Local News

Is it the end of the line?

January 30 - February 5, 2008
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Bahrain may be in the process of losing one of its most unique communities.

The tiny Jewish community, which is alone in the Gulf, has been thriving in the kingdom for generations but now faces a population challenge.

Company director Abraham Nonoo, 48, said: "My feeling is that the community is dying. How can it continue if the elders and the ones who knew how to pray are gone, the new ones aren't learning and there are no new people coming in?"

His thoughts are echoed by author Nancy Khedouri, 32, whose book, From Our Beginning to the Present Day, traces the origins of the Bahraini Jews and has recently been published in Arabic.

She said: "The older generation have already raised their families and as far as the prevailing younger generation are concerned, the singles of marriageable age encounter a hard time finding a suitable Jewish spouse willing to reside in the Gulf, mainly due to their reluctance to leave their existing lifestyle abroad and to settle in a country that has a dwindling community."

Bahrain has no rabbi, no one has worshipped at the Manama synagogue for almost 60 years and the last Hebrew school closed its doors decades ago.







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