Archive

Maimonides Synagogue at Cairo, Egypt

Description

Rabbi: The Rambam, best known by his Greek name Maimonides, is among the most famous rabbis, physicians, and philosophers in history. His writings synthesize Jewish and Greek learning and transcended linguistic, religious, and national barriers, to inspire Muslim and Christian scholars in his time. His writings are still studied today in universities around the world. Maimonides’ Oath for Physicians is recited at some medical school graduation ceremonies. His religious writings, particularly the Mishneh Torah, still profoundly influence Jewish daily ritual and prayer 800 years after he wrote them in this synagogue's study hall.

Pilgrims: The synagogue complex that bears his name is traditionally held to be where he prayed, taught, wrote and was initially buried after his death. In the synagogue's catacombs, a shrine marks Maimonides’ supposed initial burial spot, which for centuries served as a pilgrimage site for sick Jews and Muslims. These pilgrims would sleep in the chamber overnight hoping the great doctor’s aura might help cure them. In 1888, a visitor described one of the synagogue’s other treasures as a Bible reportedly written by Maimonides himself.

Burial: Political unrest forced Maimonides to flee from his native Cordoba, Spain to Fez, Morocco; and from Fez to the land of Israel before settling in Egypt. There, he became an accomplished physician to elites and served as Cairo's Chief Rabbi, a position he held for more than thirty years. It was during this time that he produced his most famous works, writing and teaching at the yeshiva (study hall) beneath this synagogue. He died on December 13, 1204, and according to tradition was buried where he taught, in the wall of the basement yeshiva.

Origins: The Maimonides Synagogue appears to have originally been built by Jews from Northwest Africa and was known in Maimonides’ day as the Synagogue of the Maghrebi Community. As he hailed from Spain and Morocco, it would have made sense for Maimonides to join this congregation. When he was not attending to the royal court in Islamic Cairo, Maimonides prayed closer to home at the famous Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat (southern Cairo), which in the 12th Century would have been about a day’s journey away.

Structure: The 600-square-meter complex that stands on the site now was rebuilt in the late 19th Century on the foundation of the original 800-year-old building. Photos of the synagogue’s front door from 1948 and 1994 reveal how several feet of dirt accumulated in the interim, so much so that the entrance door is now located below street level. That door opens to a plaza, with a door to the left accessing the sanctuary and a door straight ahead leading to various function rooms, including the yeshiva, mikveh (ritual bath), sukkah (holiday booth to commemorate the Exodus) and bathrooms for men and women.

Overnight Healing: Pilgrims of various faiths seeking healing would traditionally come to this site, descend the stone stairs and spend the night on mattresses near the tomb and in a neighboring room where Maimonides’ body was said to have been washed and kept overnight before burial. Lucette Lagnado has written about her childhood experience with this ritual, after which a mysterious swelling in her leg abated (see also an account by Maurice Cadranel, whose rheumatic fever was supposedly cured by spending one night in the chamber).

Collapse: Photographs from the 1940s depict the synagogue’s sanctuary as an elegant hall with illustrated wall decorations, a large wooden ark and chandeliers, and memorial lamps hanging from the ceiling. But in September of 1973, just before the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel, the roof caved in. Most of Cairo’s Jewish population had already fled Egypt, and the roof was never fixed. An earthquake in 1992 further wrecked the building. Despite the synagogue being exposed to the elements for over thirty years, much of the sanctuary is recognizable, including the large Jewish star over the wooden ark bearing the Hebrew word ”Zion.”

Status: Starting in the 1980s, after the peace treaty was signed between Israel and Egypt, members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish sect began visiting this synagogue to hold a ceremony marking the completion of their study of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. During these celebrations, a police squad guards the synagogue. Otherwise, the building remains padlocked, with a guard sometimes on the premises. In 2007, Egyptian officials promised to help restore the synagogue, but so far no restoration has occurred.

Bones: Maimonides, according to tradition, is no longer buried here, as his children later moved his bones for re-interment in Tiberias. This would be in keeping with Maimonides’ own writings, which advised fellow Egyptian Jews to transport deceased relatives for final resting in the land of Israel. His bones are joined in Israel with some doors from the synagogue, currently in the collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

Cairo, Egypt

© Mapbox, © OpenStreetMap

Gallery

‹ › ×