Jews of Lebanon: Guide to Lebanese Jewish History and Genealogy

The Jewish Community of Lebanon: History, Heritage, and Resources

History of Jews in Lebanon

• Mainly a Mizrahi community, but with Sephardic members
• Book: Juifs du Liban: D’Abraham à nos jours, histoire d’une communauté disparue by Nagi Gergi Zeïdan
• Book: The Jews of Lebanon by Kirsten Schulze
• Jewish population increased after the Suez Canal opening
• Wadi Abu Jamil was Beirut’s Jewish quarter. I found this Arabic language book online: وادي أبو جميل، قصص عن يهود بيروت ندى عبد الصمد. Please let me know if it is either useful or antisemitic.
• Economic crisis of 1908 led to emigration, particularly to Rio de Janeiro
• Community declined after independence from France, from about 20,000 in 1948 to around 7,000 in the 1950s. Further emigration after the 1967 Six Day War. Most of the remaining community escaped after the arrival of the PLO and start of the Lebanese Civil War in 1975-1976. Some of the remaining Jews were kidnapped and murdered by Hezbollah in the 1980s.
• Video: “Minority report: The Jews of Lebanon” by Nagi Zeidan

Synagogues in Lebanon

1. Maghen Abraham Synagogue (Beirut) A view of the synagogue before restoration. Video of the synagogue after restoration.
2. Bhamdoun Synagogue on the Damascus Road from Beirut
3. Deir el Qamar Synagogue on Mount Lebanon, apparently built for Jewish followers of a Druze autonomous ruler.
4. Sidon (Saida) Synagogue. Reportedly built in 833CE on the site of an earlier synagogue dating from the time of the Second Temple. Israeli soldiers recovered a Torah scroll from the synagogue during the first Lebanon war. The synagogue is reported to be in a dilapidated state, and used as a home by Syrian refugees.

Lebanese Jewish Cemeteries

Beirut Jewish Cemetery (Cimetière juif de Beyrouth)

• Located in Ras el Nabaa district
• Approximately 4,000 burials
• Notable interments: Rabbi Moïse Yedid-Levi, Rabbi Haïm Dana, Safra family members
• Online burial index available
• Histoire du Cimetière Juif à Beyrouth by Georges Zeidan

Sidon Jewish Cemetery

IAJGS page

Research Resources for Lebanese Jewish Genealogy

Good luck getting a reply to an enquiry on Jewish genealogy from an archive in an Arab country. One day it will happen.

There is a Lebanese Genealogical Society الجمعية اللبنانية لعلم الأنساب (Association Libanaise de Genealogie) but I have no details of their activities, or whether they will communicate with Jewish researchers. If you need help with your research, the Cercle de Généalogie Juive in France can probably provide some guidance.

Archives and Libraries

• Lebanese National Archives (Centre des Archives Nationales). There is no online but Les Archives nationales du Liban: (période contemporaine) : guide-inventaire by Salvatore Carbone.
• France Archives
• Lebanese National Library
• Jafet Library, the American University of Beirut (AUB)
• Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People Jerusalem (CAHJP) collection includes “Various documents and registers (19^th-20^th centuries); letters from Lebanese communities to the Chacham Bashi [Chief Rabbi] in Turkey (19^th-20^th centuries).”
• Archives du Ministère des Affaires étrangères
• Archives de l’Alliance Israélite Universelle
• Sharia Court Records. Archives of (Sunni) Islamic courts include cases involving non-Muslims
• Ottoman State Archives

Jewish Organizations

• Lebanese Jewish Community Council (Conseil Communal Israélite Libanais)
• Patrimoine et Cultures des Juifs du Liban

Historical Publications

• L’Univers Israelite⁩ – ⁨العالم الاسرائيلي⁩⁩; העולם הישראלי
• Le Commerce du Levant (originally a Jewish publication)

Online Resources

• International Jewish Cemetery Project – Lebanon page
• Les Fleurs de l’Orient website of Alain Farhi

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