In Pictures

In Pictures: Pilgrimage returns to Djerba

Tunisian Jews hold the annual festival on tourist island, despite the community’s doubts over its future.

For decades, the Jews of Djerba have hosted a pilgrimage to La Ghriba synagogue on the minor holiday of Lag B(***)Omer. The event is referred to in Hebrew as a "Hiloula", the annual custom of traveling to the burial sites of revered spiritual leaders.

Djerba, Tunisia – In the year following political upheaval in this North African nation, many viewed the annual Djerba pilgrimage as a litmus test of the new government’s ability to provide security for a Jewish community that has lived in the area for millennia.

The moderate Islamist Ennahdha ruling party has been trying to dispel fears that its policies would cause problems for secular Tunisians, religious minorities and women.

Earlier in 2012, several incidents highlighted what is often depicted as an increased threat from ultra-conservative Muslims to the local Jewish population. During an event where Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh was welcomed at Tunis Carthage Airport, people reportedly chanted slogans such as: “Expel the Jews. It’s our religious duty.”

While Rachid Ghannouchi, the leader of Ennahdha, has condemned the anti-Jewish outbursts as unrepresentative of his party, many critics have said he did not go far enough.

A Salafi rally in the capital in March calling for an Islamic state also featured similar comments about the religious minority. Weeks later, President Moncef Marzouki visited the pilgrimage site in the run-up to the event to commemorate the victims of an al-Qaeda-inspired suicide bomb attack that killed 21 people, mostly German tourists, in 2002.

The event in Djerba occurred this year without any security problems. While far fewer pilgrims came than in 2010, many saw the holiday gathering as a success, after it was called off last year, following the ousting of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

Haim Bittan is a rabbi in the Djerba town of Hara Kabira (meaning "Big Neighbourhood"), where most of the island(***)s Jews reside. He downplayed the political change since last years uprising: "Until now, there is no change for us, but we don(***)t know what the future will hold."

Kippah sign — The community, which some say dates back 2,500 years, speaks a variant of the Tunisian dialect of Arabic as its first language, but many speak French and Hebrew as well. Many of the men have jewelry businesses in Houmt Souq, the largest town on the island.

Music performance — Devotees came to enjoy the traditional Tunisian-Jewish music and honour Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century scholar of the Torah, also known as the five books of Moses.

Maimon, a French Jew of Tunisian origin, lives in the northern suburbs of Paris in close proximity to his Arab and Muslim neighbours. Many of the visitors from France see the annual affair as a way to reconnect with their roots and promote tourism to their former homeland.

Candle oil — A local woman fills a lantern with oil. Amos Cohen, a 19-year-old also from Hara Saghira (meaning "Small Neighbourhood") who was giving out candles to pilgrims, said this year brought more people than 2011, when the pilgrimage was cancelled due to security fears.

Eggs — A young child climbs into the cave behind the most revered section of the synagogue. Worshippers leave prayer messages on eggs that the children place inside.

Procession — In a procession that some critical members of the community view as superstitious and reminiscent of pagan practices, pilgrims push a cart carrying a metal case decorated with symbolic menorahs and containing the Torah.

Women in brightly-hued dresses accompany the men leading the procession. Many pilgrims from France and elsewhere came to Djerba for the first time, as Tunisia tries to recover from a tourism slump in the aftermath of the nationwide uprising.

Security and drumming — But this year at one of the oldest synagogues in Africa there were more government security personnel and journalists than actual pilgrims, who numbered no more than several hundred.

Brik — A cook in the synagogue(***)s social space adds oil for cooking brik, a traditional Tunisian fast-food item deep-fried with eggs, chili paste and tuna. The Jewish variety is often flavoured with saffron mint, differentiating it from the usual type.

Dancing — Young men from the local community, and from nearby cities such as Zarzis, celebrate the occasion with Tunisian Celtia beer, festive songs and jubilant dancing.

Haykel — Djerba has around a dozen synagogues and a handful of Kosher restaurants. Many of Djerba(***)s Jews such as Yehizkel Haddad, a Hebrew teacher, live a simple village life in stark contrast with the urbanised lifestyles of their family members who have moved abroad - or to Tunis, the capital.

Roger Bismuth, Tunis-based head of Tunisia(***)s Jewish community, says, "I myself am deeply Tunisian. It is my country." There were originally more than 100,000 Jews in the country in 1948, though there are now around 1,700.

Tunis synagogue — Only a minority of the community, some 500 Jews, live in the capital. The Grand Synagogue in the area of Lafayette in central Tunis was built in the 1930s. The art deco structure is just down the Avenue de Liberte from a prominent Salafi mosque.

While most of the small community(***)s members left long ago for France or Israel, many Tunisians express hopes that the country(***)s Jews might one day return to preserve the society(***)s religious diversity.