"The Jews of Alexandria"

- CONTENT -
THE ALEXANDRIA JEWISH COMMUNITY BEGAN TO EXIST, WITH THE NATIVES OF ALEXANDRIA IN ANCIENT EGYPT BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN 332 BC. THE JEWS IN ALEXANDRIA HAD A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, CULTURAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ALEXANDRIA DURING THE HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN ERA, DURING THE JEWISH ROMANS, ACCOUNTED FOR ABOUT 35% OF THE CITY’S POPULATION. THE JEWS OF ALEXANDRIA WERE THE FOUNDERS OF HELLENISTIC JEWRY, AND THE FIRST TO TRANSLATE THE HEBREW TORAH INTO GREEK KINA, IN A DOCUMENT KNOWN AS THE SEVENTIES. MANY IMPORTANT JEWISH WRITERS AND FIGURES CAME OR LEARNED IN ALEXANDRIA, INCLUDING THE ALEXANDRIAN PHILON, THE SON OF JESUS, BEN ELIEZER BEN SIRA, TIBERIUS JULIUS ALEXANDER AND JOSEPH, OF HIS DEATH. THE STATUS OF ALEXANDRIA JEWRY BEGAN TO DETERIORATE DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD, WHEN DEEP ANTI-SEMITIC FEELINGS BEGAN TO DEVELOP AMONG THE GREEK AND CHRISTIAN POPULATIONS OF THE CITY. THESE ANTI-SEMITIC FEELINGS LED IN 38 AD TO THE POGROM IN ALEXANDRIA AND THE WALLS OF ALEXANDRIA IN 66 CE, WHICH WERE SIMULTANEOUSLY THE OUTBREAK OF THE FIRST GREAT REVOLT, OF THE JEWS AGAINST THE ROMANS. THE PROTESTANTS LED TO THE MASS IMMIGRATION OF ALEXANDRIA’S JEWS TO ROME, AS WELL AS OTHER CITIES IN THE MEDITERRANEAN AND NORTH AFRICA. AND THE POPULATION OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN ALEXANDRIA WAS REDUCED. AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BYZANTINE ERA, THE JEWISH POPULATION GREW AGAIN, BUT THE PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. DURING THE MUSLIM CONQUEST OF EGYPT, THE NUMBER OF JEWS IN ALEXANDRIA GREW GREATLY, WITH SOME ESTIMATES INDICATING THAT THE POPULATION HAD NEARLY 40,000 JEWS. AFTER THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN 1948, AND FOLLOWING THE 1967 SIX-DAY WAR, NEARLY ALL THE JEWISH POPULATION OF ALEXANDRIA WAS EXPELLED FROM EGYPT AND IMMIGRATED TO ISRAEL. AS OF MARCH 2012, THE ALEXANDRIA JEWISH COMMUNITY HAS 20 PEOPLE (17 WOMEN AND THREE MEN) ALL AROUND THEIR 1990S. THE PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY, JOSEPH (JO) WAS 55.

EARLY HELLENISTIC AND ROMAN TIMES
ACCORDING TO JOSEPHUS PLABIUS, JEWS HAVE BEEN IN ALEXANDRIA SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT, AND MOST HISTORIANS AGREE THAT JEWS LIVED IN THE CITY AT LEAST FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY BCE. UNDER THE RULE OF THE TALIMI TEMPLE, THE JEWS WERE ASSIGNED A SEPARATE PART OF THE CITY, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT INTERFERE WITH THE EXISTENCE OF THEIR RELIGIOUS LAWS AND COMMANDMENTS AS A RESULT OF THE CONFUSION WITH THE AFGHAN POPULATION. THIS JEWISH QUARTER WAS ONE OF THE FIVE PARTS OF THE CITY, EACH OF WHICH WAS NAMED AFTER A SIGN IN THE GREEK ALPHABET, WHEN THE JEWISH QUARTER WAS CALLED DELTA. DURING THIS PERIOD, THE JEWS ENJOYED ALEXANDRIA A GREATER DEGREE OF INDEPENDENCE AND POLITICAL RULE AND SERVED AS THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES OF THE CITY, THE SUBURBAN TRADERS AND THE ALVARS. THE ANARCHITES (PRESIDENTS OF THE PEOPLE) HAVE MANAGED THE JEWISH COMMUNITY IN THE CITY IN COOPERATION WITH A COUNCIL OF 71 ELDERLY PEOPLE. ACCORDING TO MR. STRABON, HEATHER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF JEWISH AFFAIRS IN THE CITY, MAINLY ON LEGAL ISSUES AND CONDUCTING DOCUMENTS. THERE WAS ALSO A LARGE COURT CALLED THE ARCHIVE. DURING THIS PERIOD, THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE OF ALEXANDRIA WAS ALSO ESTABLISHED BY THE PROPHET ELIJAH. IN ADDITION, THE CITY OF JEWISH-LENINIST LITERATURE DEVELOPED IN THE CITY, WHERE THE WORK OF TRANSLATION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE WAS FIRST MADE INTO GREEK ("THE TRANSLATION OF THE 70S"). IN THE TALMUD, THE JEWS OF THE CITY ARE MENTIONED, AND IT IS SAID THAT THE ONLY OIL IN THE POSSESSION OF ALEXANDRIANS IS GRAIN OIL. AMONG THE FAMOUS JEWS OF THE CITY FROM THAT PERIOD WAS THE PHILOSOPHER PHILON THE ALEXANDRIAN. DURING THE SECOND TEMPLE, ALEXANDRIA JEWS WERE REPRESENTED IN JERUSALEM BY A SMALL COMMUNITY. DURING HEROD'S REIGN, SEVERAL PROMINENT FAMILIES OF ALEXANDRIA'S JEWS LIVED IN JERUSALEM, SUCH AS SHIMON BEN BEITOS, WHO WAS APPOINTED TO SERVE LARGE BY HEROD AND WAS THE FATHER OF THE HOUSE. THE JEWS OF ALEXANDRIA WERE USED AS SECULAR PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE TALIMI HOUSE. RICH JEWS HAVE OCCASIONALLY HELD ALBER’S ROLES, SUCH AS ALEXANDER HALB