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Benghazi, Libya
The earliest historical evidence of Jewish presence in Benghazi dates to 13 BCE, when the region was called Berenice. The Jews of Benghazi lived under a variety of rulers, including Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Ottomans, and Italians. Today there are no longer any Jews in Benghazi, but distinctive Benghazi-Jewish cultural traditions are carried on in other countries, particularly in the Jewish community in Livorno, Italy.
Description
Greek and Roman Rule
In ancient times, the port city of Benghazi was called Hesperides, and later Berenice, which was part of the larger region of Cyrenaica. The first historical evidence of Jewish settlement in Berenice is an inscription from 13 BCE indicating that Jews lived there under the leadership of a Jewish archon who derived authority from Greece.1 Due to their Hellenistic identity, many of them had non-Jewish names and the Jewish community as a whole experienced increasing tension under the Roman government.2 In 73 CE when Jonathan the Weaver from Israel fired up a revolt of the lower ranks of society in Cyrene. Roman officials opposed the uprising and killed Weaver, his disciples, and many upper-class Jewish people in the area.3 This event presaged a larger Jewish uprising against the Romans in 115.4 After the Arab conquest of Cyrenaica in 660, Berenice was mostly deserted.
Arab and Ottoman Rule
From the 16th century onward, Jews traders from Tripoli started reestablishing a Jewish community in Benghazi. This trend was advanced by the Ottoman occupation of Benghazi in 1640, and the community began to flourish about 1775 when Jewish family immigrated from Italy. By the 18th and 19th centuries, Benghazi had around 400 Jewish families. They were not subjected to living in a ghetto. Some were from the Kahal Bengazi region and there were others who were born in Tripoli and Italy. These varying groups all recognized one single rabbi as their leader, but every group had their own synagogue.5
According to an interview conducted by historian Jacques Roumani with Samuele Zarrugh, the Jews of Benghazi were more integrated with the local Arab community than they were in Tripoli. Jewish population in Benghazi spoke the same “Classic Arabic” as the local Arabs, in contrast to the Judeo-Arabic dialect of Tripoli.6 Additionally, A highly impactful Muslim fellowship called Sanusiya had good relations with the Jews in Benghazi. Most of the Jews were very affluent and participated in extensive commercial trading, thus the town became a powerful center for trade between Europe and Africa.7
Italian and Nazi Rule
In 1938 Italians occupied Libya, beginning a complex relationship that was initially supportive but became oppressive. Jews in Benghazi experienced heightened discrimination under new laws. By the 1930s the fascist Italian government instituted anti-Semitic laws throughout Libya that forbade Jews' entry into government-run jobs and educational institutes. Jews' identification documents also noted the designation 'Jewish race'.8 In 1942, the Nazis infiltrated the Jewish Quarter in Benghazi and over 2000 Jews from Libya were forced into Nazi labor camps. During the post-war British occupation of Libya, the Jewish community was not treated well. The Jewish quarters were yet again subject to rioting during which houses, businesses, and synagogues were desecrated.9 As soon as emigration to Israel was permitted in 1949, the majority of Benghazi’s Jewish community of about 2,500 people left, and the remainder followed after the Six-day war of 1967.10
Sources
Images
“The Grand Synagogue of Benghazi, before being converted into a Coptic Church.” Copyright needed. From LibyanDreams Wordpress.
Benghazi Synagogue Classroom, pre World War II (1930-1940) (Original Date Time Unknown) Photo is in the Public Domain.
Endnotes
1. “Benghazi,” Jewish Virtual Library, accessed August 1, 2022, https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benghazi-jewish-virtual-library.
2. “Benghazi.”
3. Vivienne Roumani-Denn, “The Last Jews of Libya: The Jews,” Jews of Libya, accessed July 25, 2016, http://jewsoflibya.com/LibyanJews/thejews.html.
4. Shimon Applebaum, “The Jewish Revolt against the Romans in Cyrenaica, 115–117 CE: Archaeological Evidence, Causes, and Course of the Revolt,” in Jewish Libya, ed. Jacques Roumani, David Meghnagi, and Judith Roumani, Memory and Identity in Text and Image (Syracuse University Press, 2018), 20, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20p574k.8.
5. “Benghazi” accessed July 25, 2016.
6. Applebaum, “The Jewish Revolt against the Romans in Cyrenaica, 115–117 CE,” 209.
7. “Benghazi” accessed July 25, 2016.
8. “Jewish History,” accessed July 25, 2016, http://jimenaexperience.org/libya/about-jimena/past-and-present/.
9. “Jewish History.”
10. “Benghazi.”
Works Cited
Applebaum, Shimon. “The Jewish Revolt against the Romans in Cyrenaica, 115–117 CE: Archaeological Evidence, Causes, and Course of the Revolt.” In Jewish Libya, edited by Jacques Roumani, David Meghnagi, and Judith Roumani, 19–38. Memory and Identity in Text and Image. Syracuse University Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt20p574k.8.
Jewish Virtual Library. “Benghazi.” Accessed August 1, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benghazi-jewish-virtual-library.
“Jewish History.” Accessed July 25, 2016. http://jimenaexperience.org/libya/about-jimena/past-and-present/.
Roumani-Denn, Vivienne. “The Last Jews of Libya: The Jews.” Jews of Libya. Accessed July 25, 2016. http://jewsoflibya.com/LibyanJews/thejews.html.