El Ghriba Synagogue-Djerba, Tunisia

Djerba, is an island off of the North African country of Tunisia. It is home to a small Jewish community and Africa’s oldest Jewish Synagogue, El Ghriba Synagogue. At one time Tunisia was home to 100,000 Jews. Once Tunisia gained independence form France, most Jews immigrated to France or Israel; now 1,500 live there. 

Most Jews, like myself, are Ashkanazi. That means after the Jewish Diaspora, our ancestors immigrated to Europe… mainly Eastern Europe. Jews North Africa, the Middle East, and the Caucasus are called Mizrahi Jews. Some people group Mizrahi Jews with Sephardic Jews, or Jews from the Iberian (Spain & Portugal) Peninsula. 

I can’t believe how beautiful this synagogue! I LOVE the blue color (Blue is a good luck symbol for both Muslims and Jews in the Middle East) of this synagogue and the high arches. I really hope to visit this temple one day as well all of North Africa. I really just want to go everywhere in the world! 

In 2002, a car bomb went off outside the temple killing 21 people : ( 

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