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Ahaba ve Ahva (אהבה ואחוה) Synagogue, Cairo, Egypt

Description

[Background]  
The Jewish community of Cairo was established with the city's founding of Fostat, the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, in 641 BC. Cairo’s long Jewish heritage includes scholars like Moses Ben Maimon (1138–1204) or Maimonides. Community members predominantly worked in trade and banking, placing Jews in a relative position of power. In the 1920s, three Egyptian Jews even served in the Egyptian government, demonstrating increased integration into Egyptian society. Tensions between the Jewish community and the regime began in 1948 with the onset of the Arab-Israeli war. The war ignited anti-Semitic rhetoric, including arrests and expulsions of at least 500 Egyptian Jews in 1956. Persecutions intensified as tensions between Arab nations and Israel increased, leading to mass arrests of the few hundred remaining Egyptian Jews. Between 1948 and 1970, most of Egypt’s Jews left due to the rise of an anti-Semitic government and various attacks on Jewish businesses.

The Ahaba ve Ahva Synagogue was a vibrant center of cultural connection in its heyday. Its location in Cairo made it central to the Egyptian Jewish community, as Cairo was historically home to many prominent Jewish scholars. Additionally, many Cairene Jews were part of the upper class, allowing for greater social mobility. The synagogue was located in the Daher neighborhood on the western side of Cairo. 

The synagogue no longer exists, but it was a brick building. After some Egyptian Jewish community members immigrated to New York City in 1965, they established a synagogue bearing its namesake in Brooklyn, New York.

Video of a prayer service visible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZxjor7p23o&feature=youtu.be

Cairo, Egypt

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