Bahrain Synagogue
{{Short description|Synagogue in Manama, Bahrain}}
{{Infobox religious building
|building_name=House of Ten Commandments
|image=
| image_size =275px
|caption=
|location= Sasa'ah Avenue
{{Flagicon|Bahrain}} Manama, Bahrain
|coordinates = {{Coord|26.2305|50.574|display=inline,title}}
|religious_affiliation=Orthodox Judaism
|rite=Sephardic
|district=
|functional_status=
|leadership= Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo
|website=
|architecture=no
|architecture_style=
|facade_direction=
|year_completed=
|construction_cost=
|architect=
|specifications=no
|capacity=
|length=
|width=
|width_nave=
|height_max=
|dome_quantity=
|dome_height_outer=
|dome_height_inner=
|dome_dia_outer=
|dome_dia_inner=
|minaret_quantity=
|minaret_height=
|spire_quantity=
|spire_height=
|materials=
}}
House of Ten Commandments ({{langx|ar|بيت الوصاية العشر}}, {{langx|he|בית עשרת הדיברות}}), also called Bahrain Synagogue, is a synagogue located on Sasa'ah Avenue, in commercial district in Manama, Bahrain. House of the Ten Commandments is the oldest continuously operating synagogue in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
History
{{See also|History of the Jews in Bahrain}}
The synagogue was built in the 1930s by Iranian Jewish merchant Shimon Cohen and financed by an American jeweller whose name is recorded only as Rosenthal and who came to Bahrain to buy pearls.{{cite web|url=https://en.majalla.com/node/128181/politicsregion%E2%80%99s-oldest-synagogue-represents-new-hope-bahrain%E2%80%99s-jews|title=Region’s Oldest Synagogue Represents New Hope for Bahrain’s Jews|publisher=Al Majalla|last=Ravi|first=Meera|date=2 April 2021}}
After the 1947 UN Partition Plan which envisaged partitioning Palestine, the synagogue was ransacked by foreign workers who worked in Bahrain.{{cite web|url=https://english.alarabiya.net/features/2020/09/14/Close-to-extinction-Bahrain-s-Jews-say-Israel-deal-revives-their-community|title=After Israel deal, Bahrain’s Jews seek to revive community with new rabbi, synagogue |publisher=Al Arabiya|date=14 September 2020}} The riots caused many Bahraini Jews to emigrate.{{cite web|url= http://www.ohav.org/columns/survival/islandgirl.html|title= Tales of Survival: Island Girl|accessdate= 2007-06-01|last= Rosenbloom|first= Michael|date= March 2002|publisher= Congregation Ohav Sholom, Merrick, New York|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070208151425/http://www.ohav.org/columns/survival/islandgirl.html|archivedate = 2007-02-08|url-status=dead|df=}} The synagogue was ransacked and burned and the country's Torah scroll was stolen. The Torah scroll was returned in damaged condition a number of years later.{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-734658|title=The Bahraini synagogue that was brought back to life|publisher=The Jerusalem Post|date=18 March 2023}}
The remaining Jewish community in Bahrain wanted to convert the building for another use or give it to charity, but the government of Bahrain insisted in remains as a synagogue. The government has also offered the Jewish community a piece of land to rebuild the synagogue. Ebrahim Daoud Nonoo, the Jewish community's unofficial leader and a member of Bahrain's National Assembly, undertook to renovate the synagogue.{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/bahrain-virtual-jewish-history-tour|title=Bahrain Virtual Jewish History Tour|publisher=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=20 July 2024}}
The synagogue was renovated in 1997, 2006, and in 2021. In 2021, the synagogue was renovated at a cost of 60,000 Bahraini dinars ($159,000) and was opened to the public for the first time in 74 years since 1947.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/bahrain-jews-worship-in-public-for-1st-time-in-decades-thanks-to-abraham-accords/|title=Bahrain Jews worship in public for 1st time in decades thanks to Abraham Accords|publisher=Times of Israel|date=14 September 2021}}
Overview
A sign outside the building reads “Bahrain Synagogue” in English, and “House of Ten Commandments” in Arabic and Hebrew. The synagogue has a wooden door and has arch-shaped wooden windows approximating the synagogue's design when it was built in the 1930s. The Ark cover is blue velvet and dedicated, in Hebrew, to the community’s late rabbi Shimon Cohen. The bima cover has a velvet cover dedicated in Hebrew to the normalization agreement between Bahrain and Israel, and the ark holds an Ashkenazi Torah, given to the King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa by Jared Kushner, that has the following inscription: “In honor of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for his vision, courage and leadership in bringing peace, respect and religious tolerance to the Middle East. June 25, 2019, Jared Kushner.”
There are services in the synagogue every Shabbat morning, though there is not always a minyan. It depends on who is visiting and whether there are tourists.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930215930/http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/030625/2003062528.html Bahrain's crown prince, Shaloum discuss the situations of Bahraini Jews], ArabicNews.com
Category:Jews and Judaism in Bahrain
Category:Synagogues in the Middle East
Category:Religious buildings and structures in Bahrain
Category:Buildings and structures in Manama
Category:Orthodox synagogues in the Middle East