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Shalom Menahem Girls' School at Aden, Yemen
The Shalom Menahem Girls' School, also called the Selim Girls' School and the Ginath Shalom Jewish Girls' School, opened in Aden (عدن ,עדן), Yemen, in 1929. Founded by Selim (or Shalom) Menahem Moshe, the fourth president of Aden's Jewish community, the school was the only educational institution for Jewish girls in Aden.1 The school was badly damaged in the 1947 riots, and closed in 1966 because the community had become too small to support it.2
Description
History Selim Menahem Moshe was a scion of the Moshe dynasty of Aden, a family that dominated the social and religious life of Aden's Jewish community for almost a hundred years. His father, Mori Menahem Moshe, and his brother, Banin Moshe, were two of the most well-known members of the family, investing heavily in the establishment of religious and educational institutions in Yemen.3 In 1910, Banin established the King George V Jewish Boys' School; the Selim Girls' School was constructed next door in 1929.4 The schools provided modern Zionist Hebrew educations to their students, although both buildings were badly damaged in the riots of December 4, 1947.5 As most of the Jewish community emigrated from Aden following the riots, the girls' school's enrollment dropped sharply, and it finally closed its doors in 1966.6
Aden's Jewish Community The Jewish community of Aden survived for less than 150 years, from the city's foundation in 1839 to the dissolution of the community in 1967. In 1947, the community reached its peak population of roughly five thousand people in a city of more than 100,000.7 The Jews of Aden created a unique Judeo-Arabic dialect, incorporating words from Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Urdu, English, Turkish, and Persian.8 Two significant literary works were created there: Rabbi David ben Amram ha-Adani's Midrash ha-Gadol and Samuel Joseph Jeshua's Nahalat Yosef.9 Most of Aden's Jewish population left the city after the riots of December 4, 1947, during which 82 Jews were killed, more than one hundred Jewish-owned businesses were destroyed, and the synagogue and hundreds of houses burned down.10 After the British evacuated Yemen in November 1967, the remaining Jews emigrated to Israel or London.
Sources
[1] Pickering, Peter. "Selim Girls' School." Aden - In Days of Empire. February 12, 2014. Accessed July 31, 2014. http://www.peterpickering.com/aden/page66/page65/page69/page69.html
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ahroni, Reuben. Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. "Aden." Brill Online, 2014. Accessed July 31, 2014. http://0-referenceworks.brillonline.com.luna.wellesley.edu/entries/encyclopedia-of-jews-in-the-islamic-world/aden-COM_0000740
[4] Pickering. "Selim Girls' School."
[5] Goitein, Shelomo Dov, Yosef Tobi, and Dov Noy. Encyolpaedia Judaica. "Aden." Detroit: MacMillan Reference USA, 2007. Accessed July 31, 2014. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX2587500415&v=2.1&u=mlin_m_wellcol&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=5984f4c0a5f5c68741ae50772adecbe9
[6] Pickering. "Selim Girls' School."
[7] Ahroni. "Aden."
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.