After the Bar Mitzvah, I was expected to follow certain religious rites, chief among them was to say my daily prayers. I did so at the insistence of my mother, but my heart was not in it. Each morning, I put on my Tefilim (Phylacteries) and wrapped myself in my Tallit (Prayer Shawl).

What I did enjoy was to attend the Friday night service. I had a choice of two synagogues: Hanan at the end of Rue Khantaret Ghamra, or Neve Shalom on Rue Tour Sina. I preferred Neve Shalom. The two things that I remember with fondness is the choir and the darrouche (sermon).

After the prayers were completed, the shammash (beadle) looked up at the loft and called out: “yalla ya welad,” “come on boys.” And from upstairs I could hear (but not see) the choir intoning Shir ha Shirim (Song of Songs): “Lekhou neranenah l’Adonai, lekhol nari’a lo …” “Let us sing a song to our Lord, Him whom we worship …” (It doesn’t quite follow the text as it is written in the bible). After the first stanza, the congregation then sang; the same procedure was carried on for the complete song. The Song of Songs was sung following a hauntingly beautiful mangina (tune).

The sermon was short and to the point. It used examples from daily life. It did not refer to obscure texts, and preaching was kept to a minimum. You usually could relate to it whether you were 12 or 72. It was delivered by the rabbi or a member of the congregation.

I also loved going to Temple Hanan during the High Holidays: Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (The Day Of Atonement). All or most of the Sepharim were taken out of the Aron Ha-Kodesh (Holy Ark). I remember what was written on top of the Holy Ark: “Teda’a Lifneh Mi Ata Omed.” “Know In Front Of Whom You Are Standing.” The intonation of the Shofar (horn of a ram) brought tears to my eyes.

Another synagogue that I cannot leave out, it being the largest in Egypt: Sha’ar Ha-Shamayim (Gates of Heaven); it was commonly referred to as Temple Ismailiah. It was a large and splendid place of worship which could, and did, hold many worshipers. It is presently maintained thanks to a substantial donation from a rich Swiss businessman, Nessim Gaon. Its rabbi was none other than Haim Nahum Effendi, a respected figure among people in position of power and Cairo’s Jews. Nahum Effendi served between 1925 – 1961. Since he was blind, the beadle had to remind him when to terminate his sermon, for he usually lost track of time.

* * *

Throughout my religious life, I looked for something more, the missing piece of the puzzle as it were. And the day came when I found it. I will talk of that in my next section.

Sources

1) The New Jewish Encyclopedia:  Edited by David Bridger Ph.D. In association with Samuel Wolk J.S.D.

Behrman House, Inc.

New York

1962

2) The Vanished World of Egyptian Jewry www.sephardicstudies.org/vanished.html

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