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Ohel Shelomo Synagogue, Khartoum, Sudan

Description

A HISTORY OF JEWS IN THE SUDAN

Jewish history in the Sudan can be traced back to a small community formed in the late nineteenth century [2]. There were eight Sephardic families living in the Sudan under Turkish and Ottoman rule [2]. It is unknown how these families originated in the Sudan; however, they were free to practice Judaism throughout the mid-to-late 1800s until Ottoman rule was overthrown and the Sudanese Mahdiyya was established in 1885 [1]. Under Mahdist rule, the Sudanese Jewish community was forced to convert to Islam under threat of death [1]. In 1898, the British claimed the Sudan as a colony, opening up new trade and travel opportunities that brought more Jews into the country [2].

After British rule had been established, the eight Jewish families reverted to Judaism and were quickly joined by more Jewish families seeking new economic opportunities in the Sudan [3].  Many Jewish textile and silk merchants from all over the Middle East and North Africa settled along Nile River towns. 

In 1926, the community opened a synagogue on a central street in Khartoum. The Jewish community of the Sudan was overseen by the Egyptian Beth-Din (Jewish law courts) and the Moroccan Rabbi Malka. Between 1930 and 1950, the community reached its peak membership, with 250 families totaling around 1,000 Jews [4]. Though the community was spread out across four towns, it was tight-knit and centered around the synagogue in Khartoum.

The Sudan gained its independence in 1956; however, the Suez Crisis later that year contributed greatly to a rise in antisemitism. As antisemitism intensified, many community members began to leave the Sudan for Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland [6]. Much of the community had left by 1960. In 1967, Jewish men were arrested en masse, and Sudanese newspapers advocated for the arrest and torture of Jewish community leaders [6]. Jewish emigration intensified, and the last members of the Jewish community left Sudan in the early 1970s [5].

DESCRIPTION

In 1918, a small synagogue was established for the community of Khartoum, Sudan in a rented building. Rabbi Malka would conduct services for the Jewish community and led the effort to establish a more spacious, permanent synagogue [8].

Originally named the Khartoum Synagogue, this center for Jewish life was opened in 1926 on Victoria Street in Khartoum, Sudan [4]. It was funded almost entirely by the Sudanese Jewish community, with additional contributions from Jews in Egypt and the United Kingdom. It was located on a main boulevard in the city, broad and tree-lined, extending from the Governor's Palace on the Blue Nile embankment to Karthoum’s main railway station [8]. The congregation was primarily from Khartoum and four neighboring Nile River towns. The front facade of the building was decorated with a large Star of David imprinted into the stone and a small fenced courtyard entrance [7]. 

The synagogue was spacious and could hold about 500 people. Additionally, it had an azara (separate women’s gallery) built on the mezzanine floor, facing the heikhal (Holy Ark) against the front wall [8]. According to Sephardic tradition, the teba (platform) where the rabbi and reader desk were located facing towards the hekihal [8]. The Holy Ark contained the Sepharim (Torah scrolls), and was on a wide and elevated stage [8]. There were large shuttered windows set into the walls, which were sparingly decorated with metal Stars of David. In one of the synagogue’s corners was a kise eliahu hannabi (chair for the prophet Elijah). It was nine feet high and five feet wide, and when a Jewish male child was born, the chair would be taken to his home to be used at his Brit Milah [8]. 

It was the spiritual center of the Sudan’s Jewish community, being the only synagogue in the country. Torah readings and prayers were led by Rabbi Malka and the hazzan, with chanting in beautiful Sephardic melodies that originated from Morocco and Egypt [8]. The Khartoum Synagogue was filled to capacity during festivals, with worshippers coming from Khartoum to as far away as Wad Medani, over 170 miles away [4].

In the early 1950s, the synagogue was named the Ohel Shelomo Synagogue, in honor of Rabbi Shlomo Malka and his forty-five years of service to the Sudanese Jewish community. 

In the following decades, with the rise of antisemitism and political instability, the majority of the Sudan’s Jewish community left the country. In the 1960s, there were no longer enough Jews left in Khartoum to make minyan (a quorum of ten men), and services ceased. In 1986, the remaining half-dozen Jews still left in Khartoum accepted a commercial offer to buy the synagogue and allow it to be converted into a bank. Its Torah scrolls were relocated to Israel, America, and Geneva [5].

Images of the synagogue can be found here:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khartoum,_Ohel-Shlomo-synagogue,_1926.png

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-49728912

https://www.academy.ac.il/SystemFiles2015/Bulletin%2024_06_Warburg_Sudan.pdf (page 3)

Khartoum, Sudan

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