Egypt's tiny Jewish community celebrates state action to protect heritage
Egypt has long promised to preserve the country's Jewish heritage, but only now have concrete steps materialized.
CAIRO — The Egyptian government’s repeated pledges for action to preserve the country’s Jewish heritage have started yielding fruit, the head of the country’s miniscule Jewish community told Al-Monitor.
“The government is getting really serious about Jewish heritage,” said Magda Haroun, head of the Jewish community in Cairo and president of the Drop of Milk association. She explained that the government’s registration of Jewish artifacts and other valuable pieces in Egyptian synagogues will help prevent them from being damaged, lost or stolen.
Earlier in December, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced it had registered 500 Jewish artifacts collected from the country’s synagogues. Haroun said that the artifacts, which have been carefully inventoried since July, include some valuable candlesticks, cups, chandeliers and lamps.
“We are now in talks with the Ministry of Culture to turn Jewish synagogues into cultural centers and we are also planning to cooperate to restore Jewish cemeteries,” Haroun said. She has long advocated opening up the synagogues to the public to keep Jewish heritage alive in Egypt.
