The history of the Jews in Lebanon refers to the presence of Jews in Lebanon since biblical times. The number of Jews living in Lebanon dwindled during the Muslim era.Kirsten Schulze. "Lebanon." Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. Executive Editor Norman A. Stillman. Brill Online, 2013. However, despite persecution, the community retained its religious and cultural identity.
In the early 20th century, for a brief period under the French Mandate of Lebanon and 1926 Constitution of Lebanon, the Jewish community was constitutionally protected. However, after 1948, the security of Jews remained fragile, and the main synagogue in Beirut was bombed in the early 1950s.
In the wake of the 1967 Arab–Israeli War, there was mass emigration of around 6,000 Lebanese Jews from Lebanon to Israel and Western countries.
During the Lebanese Civil War, some 200 members of the community were killed in anti-Jewish pogroms, and over 1,800 displaced. In August 1982, when Israeli forces invaded Lebanon and lay siege to Beirut, over 100 Jewish families were displaced and the synagogue suffered extensive damage. By 2005, the number of Jews living in the Jewish quarter of Beirut, Wadi Abu Jamil, was said to be 40-200.
The Jews were officially called Israelites or Mousawiyyin (followers of Moses). While there are no official estimates for the size of the remaining Jewish community today, it is estimated that there are only 70–100 Jews left, and most remain under the radar for fear of persecution.Minority Rights Organization: Jews of Lebanon
History
Antiquity In Late Antiquity (the Talmudic period in Jewish historiography), Jewish sages, chazal, are recorded as having traveled from the Land of Israel to Tyre, where they taught halakha (Jewish law), answered halakhic questions, and provided biblical commentary. Rabbinic traditions reference the activities of Yaakov of Kfar Naboria, a sage from the fourth generation of the amoraim, in Tyre.
Another notable amora active in Tyre was R. Mana bar Tanchum. According to the Talmud, "Hiyya bar Abba went to Tyre and discovered that R. Mana bar Tanchum permitted Turmusin (Lupin beans)." Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai identified two routes that could be traveled on Shabbat without crossing the Shabbat techum: from Tiberias to Sepphoris (in Israel) and from Tyre to Sidon (in Lebanon).
Evidence of Jewish migration from Tyre to Galilee is found in a Greek-language inscription on a stone lintel at a synagogue in Sepphoris, likely dating to the fifth century CE. The inscription references the archisynagogos of Tyre and Sidon, implying that Jews from both Tyre and Sidon had settled in Sepphoris, establishing a community centered around the local synagogue, complete with its own leaders.
Middle Ages As governor of Syria under Caliph 'Uthman from 639 to 661 CE, Mu'awiya settled Jews in Tripoli.
During the early Islamic period, Tyre was home to a substantial Jewish population (estimated at around 4,000 prior to the Arab conquest) and benefited from the Mu'āwiya’s redevelopment of coastal cities. In the 11th century, Tyre's economic and Jewish communal significance grew, particularly with the temporary relocation of the Land of Israel yeshiva to the city between roughly 1077 and 1093.
Regional instability under the Fatimid Caliphate, including a failed rebellion in 1063 and the sack of Tyre in 1093, led to a period of destruction in the city. The Damascus Jewish community ransomed captives from Tyre in the aftermath. Tyre remained a Jewish center during the Crusader period, with Benjamin of Tudela reporting 400–500 Jewish households, a number of synagogues, and a scholarly community. The Jewish presence largely ended with the Mamluk conquest in 1291, after which Tyre declined and became a secondary stop for pilgrims.
Ottoman period During the Ottoman period, Deir al-Qamar hosted a Jewish community. It was first documented in Rabbi Joseph Soffer's visit circa 1759. The community is cited in Responsa literature from the same period, indicating it had communal institutions such as a beth din and synagogue. Rabbi Joseph Schwartz provides additional context, estimating the community at 80 householders mostly engaged in trade, also leasing lands for iron production and owning vineyards and olive plantations.
Following hardships in the late 19th century, the Jewish community of Deir al-Qamar dispersed, selling their properties. In the 1837 Safed earthquake, the Jews of Deir al-Qamar aided the Jews of Safed. In 1847, they faced a blood libel incident. The community's demise came during the 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon, leading to their displacement and the eventual sale of their synagogue in 1893.
Early 20th century In 1911, Jews from Italy, Greece, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and Iran moved to Beirut, expanding the community there with more than 5,000 additional members. Articles 9 and 10 of the 1926 Constitution of Lebanon guaranteed the freedom of religion and provided each religious community, including the Jewish community, the right to manage its own civil matters, including education, and thus the Jewish community was constitutionally protected, a fact that did not apply to other Jewish communities in the region.Schulze, Kirsten. The Jews of Lebanon: Between Coexistence and Conflict, page 33 The Jewish community prospered under the French mandate and Greater Lebanon, exerting considerable influence throughout Lebanon and beyond. They allied themselves with Pierre Gemayel's Phalangist Party (a right wing, Maronite group modelled after similar movements in Italy and Germany, and Franco's Phalangist movement in Spain.) and played an instrumental role in the establishment of Lebanon as an independent state.
