Ben Ezra Synagogue

Infobox religious building
building_name =Ben Ezra Synagogue

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caption = Annex of the "Library of Jewish Heritage in Egypt" at Ben Ezra Synagogue, Old Cairo
location = Flagicon|EGY Cairo, Egypt
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religious_affiliation = Orthodox Judaism
rite=Sephardic
district = Fustat
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year_completed = 1892
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length = m to ft|17
width = m to ft|11.3
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materials =The Ben Ezra Synagogue ( _he. בית כנסת בן עזרא, _ar. معبد بن عزرا), sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue ( _he. בית כנסת אל גניזה), is situated in Coptic Cairo, Egypt. According to local tradition, it is located on the site of where baby Moses was found. ["Finally, there is the Ben Ezra Synagogue, with its cool marble floors. Lore has it that the Nile once flowed up behind the synagogue, and there, in the reeds, baby Moses was hidden." Slackman, Michael. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/03/travel/03hours.html?bl=&ei=5087%0A&en=3d30181e38ef380e&ex=1202533200 "36 Hours in Cairo"] , "The New York Times", February 3, 2008.] The land for the synagogue was purchased in 882 CE for 20,000 dinars by Abraham ibn Ezra of Jerusalem.

This was the synagogue whose geniza or store room was found in the 19th century to contain a treasure of abandoned Hebrew secular and sacred manuscripts. The collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, was brought to Cambridge, England at the instigation of Solomon Schechter.

ee also

*History of the Jews in Egypt

References

External links

* [http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Synagogue/cairo.asp The Ben Ezra Synagogue, Cairo, Egypt]