Mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel, a terminal of the Spice Road and a British garrison city, Aden also had a rich Jewish history until as recently as 1967. The story of the Aden Jewish community is told in a wonderful, compact museum in the very heart of Tel Aviv’s trendy Neveh Tzedek neighborhood.
Strategically located on the eponymous Gulf, Aden is the perfect naval site for monitoring the busy shipping lane from the Suez Canal and through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait that separates Arabia from Africa.
As such, it passed hands from Yemenis to Ethiopians, Arabs, Portuguese, Turks, Brits, South Yemenis and finally to Yemen.
Given its location, the city was a commercial hub for the great colonialist powers of the West and their trading partners, India and China, to the east. And where there was trade, Jews tended to visit at first and then settle.
“The community has a unique history with roots that go back over 1,000 years, at least in terms of documented history, and it could go back even further,” says museum curator Sarah Ansbacher. “From letters found in the Cairo Genizah, we know that it was an influential community in the 11th and 12th centuries.”
As in so many locations, the Jews there witnessed wonderful periods of growth and dark times, such as the 1947 riots in which 87 members of the community died.
The museum is located on the ground floor of the Kol Yehuda Synagogue built on land purchased by Yehuda Menachem Messa, who was a community leader in Aden during the early 1920s. His son, who settled in Israel, built the synagogue in 1938. Members of the Messa family created the museum some eight years ago “to record memories before they are forgotten.”
The museum focuses on the period of the British rule from 1839 until the last Jews fled to Israel and the United Kingdom. The exhibits include photographs of the Jewish quarter, school and wedding photos, religious artifacts including a very rare Torah crown, and objects from homes and businesses of the time. There is also rare film footage of the largest of the seven synagogues that existed in Aden, which had seating for 1,000 people. Visitors can also see the Kol Yehuda that is a working synagogue.
“After the various invasions, the city went into decline,” says Ansbacher. “When the British arrived, the entire population was just 550, of which 250 were Jewish.”
Once the British established themselves, people from around the region saw the opportunity for employment and prosperity, and that included the Jews. It was particularly attractive for them because there was no dhimmitude persecution. Jews arrived from Yemen, Iraq, India, Turkey and Persia.
“They integrated with the existing Jewish community, so it just became one Adeni community,” Ansbacher explains. “Because of this, it has its own distinct culture and character. The customs are a blend of Yemenite, Mizrahi [eastern] and Sephardi [Spanish and Portuguese], along with a strong British influence.”
London-born Ansbacher recently published her first book, Passage From Aden: Stories From A Little Museum In Tel Aviv.
“I was writing my soon-to-be-published novel Ayuni, and as part of my research, I walked into the museum. Six months later I was offered a job,” she recalls. “I accepted because I’d fallen in love with the museum the first time I’d visited. And from day one in the job, I discovered the place had a certain magic but not of the Night at the Museum variety.”
As people visited, they would share their personal stories with Ansbacher, or when they asked about a specific piece it would generate a fascinating conversation. These were visitors from Aden and Yemen, from Jewish communities around the Middle East, children of Holocaust survivors, Israelis and tourists from around the world.
“I began writing down their stories, initially for myself, so I wouldn’t forget them. I began sharing them with friends and then on Facebook, and people told me to turn them into a book. The first lockdown presented the opportunity I needed.”
The book takes in these stories but also the history of Aden’s Jewish community and, as Ansbacher puts is, “The spirit of the Port of Aden lives on in the museum, a meeting point for people from all over the world.”
The writers are the hosts of the travel edition of The Jerusalem Post podcast. You can hear their interview with Sarah Ansbacher and much more at jpost.com/podcast.