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Moussa Dari Synagogue at Cairo, Egypt

Located in the Abbisiyah neighborhood of Cairo, the Moussa Dari Synagogue stands as a testament to the once thriving Karaite community that constructed it. It features two stories, the lower serving as the sanctuary and the upper as the women’s gallery. [1] The sanctuary floor lacks chairs and benches; Karaite worshippers can sit on mats and look upon the raised platform which features a beautiful wooden ark. [2]


Description

Moses Ben Abraham (Moussa) Dari: Moses Ben Abraham Dari, born in Alexandria in the 12th century, was a Karaite poet and physician. [3] As the name suggests, the Dari family emigrated from Dara (Dar’a), Syria to Egypt. While Dari strongly identified with Karaism throughout his work, his maqāma-style work suggests that he was probably not born into Karaism but joined the movement in his youth. [4] Over 500 poems by Dari have been preserved in two collections. The first collection is a dīwān titled Firdaws Azhār al-Qaṣāʾid wa ʾl-Ashʿār (The Garden of Flowers of Qaṣīdas and Poems). The second he titled al-Mulḥaqli-Dīwānihi al-Asbaq (Supplement to the Preceding Dīwān). While scholars disagree on the exact dates of Dari’s work, the final version of his original dīwān can be dated to the year 1163. [5]

The Synagogue: The late nineteenth century saw a large movement of Karaite Jews from parts of Old Cairo to the Abbasiyah (Abbassia) neighborhood. [6] Between 1906 and 1930, because there was no synagogue nearby, Jews held services in various locations throughout the growing neighborhood. [7] In 1900, Sitaytah al-Musaffi, the widow of Sitatah al Musafi (סתתה אל-מספי), donated a large plot of land in the Abbasiyah area to the community. It was upon this land that, in 1931, construction of the Moussa Dari synagogue was completed. [8] Between 1940 and 1942, there was a plan to open a cultural center at the synagogue that included a Sunday school, a library, and offices for both the religious court and the hakham bashi (chief rabbi). [9] It was by the suggestion of Rav Tuvya, the communities chief Rabbi at the time, that the synagogue was named after the Karaite poet Moses ben Abraham (Moussa) Dari. [10]

The synagogue has no chairs or benches. Instead, worshippers can sit on mats and rugs. There are wooden lockers near the entrance in which attendees place their shoes prior to services. [11] The structure has two stories: the first is the sanctuary and the second is what was originally intended to be a women’s gallery. [12] Between 1940 and 1942, a cultural center was to be constructed at the synagogue. However, due to differences of opinion amongst community members, it was never built. [13]

 

 

 

 

Cairo, Egypt

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