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Beit Mordekhai Synagogue, La Goulette, Tunisia
La Goulette (Ar حلق الوادي), a Tunis suburb nestled between the Mediterranean Sea and Lac de Tunis, is a shadow of its former self. Once a bustling summer resort town with significant Jewish, Italian, and Maltese populations [8], many of the former homes, businesses, and places of worship of these communities are now gone and shuttered [7]. Despite this mass exodus, there is still a Jewish community that lives and worships in La Goulette. In fact, their synagogue, Beit Mordekhai, still stands and is the center of a slowly fading community.
Description
The Synagogue
Beit Mordekhai, one of the last synagogues of a long tradition of Jewish life in Tunis and Tunisia, is hard to find for those who aren’t natives. However, regardless of who you ask, everyone can point you in the direction of Beit Mordekhai Synagogue [1]. Once called Synagogue de l’Hopital [4], it’s located across the street from a Jewish assisted living home where the remaining elderly Jewish population can gather [1]. The synagogue itself is a simple, modern building almost indistinguishable from its neighbors—whitewashed with bright blue trim, a color pallet that is reflected across the Mediterranean. Inside, the Torah ark has “If I forget thee, O Jersualem, may my right hand forget its skill” [9] (אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי) embroidered in silver thread [1]. Memorial plaques line the interior walls, commemorating the lives of those who have worshiped here for the last 70 years [6].
Inside, weekly services take place, with a women’s service on Saturday morning and a general service on Friday evenings [1]. The rabbi, Daniel Cohen, lives in Tunis with his wife and ten children, and commutes to La Goulette on the weekends to hold services [2]. Services for the High Holy Days and other holidays, including Passover and Hanukkah, are also held at Beit Mordekhai [2].
The Community
A Jewish community has existed in La Goulette since the mid-19th century, and by 1909 there were over 800 Jews of Tunisian nationality living there [3]. At the peak of Jewish life in La Goulette there were four synagogues as well as other community centers, including a hospital and a chevra kaddisha [3], which saw to the burial of individuals according to Jewish law. However, after Tunisian independence, many members of the community left La Goulette for France and Israel, reducing a community that was once over 3,000 strong [3] to less than 100 today [7]. The community has suffered multiple losses in the last decade, including the well-known restaurant Mamie Lily that was the only Kosher restaurant in the town. The owner Gilles-Jacob Lellouche had run the restaurant for 19 years and saw it as “a journey in time” [5] to the La Goulette of his childhood.
The Jewish retirement home is still open, but is truly a reflection of the rapidly aging Tunisian Jewish population. The disappearance of community structures for children and families, such as a schools, shows the decline of this community— while there are still community centers for Jewish people in Tunisia, they are there to support the increasingly elderly members of the community.
Sources
Notes
[1] Essem, “Guide to the Tunisian Jewish Community,” Tunisia.com, 7 October 2011 (accessed June 19, 2018).
[2] Souli, Sarah. “Rosh Hashanah in Tunisia: a rabbi reflects on the power of Muslim-Jewish solidarity.” Quartz. 13 September 2015 (accessed 19 June 2018).
[3] The Museum of The Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot. “The Jewish Community of La Goulette.” Beit Hatfutsot Databases (accessed 19 June 2018).
[4] Tribune Juive. “A La Goulette, la synagogue Beit Mordekhai, un joyau en photos”. Tribune Juive. 10 May 2017 (accessed 19 June 2018).
[5] Mabillard, Boris. “A la Goulette, on mangeait des tajines casher.” Le Temps. 26 July 2016 (accessed 20 June 2018).
[6] Boukha Bar. “Les plaques commémoratives - Synagogue de La Goulette” Boukha-bar.blogspot.com. March 2013 (19 June 2018). \
[7] Kimball, Sam. “Ladies Wore Bikinis, Not Burkas, in La Goulette.” Vice. 22 May 2014. (accessed 19 June 2018).
[8] The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed, s.v. “La Goulette.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2015.
[9] Torah. Psalms 137:4
Further Reading
Abdelhadi, Magdi. “Tunisian Jews: A tiny community still hanging on -- and cooking.” BBC. 25 October 2011.
Rugel, Michael and Callner, A.J. “A Purim in Tunisia.” The National Museum of American Jewish Military History. 23 March 2016.
Sarfati Perez, Juliette. “Milly Samsara, Infirmière sage femme: La Goulette, Marseille, Paris - Il était une fois une maman.” Frédérique Patat, 2014.
Photos Courtesy of Chyrstie Sherman.
Write-up prepared by Sophie Call on June 25, 2018.