Ben Ezra Synagogue

Temple Cairo, Egypt

In the heart of old Cairo stands a small splendid synagogue, known by the name of Ben Ezra, the rabbi of Jerusalem to whom we owe a renovation of the building at the beginning of the twelfth century. The building belonged to the Copts until the ninth century as a church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. According to the History of the Patriarchs (official historical text of the Coptic Church), in the year 882 the patriarch Michael III - burdened by a taxation arbitrarily imposed by the greedy caliph Ibn Tulun (870-884) who had also had him imprisoned for induce him to pay him what he asked for - he was forced to sell this property to the Jews, as well as other places of worship, in order to obtain cash.