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The village of Sinwan (סנואן, סינואן, سنوان), Yemen (תימן, اليمن). The village is located outside Taiz, down the mountain ridge from Jabaziyeh. The village is occasionally called Silwan (סלואן, סילואן, سلوان).
Background on Jews in Yemen (site description continued below): Although tradition states that Jews initially arrived in Yemen forty-two years before the destruction of the First Temple, the first archaeological evidence of Jews in Yemen comes from about 110 BCE, referring to the approval of Himyarite Kings for the constructions of synagogues. Moreover, many Jews fled from Judea to Yemen after the Bar-Kokhba revolt, and by the 550s CE Yûsuf ’As’ar Yath'ar became the first known Jewish king of the Himyarites, although the details of his life are not well defined [1]. Throughout the centuries, Jews faced alternating waves of oppression and prosperity. Depending on the whims of political and religious leaders, Jews were prosperous merchants or craftsmen that were allowed to live comfortable lives. Yemenite Jews were known as talented silversmiths, weavers, blacksmiths, potters, and more [5]. At other times, Jews were forced to pay heavy taxes, or to convert to Islam or be killed. One of the traumatic events of Yemenite Jewish history occurred in 1679 when the Jews of Yemen were exiled to the arid region of Mawza. Jews largely traveled to the region on foot through dangerous terrain, and the conditions of Mawza were difficult to survive. The exile lasted only a year because surrounding communities needed Jews’ services and products, but most Jews’ properties and possessions had been seized by their neighbors, so Jews returned from exile only to find they had nothing left. The pain of the Mawza expulsion hugely influenced the poetry of Shalom Shabazi, who was venerated amongst both the Jews and Muslims of Yemen [2]. Some Yemenite Jews practiced Shami, Sephardic liturgy, but most did not assimilate to these customs and continued to follow Baladi, which adhered to Yemenite traditions and the rulings of Maimonides. Indeed, Maimonides corresponded with Yemenite scholars and praised the Jews of Yemen for their dedication to Torah and Jewish customs. In the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire took control of Yemen, allowing Jews easier access and communication with other Jewish communities. Ideas such as Kabbalah were popular amongst Jewish Yemenite scholars [7]. With over 430 flights, "Operation Magic Carpet" brought 48,818 Yemeite Jews to Israel during 1949-50. Operation Magic Carpet was an initiative by the newly formed Israeli government to use passenger planes to transport the Jews of Yemen back to Israel. Before Operation Magic Carpet, most Jews first made their way to Aden, a British colony, in order to gain passage to Palestine, which was also controlled by Britain [3]. Even before Operation Magic Carpet, the Jews of Yemen had a strong desire to make aliyah: Between 1911-49, 18,000 Jews escaped to Palestine. As of March 28, 2021, only six Jews remain in Yemen due to extreme antisemitism and violence. Notably, Levi Salem Marhabi is currently jailed in Sana’a by Houthis for helping to smuggle a Torah out of Yemen. |
Sinwan
Sinwan neighbored the town of Jabaziyeh. Given the city’s proximity to Taiz, a historical epicenter for the Himyarite Kingdom and subsequent Yemeni ruling bodies, many assert the Jewish presence of Sinwan to date as early as the 2nd century[1].
When there was no minyan in Jabaziyeh, men would go to Sinwan for prayers on Shabbat and holidays. Gedaliah Ḥayyun, the ideological predecessor of Shalom Sharabi, was buried on a path to Sinwan following his death in 1751 at approximately age 55 [2]. Sinwan was also the birthplace of Rabbi Chaim Sinwani, one of the greatest rabbis to emerge from Yemen. Born on Yom Kippur, Sinwani would initially study Torah under his father in Sinwan before leaving for formal rabbinical education. At 18, following his marriage, he was offered to serve as a local Dayan, but refused; however, after his local rabbi’s passing, Sinwani would accept the post of being the rabbi of Sinwan. As the rabbi of the Sharab District, Sinwani he would go on to be appointed as the Dayan of the district. He would migrate to Israel in 1949 in Operation Magic Carpet, where he became a renowned miracle worker and teacher of the youth, thus earning him the title of Tzadikim[3].
During the North Yemen Civil War of the 1960s, Sinwan was captured by Yemenite royalist forces in November 1962. The Yemenite royalist forces were supported by Jordan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and fought against the republicans, backed by Egypt and the Soviet Union [4].
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Background on Jews in Yemen
A. Jamme, W.F., Sabaean and Ḥasaean Inscriptions from Saudi Arabia, Instituto di Studi del Vicino Oriente: Università di Roma, Rome 1966, p. 40
Rachel Yedid & Danny Bar-Maoz (ed.), Ascending the Palm Tree – An Anthology of the Yemenite Jewish Heritage, E'ele BeTamar: Rehovot 2018, pp. 21–22
Schechtman, Joseph B. "The Repatriation of Yemenite Jewry." Jewish Social Studies, vol. 14, no. 3, 1952, pp. 209-224.
Ratzaby, Yehuda, and Yosef Tobi. "Mawza'." Encyclopaedia Judaica, edited by Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik, 2nd ed., vol. 13, Macmillan Reference USA, 2007, p. 694. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX2587513436/GVRL?u=mlin_m_wellcol&sid=summon&xid=2a53428a. Accessed July 2021.
“Wrongful Detention by the Houthis of Levi Salem Musa Marhabi.” U.S. Embassy in Israel, 12 Nov. 2020, https://il.usembassy.gov/wrongful-detention-by-the-houthis-of-levi-salem-musa-marhabi/.
Yosef Tobi. ‘Mawzaʿ, Expulsion of’. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Ed. Norman A. Stillman et al. Brill Reference Online. Web. July 2021.
Sinwan
Tobi, Y. Ḥimyar, kingdom of. Oxford Classical Dictionary. Retrieved 2 Jul. 2022, from https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8132
2. Pinchas Giller. ‘Ḥayyun, Gedaliah’. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Ed. Norman A. Stillman et al. Brill Reference Online. Web. July 2021.
3. “Rabbi Mordecai Sharabi”. Daily Zohar. Retrieved July 2, 2022
4. Witty, David M. “A Regular Army in Counterinsurgency Operations: Egypt in North Yemen, 1962- 1967.” The Journal of Military History, vol. 65, no. 2, 2001, pp. 401–439. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2677166. Accessed July 2021.
For more on Sinwan see the Encyclopedia of Yemeni Jewish Communities, p. 408.
See also pictures and a little bit in Arabic here: http://www.waraqat.net/16773/