Egypt's dwindling Jewish community struggles to maintain its heritage
The leader of Egypt's tiny Jewish community has plans to make sure the country's long Jewish heritage outlives her by expanding synagogues into cultural centers and libraries.
Magda Haroun is well aware that responsibility for Egypt’s remaining Jewish heritage and history rests squarely on her shoulders. “I am the last one to close the door and turn off the lights of the synagogue,” she often tells the local press in interviews.
But turning off the lights is far from what Haroun, the head of the Jewish community and the president of the oldest Jewish charity association in Egypt, really wants to do. The energetic 66-years-old, who is the youngest member of Egypt’s miniscule Jewish society, has come up with a number of new projects for her association “Drop of Milk” to maintain Jewish heritage in Egypt.
The new plans include turning Egypt's synagogues into cultural centers where Jewish books, documents and memorabilia can be seen and accessed and films are screened.
“Today, [the association] is focused on preserving the Jewish heritage and has been working on cleaning up the synagogues and open them to visitors,” Haroun told El-Watan News in March. There are 11 synagogues left in Cairo, of which many are in poor shape.
