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One of the landmarks we were most excited to visit in Djerba was the La Ghriba Synagogue. It is the oldest synagogue in North Africa and is home to one of the oldest copies of the Torah in the world. I know intuitively it may sound strange to think of a Jewish holy site in Tunisia, but this particular Jewish community in Djerba dates back to 586 BC, which makes it one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world outside of Jerusalem.
The community in Djerba is now much smaller. Some accounts say there are 1,000 Jews living in Djerba and other accounts report only a few hundred. After visiting Erriadh and walking around the community for several days, I have to question whether there are even a few hundred. The community seemed void of any Jewish influence, except for the synagogue.
We happened to be in Djerba for the 3 day celebration of "Lag Ba'Omer." This is a time of major pilgrimage, when the Jews pay tribute to a grand master who died more than 400 years ago. The festivities include, among other things, pilgrims parading through the community with the synagogue's holy books.
Our timing
couldn't have been better! It just so happened that we visited on the most celebrated days for the pilgrimage. The tiny community of Erriadh planned to host 20,000 pilgrims! Well, sometimes plans change...
In 2002, a truck bomb exploded at La Ghriba and killed 19 people. Ever since then, entering the synagogue has been like trying to get on a plane. Show your passport. Empty your pockets. Send your bag through an x-ray machine. Walk through a metal detector and endure a pat down.
I guess what we were not anticipating was the interview (not in English), the snipers, the military patrol, the cranky passport security and the very heavy military presence. The security detail seemed to suggest: Nothing was going to happen at this synagogue! Well, that was true in more ways than one.
As we walked through the synagogue and took in the sights (yes, we passed security), we noticed there were only two other tourists and only about three locals visiting. Maybe we got the dates confused? How could we confuse 20,000 pilgrims for 2 tourists?
The ironic thing was, the two other tourists happened to be the only two tourists from America
we met on our entire trip through Algeria and Tunisia! Oh my goodness, someone else who spoke English! We were the only other American tourists THEY had met on their trek through Tunisia. Could it be there were only 4 Americans in the entire country? Okay, maybe not exactly scientific.
As we talked to the two guys from San Francisco, we discovered the festivities were cancelled due to safety concerns. Three days prior, the Tunisians decided to cancel the plans and Israel issued a statement telling all Jewish pilgrims to avoid Tunisia. Okay, so maybe that is why the armed military out number visitors 4 to 1.
One of the Americans was Jewish and really wanted to be part of this celebration. He was using his rusty Hebrew to try to get answers and found out nothing would be happening today. We felt very badly for him. The disappointment was all over his face.
We compared notes on our travels, experiences and observations about security issues. Come to find out, these two also endured the fake roadblock near Matmata and had to have military support to get through the protesters. Actually, as we started talking, something clicked
Yes, women must cover themselves!
I had to use one of those crazy scarves they hand you at the front door. Not exactly the look I was going for that day, but when in Rome...or a synagogue!and I remembered seeing them walking with their packs through downtown Matmata! (Our paths had crossed!)
We discussed the timeline of Mrs Ghadafi landing in the Djerba airport and then leaving for the Netherlands. And they were in the city, like we were, when everyone saw the unmarked 747 land at the airport. They too noticed the locals looking with amazement and mumbling "Libya."
It was nice to chat with those two Americans and since there was not much to see at the synagogue, we actually ran into them several more times on the island. We even introduced them to the Italians who owned the ice cream shop!
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