User:Allmeyer2021/sandbox

I am deciding to edit the Article about the Island of Djerba. I am specifically focused on the section about the Djerbian Jews.

There are multiple accounts to how the Jewish people made there way to the Island of Djerba. There is no concrete evidence that links the Jewish people in Djerba during the period of antiquity, the first evidence that historians know of come from the 11th century found in Cairo Geniza. The evidence that links the Jewish people to the Island of Djerba before this time is found through Oral history and traditions still used today that are specific to the Jews of Djerba. The most well accepted theory of how the Jewish people arrived is linked to the destruction of the Temple of Soloman in 586 B.C.E. This version states that the priests, Kohanim (member of the priestly caste of descendants of Aaron, brother of Moses ), who were serving the temple at the time of destruction escaped from Jerusalem and found themselves on the island of Djerba. The legend says that with them, the Kohanim carried the door and some stones from the Temple in Jerusalem which they then incorporated into the "marvelous synagogue", also known as Ghirba, which still stands in Djerba. The Kohanim refugees then settles in a village near the newly built sanctuary and founded Hara Sghira, a town that still thrives to this day. The village of Hara Sghira today is known the smaller jewish community and Hara Kebira is the community that has a larger Jewish Community.

Some traditions that are distinctive of the Jewish Djerba community is the kiddish prayer said on the eve of Passover and a few prophetic passages on certain Shabbats of the year. Traditions like these help historians believe the accounts on the time period the Jewish people arrived in Djerba.

The Jewish community differs from others in Djerba in there dress, personal names, and accents. The Jewish people of Djerba also have a sacred place within the community that is enclosed by wire, the 'eruv' which delimits the area in which Jews can carry objects on Shabbat.

The next influx of Jewish people to the Island of Djerba was during the Spanish Inquisition, when the Iberian Jewish population was no longer welcome and were forced to leave. The Jewish population hit its peak during the time that Tunisia was fighting for independence from France 1881-1956. In 1940 there were approximately 100,000 Jewish Tunisians or 15% of the entire population of Tunisia. However, once the State of Israel was established, and political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa was building up many Jewish people left Tunisia. Although the Jewish community of Tunisia was on the decline, the Jewish community of Hara Kebira witnessed an increase of population due to its traditional character.

Today, the Ghirba has become a place of pilgrimage for the Jewish people of Northern Africa, as it signifies the arrival of Jewish people to the African Continent. Some people refer the Island of Djerba as the "Antechamber of Jerusalem".

These days there are not only Jewish people that populate the Island, Muslims and Christians also inhabit Djerba. The conflict that historically has occurred between Muslims and Jewish people does not happen in Djerba. The people of Djerba attribute this quality to the fact that all people of the Island were at some point Jewish and therefore share similar practices in their way of life. Some of these Jewish practices that can be seen in Muslim households in Djerba are the lighting of candles on Friday night, and the suspending of Matzot on the ceiling from one spring to the next. The Jewish and Muslim communities coexist very peacefully in Djerba even during the political unrest in regards to the Palestinian and Israeli conflict. The people of Djerba say that the two communities simply pray in different places, but they are still able to converse. A Jewish leader once stated "We live together, We visit our friends on their religious holidays. We work together. Muslims buy meat from our butchers. when we are forbidden to work or cook on the Shabbat, we buy bread and kosher food cooking by Muslims. Our children play together".