Why was Sunday's official inauguration of the newly restored Maimonides Synagogue cancelled? Nevine El-Aref looks for answers A week after 150 members of the Jewish community joined a dozen Chabad emissaries at Maimonides (the Moses Ben Maimon) Synagogue in Old Cairo to celebrate its rededication, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) cancelled the official inauguration of the building, scheduled for last Sunday. The rededication ceremony was attended by rabbis from Israel and the United States, as well as the US and Israeli ambassadors to Egypt. Meanwhile, in the occupied territories, Israeli police imposed new restrictions on worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, preventing anyone younger than 50 years from attending Friday prayers, as part of broader security measures that also included the closure of the West Bank. The government of Binyamin Netanyahu had already announced a decision to include two ancient mosques, Ibrahimi in Hebron and Bilal bin Rabah in Bethlehem, on Israel's so-called heritage list. The two sites are located in the Palestinian heartland, which implies that Israel intends to annex the two shrines, a prospect vehemently rejected by Palestinians. Israeli hostilities in Palestine and the behaviour of Jewish international communities here in Cairo at the Maimonides Synagogue were considered by Zahi Hawass, secretary- general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, to be provocative and decided to cancel the official inauguration of the mosque. "The cancellation followed the inauguration of the synagogue by the Jewish community during which participants engaged in activities considered provocative to the feelings of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world, including dancing and drinking alcohol," said Hawass. In a statement distributed to journalists he added that, "Muslim sanctuaries in occupied Palestine are subject to aggression by the occupation authorities", citing in particular Israeli security restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque. Egypt, Hawass continued, had always been keen to preserve and protect its archaeological and cultural heritage, whether Pharaonic, Islamic, Coptic or Jewish, sending a message to the world that there is no difference between religious monuments, whatever the faith. Restoration of the Moses Ben Maimon synagogue, he said, was carried out by Egyptian restorers at a cost of LE9.5 million, funded entirely by the SCA. Hawass denied rumours that the synagogue would be transformed into a museum for Jewish objects, pointing out that Egypt has a limited number of such artefacts which are already part of more extensive national collections. Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni stressed that Jewish sites are viewed as part and parcel of Egypt's cultural heritage and that the Ministry of Culture and the SCA remain committed to restoring all 11 registered Jewish sites, including nine listed synagogues in Cairo, the Jewish cemetery in Al-Bassatin and a synagogue in Alexandria. Hosni told Al-Masry Al-Yom newspaper that the cancellation of the inauguration of the Maimonides Synagogue was not connected with Israeli attempts to Judaise Jerusalem, or the actions of the Israeli government towards the Ibrahimi and Al-Aqsa mosques. "We have taken no decisions in response to Tel-Aviv's actions," he said. "We restored the synagogue because it is part of Egypt's patrimony, not for the sake of gaining Israel's approval, and the cancellation of the inauguration was unconnected to Israeli aggression in the occupied territories." Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly that leaving the opening ceremony, held a week ago, to be organised by Jews served to highlight the fact that Islam was not against the Jews but against the aggression and provocations of Israel, which is violating the rights of others in its attempts to Judaise Al-Aqsa. He continued that the case of deciding to put two archaeological mosques on the Israel heritage list is a case in relation with the human heritage which might be condemned by the international community as it is a real violation of the other, Hosni said. Hosni also told Al-Masry Al-Yom that his ministry had no objections to the behaviour of participants at the opening ceremony inside the synagogue, where they danced and drank. "The ministry does not interfere or object to the rituals of any religion," he said. The Maimonides Synagogue is named after the foremost intellectual figure of mediaeval Judaism, known in the West as Moses Maimonides. Born in Cordoba, he eventually settled in Egypt, where he died in 1204. He served as Saladin's personal physician, and after Saladin's death was retained by the royal family. Perhaps his most celebrated work, originally written in Arabic, is the Guide for the Perplexed, a remarkable document that scrutinises the works of both Islamic and Greek philosophers. Maimonides lived at a time and place in which all aspects of life were governed by Islamic education, and during a period when Jews partook in all aspects of society, whether political, religious or literary. Tarek El-Awadi, director of research at the SCA, told the Weekly that preliminary assessments of the condition of the synagogue began a year before restoration work started. Actual work, he says, had to be delayed until a new sewage system was installed in the area. Since work began two years ago the walls and ceilings have been reinforced, the floor has been isolated from remaining ground water, and earlier, crude attempts at restoration removed. The doors, windows and chairs of the synagogue have all been renovated. The synagogue, which was declared an antiquity in 1986, is divided into three sections. One area is dedicated to prayers and rituals, another contains the tomb of Maimonides, though his remains were removed to Tiberias several years ago, and which includes a small area for people to come and pray for cures, while a third section comprises rooms for the synagogue's administrators and for women to observe prayers.
