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Ghriba Synagogue, Ariana, Tunisia
Ariana (Aryanah, אריאנה, أريانة), Tunisia
The blue door of the Ghriba Synagogue of Ariana lies at the dead end of an alleyway. There are no markings to indicate that this is a house of worship. No Star of David adorns its door, no Hebrew inscription leaves its mark. But this Synagogue is the inheritor of two great traditions of Tunisian Jewish life. It is the oldest of the many synagogues that spanned Ariana, a small suburb of Tunisia known in the first half of the 20th century for its sizeable Jewish population. It is also among the youngest in a tradition of “Ghriba” synagogues, ancient holy places that are still sites for pilgrimage today. The Synagogue is a place for the poor and the hungry – its room of worship is a courtyard surrounded by apartments meant to receive the poorest families of Ariana.
Description
The Ariana Ghriba Synagogue
The Ariana Ghriba Synagogue is one of several Synagogues across North Africa that bear the name “Ghriba”. The word ghriba can mean “wondrous” or “unique”, but it can also mean “isolated”, something true of many of the Ghriba Synagogues. These synagogues are said to be based on ancient, mystical sites, though most date from the 18th and 19th centuries. The most famous of these is the Ghriba Synagogue in Djerba, built in the latter half of the 19th century, which to this day still receives Jewish pilgrimages from across the world. [5] Comparably, the Ghriba Synagogue of Ariana is very modest, containing no grand teba nor ornate architecture. The Synagogue instead values function over form – providing shelter to the poor, with just enough space for worship. This ancient Synagogue is the ancestor to the many and the great that would come after it – including the great Synagogue of Djerba. [6]
Throughout the early 20th century, Rabbi Alphonse Guirchoun led the congregation of the Ghriba synagogue. Rabbi Guirchoun was born in Le Kef in 1895. He first trained as a pharmacist, but when asked to work on Saturdays, decided to become a Rabbi instead. He served many years as the Rabbi of Slat Ghriba. He and his family moved to Paris in the 1960s. [7] It is likely that, with his departure, the Ghriba Synagogue of L’Ariana fell out of use.
History of the Jewish Community of Ariana
Throughout the late 18th and early 19th century, deteriorating conditions in the Hâra of Tunis, combined with increasing Jewish emancipation in part thanks to French occupation, led to Jewish movement toward the suburbs of Tunis – in particular, La Goulette, La Marsa, and Ariana. [1] The Jewish population of Ariana grew rapidly, more than doubling in size during the interwar period. Whereas there were only 1,169 Jews in Ariana in 1926, by 1936 there were 2,619. [2] One census reported that the Jewish population of Ariana in 1953 had reached its peak, at 4,351. They thus made up a large proportion of the Ariana population, which was about 9,668 people in 1953. [3] This large growth in population was met by a similar growth in Jewish places of worship. Still extant in the city are at least 11 synagogue sites or standing buildings – an impressive accomplishment for a suburb with a total area of about two hundred square miles. The Ghriba Synagogue of Ariana appears to be the oldest of these early consecrations, built some time in the late 18th century. [4]
Sources
Notes:
[1] Paul Sebag, Tunis: Histoire D’Une Ville, (Paris: L’Harmattan, 1998), 325 - 326.
[2] Robert Hagége, O! Ariana, Petite Jerusalem, (Paris: Imprimerie ALVI, 1987), 14.
[3] Colette Bismuth-Jarrassé and Dominique Jarrassé, Synagogues de Tunisie: Monuments d’une Histoire et d’une Identité, (Paris: Éditions Esthétiques du Divers, 2010), 257-259.
[4] Jean-Pierre Allali, Annie Goldmann, Paul Sebag, et al., editors, Les Juifs de Tunisie: Images et Textes. (Paris: Editions du Scribe, 1989), 89.
[5] Norman A. Stillman, “Ghriba Synagogues”, in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Edited by Norman A. Stillman. 2010.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Robert Hagége, O! Ariana, Petite Jerusalem, (Paris: Imprimerie ALVI, 1987), 33.
Bibliography:
Allali, Jean-Pierre, Annie Goldmann, Paul Sebag, et al., editors. Les Juifs de Tunisie: Images et Textes. Paris: Editions du Scribe, 1989. Accessed July 25, 2018.
Binous, Jamila. “Les Palais de Plaisance”, Ifriqiya: Treize Siècles d'Art et d'Architecture en Tunisie. Tunis: Éditions Déméter, 2000. Accessed July 25, 2018.
Bismuth-Jarrassé, Colette, and Dominique Jarrassé. Synagogues de Tunisie: Monuments d’une Histoire et d’une Identité. Paris: Éditions Esthétiques du Divers, 2010. Accessed July 25, 2018.
D’Anthouard, J. “Le village et les palais de L’Ariana” in Bulletin économique et social de la Tunisie 56, (September 1951): 33 - 76. Accessed July 25, 2018.
Hagége, Robert. O! Ariana, Petite Jerusalem. Paris: Imprimerie ALVI, 1987. Accessed August 28, 2018.
Sebag, Paul. Tunis: Histoire D’Une Ville. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1998. Accessed July 25, 2018.
Stillman, Norman A., “Ghriba Synagogues”, in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Edited by Norman A. Stillman. 2010. Accessed July 25, 2018.
Written by Madeleine Turner in July 2018
Photos Courtesy of Chyrstie Sherman, Summer 2016.