During the Greater Lebanon period, two Jewish newspapers were founded, the Arabic language Al-Alam al-Israili (the Israelite World) and the French language Le Commerce du Levant, an economic periodical which continued to be in circulation until June 2021.
The Jewish community of Beirut evolved in three distinct phases.Tomer Levi, "The Formation of a Levantine Community: The Jews of Beirut, 1860-1939", Ph.D. diss. (Brandeis University, 2010), pp.78-133 Until 1908, the Jewish population in Beirut grew by migration from the Syrian interior and from other Ottoman cities like İzmir, Salonica, Istanbul, and Baghdad. Commercial growth in the thriving port-city, consular protection, and relative safety and stability in Beirut all accounted for the Jewish migration. Thus, from a few hundred at the beginning of the 19th century, the Jewish community grew to 2,500 by the end of the century, and to 3,500 by World War I. While the number of Jews grew considerably, the community remained largely unorganized. During this period, the community lacked some of the fundamental institutions such as communal statutes, elected council, welfare and taxation mechanisms. In this period, the most organized and well-known Jewish institution in the city was probably the private Tiferet Israel (The Glory of Israel) boarding-school founded by Zaki Cohen in 1874. The school attracted Jewish students from prosperous families like Shloush (Jaffa), Moyal (Jaffa), and Sassoon (Baghdad). Its founder, influenced by the Ottoman reforms and by local cultural trends, aspired to create a modern yet Jewish school. It offered both secular and strictly Jewish subjects as well as seven languages. It also offered commercial subjects. The school was closed at the beginning of the 20th century due to financial hardships.
The Young Turk Revolution (1908) sparked the organization process. Within six years, the Beirut community created a general assembly, an elected twelve-member council, drafted communal statutes, appointed a chief rabbi, and appointed committees to administer taxation and education. The process involved tension and even conflicts within the community, but eventually, the community council established its rule and authority in the community. The chief rabbi received his salary from the community and was de facto under the council's authority.
With the establishment of Greater Lebanon (1920), the Jewish community of Beirut became part of a new political entity. The French mandate rulers adopted local political traditions of power-sharing and recognized the autonomy of the various religious communities. Thus, the Jewish community was one of Lebanon's sixteen communities and enjoyed a large measure of autonomy, more or less along the lines of the Ottoman millet system. During the third phase of its development, the community founded two major institutions: the Maghen Abraham Synagogue (1926), and the renewed Talmud-Torah Selim Tarrab community school (1927). The community also maintained welfare services like the Biqur-Holim, Ozer-Dalim, and Mattan-Basseter societies. The funding for all these institutions came from contributions of able community members, who contributed on Jewish holidays and celebrations, through subscription of prominent members, fund-raising events and lotteries the community organized. In fact, the community was financially independent and did not rely on European Jewish philanthropy.
The development of the Jewish yishuv in Palestine influenced the Jewish leadership, who usually showed sympathy and active support for Zionism. The Jewish leadership in Beirut during this time aligned itself ideologically with the American-Based B'nai B'rith organization through its local proxy (Arzei Ha-Levanon Lodge) which was staffed by local community leaders. The B'nai B'rith lodge in Beirut attracted the social and economic elite. It embarked on community progress and revival through social activism, Jewish solidarity, and philanthropic values. Unlike the Alliance, who mainly aspired to empower the Jewish individual through modern education, the B'nai B'rith strove to empower both the individual and the community as a whole. In Beirut, unlike other Jewish communities, most of the community council members were also B'nai B'rith members, hence there existed an overlap between the council and the lodge. Of course, the Alliance school was popular in the community as it focused on French and prepared students for higher education. Since there was no Jewish high school in Beirut, many Jewish students attended foreign (Christian) schools, either secular or religious. The Jewish community was one of the smaller communities in the country, and hence it was not entitled for a guaranteed representation in the parliament. Being excluded from Lebanese political life, the Jewish leadership aspired to improve the community's public standing by consolidating and improving the community as a whole. Overall, the French mandate period was characterized by growth, development, and stability.
In the 20th century, the Jewish community in Lebanon showed little involvement or interest in politics. They were generally traditional as opposed to religious and were not involved in the feuds of the larger religious groups in the country. Broadly speaking, they tended to support Lebanese nationalism and felt an affinity toward France. French authorities at the time discouraged expressions of Zionism (which they saw as a tool of their British rival), and the community was mostly apathetic to it. A few community leaders, such as Joseph Farhi, fervently supported the Zionist cause, and there was a level of support for the concept of a Jewish state in Palestine. The Jews in Lebanon had good contacts with those in Palestine, and there were regular visits between Beirut and Jerusalem. Accounts by the Alliance Israélite Universelle, which established schools that most Jewish children in the country attended, spoke of active Zionism while the Jewish Agency lamented the lack of national sentiment. The World Zionist Organization was also disappointed with the lack of more active support, and the community did not send a delegation to the World Zionist Congress.