Kether Torah Synagogue of Sousse
Kether Torah Synagogue | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Judaism |
Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue |
Status | Active |
Location | |
Location | Sousse, Sousse Governorate |
Country | Tunisia |
Location of the synagogue in Tunisia | |
Geographic coordinates | 35°49′56″N 10°38′23″E / 35.832356°N 10.639659°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Synagogue architecture |
Founder | Chief Rabbi Yossef Guez |
Completed | 1913 |
The Keter Torah Synagogue (Hebrew: כתר תורה; Arabic: كنيس كتر التوراة) is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the city of Sousse, in the Sousse Governorate of Tunisia.
History
[edit]The city of Sousse has had a large Tunisian Jewish community dating from the Punic period. An 1853 census counted 400 Jewish families in Sousse.[1]
It is in this context that Keter Torah Synagogue was built in 1913[2] at the initiative of Yossef Guez, Chief Rabbi of Sousse and the first native Tunisian Chief Rabbi.[1] The synagogue is the main synagogue in the city.
In 1946, the Jewish community in Sousse numbered 3,500 but continued to decrease. As of 2006[update], there were 36 Jews left in Sousse.[3] Sousse once had six synagogues, today only Keter Torah is operational.[1]
On December 6, 2019, the National Heritage Institute of Tunisia announced that the synagogue was placed on the list of heritage sites of the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Synagogue Keter Torah, Sousse, Tunisia". archive.diarna.org. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ Walid Mejri (February 25, 2015). "Yves Eliahou, gardien du trésor des juifs en Tunisie". inkyfada.com (in French). Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
- ^ "Les juifs de Sousse: Histoire, origine, communauté, synagogues". Tunisie Généalogie (in French). May 19, 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
- ^ "Trois monuments tunisiens inscrits sur la liste définitive du patrimoine civilisationnel dans le monde islamique". webmanagercenter.com (in French). December 7, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
Bibliography
[edit]- Bismuth-Jarrassé, Colette; Jarrassé, Dominique (2010). Synagogues de Tunisie : monuments d'une histoire et d'une identité. Patrimoines (in French). Le Kremlin-Bicêtre: Esthétiques du divers. pp. 276–278. ISBN 978-2-9533041-2-1.