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Synagogue of Ben Ezra

(Other names: El-Geniza Synagogue, El-Yaho church)

In the Encyclopaedia Britannica, a Synagogue is described as "A prayer place for the Jews".

In old Greek it means: "The usual place where the Jews assemble to receive religious teachings and to

worship" Some of these Temples were built close to a source of water, as much as for protection from any

attack, not just for ablution!

The Synagogue of Ben Ezra was originally named El-Shamieen

Church, and is situated behind the "hanging church". The

Synagogue once had an old copy of the Old Testament, and it was

said that Ezra the Prophet (Al-Azir) had written it.

It is believed that the site of the Synagogue where the box of

Baby Moses was found.

The Ben Ezra Synagogue was originally a Christian church that the Copts had to sell, to the Jews, in 882A.D

in order to pay the annual taxes imposed by the Muslim rulers of the time, and therefore Abraham Ben

Ezra, who came from Jerusalem during the reign of Ahmed Ibn Tulun, bought the church for the sum of

20,000 dinars.

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Through the centuries, the Synagogue received extensive restorations and renovations until it reached its

present state. The present building dates back to 1892; the original one had collapsed and a new one was

built, echoing it.

A description of the Synagogue

It is built in the shape of a basilica (rectangle), consisting of 2 floors; the 1st dedicated for the men while

the 2nd is dedicated for the women. The entrance is situated on the

north side.

The 1st floor: 

It is rectangular in shape, measuring 17m in length and 11.3m wide. It is divided into 3 parts, the largestbeing the middle one (4.75 m in width); these parts are divided by steel bars painted in a marble-like

colour.

There is a platform located in front of the sanctuary, where the rabbi stands to read the Torah. The lector

platform is in an octagonal shape and is made of marble. A copper fence is situated on the 8th side of the

platform, where the Torah, and its rolls, is rested. There is a memorial Stella located in front of the

platform. In the middle of this Stella is a top part consisting of 2 semi-arches carried on 3 pillars, with a

height of 85cm. there are 2 rooms on each side of the Holy Ark on the 1st floor.

The Most Important Decorations of the Synagogue:Geometrical Decoration: 

This decoration goes back to the Turkish Period. It is clearly seen on the side halls with patterns such as,

star patterns, pentagonal patterns and rectangles.

Floral decorations: 

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Used as a background for the geometrical patterns, they are also found around the Star of David in the

middle of the ceiling. Here is a mixture of the Hatai and the Roman decorations, which are floral patterns

and are called "Ottoman Arabesque". This decoration includes floral patterns, palmettos and lotus flower.

The south eastern side of the top of the Torah closet is decorated with stalactites, on top of which is a semi

circle with ray decorations. The frame of the Torah Ark is a mimic decoration and on each of the two sides

are 2 wooden columns with geometrical patterns. The 2 columns have stalactite capitals of the Ottoman

period.

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Ben Ezra's Temple (Synagogue)

Ben Ezra's Temple, lying at the end point of church buildings , is reported to have been erected in the 6th orpresumably the 9th Century AD. The temple site and the surrounding grounds, originally a property of thechurch, was acquired by the Jews in return for "kantars of gold". The basilica-style temple contains a Jewishheritage library, that was inaugurated on November 25,1997.

In 1896, a collection of documents known as "Jineesah" were found in the temple. The document, writtenmostly in what was called "Hebrew Arabic", a variation of Arabic in Hebrew alphabet, exclusively used by Jewsin the Middle Ages, reflected political, economic and social conditions of Jews under the Arab rule of Egypt aswell as sectarial organizations and relations between different Jewish sects.

The said documents contained a number of rare manuscripts of interpretations of the Old Testament, excerptsof linguistic research on Hebrew as well as documents explaining how Jews dealt with the Arab Muslimauthorities.

These documents, first compiled during the Fatimid era, were earlier within in Aramaic but were later written in Arabic, the official language in government departments (diwans).

 At the back of the temple, there is a very deep well, where the coffers in which Prophet Moses as an infant wasplaced by his mother, was reportedly found.