABA

From  1839 until  1967, Aden, a coastal city in southwest Yemen, was a British colony with a substantial Jewish population [1]. British and local Indian-Iraqi influences in Aden led to the creation of a distinct subculture of Yemenite Jewry [2]. Toward the end of the nineteenth century, Aden became an important mercantile hub. Adeni Jews joined in on the commercial activity, engaging in import and export businesses and owning local businesses [2]. Beginning in 1864, the Adeni Jewish community was headed by the Messa family, the wealthiest merchants in the city [3]. The Messas played an important role in the migration of Jews from Aden to Africa, as they established trade and purchased real estate in foreign countries. 


Meanwhile, Ethiopian trade was controlled by foreign powers, drawing Adeni Jews to Africa’s eastern coast. At the beginning of the 1900s, Benin Messa opened a commercial branch of his family’s company in Addis Ababa, laying the foundation for Adeni Jewish migration to Ethiopia’s shores [2]. In 1910, Benin established offices and storage units in Ethiopia’s capital, which soon developed into the Benin Säfär (compound), where Adeni Jewish families settled [3]. The upper floor of the building was used as a vault to store silver coins [2]. In the 1920s, Jews from inland Yemen also migrated to Addis Ababa to join the Banin compound, and the vault was converted to a synagogue [2]. The community continued to grow with Jews immigrating to Addis Ababa from Israel, however, when the Yom Kippur War broke out in 1974, many Israeli Jews returned home and were joined by Adeni Jews of the Addis Ababa community [1]. As of 2023, there has not been a rabbi at the synagogue in over thirty years and there aren’t enough community members to form a minyan [1]. 

DESCRIPTION

The Succat Rahamim Synagogue is located in the Benin Sefer neighborhood of Addis Ababa, named after the prominent Messa family from Aden. It is located on the second story of a building, up a flight of stairs with a blue and white exterior [1]. The one-hundred-year-old building consists of a single square room, about twenty feet long on each side [4]. The interior walls are painted white and are decorated with prayers written in Hebrew [5]. Benches line each wall, and behind them are alcoves housing leather-bound prayer books. An arc covered by a brocaded blue curtain faces the door, adorned with Stars of David [1]. This arc houses a sefer Torah that is said to be over 400 years old [6]. 


Images of the Succat Rahamim Synagogue can be found at the following sites:

http://www.africansynagogues.org/html/countries/ethiopia/ethiopia1.html

http://menachem.co.il/ABbook.pdf, page 13/81

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap

Sources

[1] Waronker, Jay A. “SUCCAT RAHAMIM SYNAGOGUE (1940s).” African synagogues, 2015. https://www.africansynagogues.org/html/countries/ethiopia/ethiopia3.html. 


[2] Klorman, Bat-Zion Eraqi. Traditional Society in Transition: The Yemeni Jewish Experience. BRILL, 2014.


[3] Marmari, Shaul, and Shaul Marmari. “The Rothschilds of Arabia” Mimeo | Blog Der Doktorandinnen Und Doktoranden Am Dubnow-Institut, June 14, 2022. https://mimeo.dubnow.de/the-rothschilds-of-arabia/.


[4] Jewish Action. “Out of Africa - Jewish Action,” July 27, 2020. https://jewishaction.com/jewish-world/travel/out_of_africa/.


[5] Authors. “The Last Jews in Ethiopia.” Slate Magazine, January 22, 2003. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/01/the-last-jews-in-ethiopia.html.

[6] Kuchar, Menachem, “The Abayudaya: Judaism Emerging. A Spiritual Journey into Africa.” http://menachem.co.il/ABbook.pdf