El Ghriba synagogue in the town of Hara Seghira, Djerba, Tunisia. Though this building is less than a century old, a synagogue has been operating continuously on this site for over two thousand years. It was built by the Cohanim in the hara zrira. Visitors have donated many gifts to the synagogue, creating a significant collection of ritual ob...

El Ghriba synagogue in the town of Hara Seghira, Djerba, Tunisia. Though this building is less than a century old, a synagogue has been operating continuously on this site for over two thousand years.

It was built by the Cohanim in the hara zrira. Visitors have donated many gifts to the synagogue, creating a significant collection of ritual objects. At the end of the nineteenth century, in order to maintain the prominence of the Ghriba Synagogue, Djerba rabbis declared that no other synagogues in the hara zrira would keep a Torah scroll on its premises. Ghriba Synagogue is the center of all Jewish communities in Djerba.

The Ghriba Synagogue became an architectural model for almost all of the synagogues and yeshivot built in Djerba because of its importance as a holy place. Thus, the basic structure of all the synagogues is the same.

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