Nearly 5000 Jews participated in the annual excursion to El-
Ghariba, the oldest synagogue in Africa, which is situated on
the island of Djerba off the north African coast of
Tunisia.
The two day excursion was in honor of the traditional Lag
BaOmer celebration. The visitors arrived this year mainly
from Europe (Belgium, Spain, Italy), Israel and the United
States.
Djerba is called the "priests' island" since, according to a
tradition, the first Jews who came there were Kohanim
who had been exiled from Eretz Yisroel during bayis
Sheini. According to tradition, these Kohanim
buried one of the doors of the Beis Hamikdash under
the El- Ghariba synagogue. In recent times, many of the Jews
of Djerba were talmidei chachomim and yirei
Shomayim. Most of them went up to Eretz Yisroel
some thirty years ago.
The group which came to Djerba for the occasion was made up
mostly of native-born Tunisians. Tunisian Tourism Minister
Salach Mavai arrived in Djerba to greet the guests, along
with the rav of the local Jewish community, Peretz Terbeli,
and the Chief Rabbi of Tunisia, Rabbi Chaim Madad.
"The Jews of Tunisia are an inseparable part of Tunisian
identity," the Minister exclaimed.
Israel's representative in Tunisia, Shalom Cohen, who was
present at the ceremony, also participated in the prayer
service on the site.
Tunisian authorities began to encourage the "return" of
Tunisian Jews to the State in the beginning of the '90's. The
authorities even encouraged the trek to the ceremony at El-
Ghariba, in which Jews from Israel began to participate at a
later date.
100,000 Jews lived in Tunisia before it became an independent
state in 1956. Today, however, there are only 3000 Jews left
in Tunisia, most of whom live in Djerba.
