The Legacy of Alexandria's Ancient Synagogue

We continue our exploration of ancient synagogues in Jewish history.

During the time of the Second Temple, there was an enormous synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt, known for its grandeur as the 'Great Synagogue of Alexandria.' The Talmud quotes Rabbi Yehuda: "Anyone who has not seen the Great Synagogue of Alexandria has never seen the glory of Israel." This signifies that it was a place where the grandeur of the Jewish people was most evident.

The name 'Diopolis' implies "two important seating areas." It is believed that the synagogue had two floors, and the Talmud describes the structure of this grand synagogue in Alexandria:

"It was said: Like a large basilica, it had columns inside, and sometimes there were as many as 600,000 people, or twice that number, and it contained seventy-one gold thrones for the seventy-one members of the great Sanhedrin, each throne was worth no less than 21 myriads of gold talents."

The size of the synagogue isn't recorded, but it seemingly held thousands of people and was richly adorned with gold. Because of its vast size, the chazzan couldn't be heard throughout the synagogue, so special signalers would wave a sudar (handkerchief) to prompt the congregation when to respond 'amen':

"In the center stood a wooden platform with the chazzan holding a sudar, and when it was time to say 'amen,' he would wave the cloth and the people would respond 'amen.'"

The synagogue was organized by trade guilds, with each group sitting separately according to their craft:

"They did not sit intermingled; instead, the goldsmiths sat by themselves, the silversmiths by themselves, the blacksmiths by themselves, the copper smiths by themselves, and the weavers by themselves."

When the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was sent to Emperor Gaius to advocate for the Jews, he described how in 38 CE, the Romans desecrated the synagogues. He writes: "Since the places of worship could not be demolished or burned because many Jews lived near them, they desecrated them in different ways, such as violating our laws and customs. They placed images of Gaius everywhere, and in the grandest one, they installed a bronze statue of a man driving a chariot with four horses." However, this desecration was minor compared to the eventual destruction of the synagogue.

During the Diaspora Revolt the synagogue was completely destroyed, and the community members were massacred. Fatefully, the son of Emperor Trajan was born on the Ninth of Av, leading the Romans to believe that the Jews mourned the heir's birth. Furthermore, when the child died on Chanukah, the Jews debated whether to light the candles and risk their safety. Ultimately, they decided to light in secret, but a group of informants revealed this to the emperor's wife. Deeply offended, she urged the emperor to retaliate against the Jews.

The sages explained that this calamity befell the Jews of Alexandria because they violated the Torah's prohibition against settling in Egypt permanently. A synagogue as magnificent as this could be seen as rivaling the Temple, suggesting that perhaps there was no need to come to Israel and the Temple. This was one reason for their severe punishment and the destruction of what was possibly the largest synagogue ever.

As the Jerusalem Talmud notes of this destruction: "At that moment, the horn of Israel was cut off, and it will not return to its place until the coming of the Messiah, the son of David." The honor of the Jewish people, their ability to gather in such a community with a synagogue rivaling the Temple, was diminished. May it be G-d's will that soon it will be restored.