Book Description

In the twentieth century, the political Zionist movement and Egyptian rulers completely uprooted the country's thriving Jewish community - a goal the Pharaohs tried to realize as early as 3500 years ago. Mostly comprised of descendants of Sephardim from the Iberian Peninsula, the world's oldest Jewish community totaled 85,000 members in 1948. No more than 100 to 200 Jews live in Egypt today. This book tells the story of Egypt's Jewish history from Biblical times to 1967, the year of one of the last major Jewish emigration waves from Egypt. It highlights the First Exodus in ca. 1500 BCE and the Second Exodus, which was triggered by the foundation of the State of Israel and three successive wars in 1948, 1956, and 1967. Throughout the narrative, it becomes evident that the Jewish community consistently was subject to the arbitrary will of Egyptian rulers. Starting in 1948, members of this community were forced to leave the country without any of their belongings on short notice. Like other Jews from the Arab world, Egyptian Jews were not Zionists in the Eurocentric, Ashkenazi sense. Their arrival in Israel was met with prejudice and disdain. Even though they were discriminated against in matters of housing and education, they still managed to integrate well into Israeli society and are now members of the country's upper and middle class. The evidence presented in this book is based on interviews with ninety-six Egyptian Jews in Israel and the United States.