Growing up on the streets of Beirut was no problem for Jews until the early 1970s, according to Elie Levy and Nissim Dahan, two native Lebanese Sephardic Jews. Lebanon was a democratic country, had a Parliament, free elections, free press and Jews were citizens, just as people of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.
Jewish children generally attended the Alliance schools operated by the French or the Talmud Torah. The Alliance School was a private school, but fees were on a sliding scale, depending on what a family could afford. The rabbis taught in both the Alliance School and the Talmud Torah. While both schools had community support and assistance, it was generally understood that the poorer children attended the Talmud Torah and the higher class citizens attended the Jewish Alliance school.
Nissim Dahan, a podiatrist and orthopedist by trade, left Lebanon in 1971 at the age of 47. He graduated from medical school in London and worked for 17 years as manager of the Dr. School Institute. A successful professional, active in community affairs, he was also the respected leader of the Phalangists, a militia group and political party in the community. In addition, he was a Free Mason and a leading member of the Jewish community.
Each community in Lebanon had its own militia group. The Christians were in the majority, with 51%, and the Muslims were in the remaining 49% of the population. Sources say that there were roughly 5,000 Jews in a country of between three and four million people. According to Mr. Dahan, there were 29 different communities living in Lebanon, often dubbed the “Switzerland of the Middle East.”
The Lebanese constitution legally gave the upper hand to the Christians, and while there were no Jews in Parliament, they played a strong role in influencing the country’s politics. While Jews were a minority, there was a Minister of Minorities in the Parliament. “We never thought to elect a Jew to Parliament,” said Mr. Dahan. “We never tried to get in. We were very strong. We ran the elections.”
In fact, Jews in Lebanon were so strong, they traveled freely abroad, and the Jewish community had its own newspaper.
Community members such as the Zilkha family and the Safra family opened their own banks. Other Jews sold textiles, costume jewelry, were butchers and held a variety of jobs in all areas of commerce. Leading Lebanese families also include the Manns, the Serours, the Haddads and so on
Dr. Joseph Attie, president of the Jewish community and a surgeon who owned his own hospital, often represented Lebanon at international medical conferences. As a respected surgeon, the country’s leading ministers and officials sought his help and assistance.
Mr. Dahan describes an informal class system among families, wherein the educated members of the community, such as the engineers and doctors, were well known and worked actively in the politics of the country. “Your knowledge and function in society is what made you important.” he said.
Elie Levy attended the Alliance School until he left Lebanon with his parents at age nine, after the Six Day War in 1967. He remembers life on the Wahdi Abu.
“Most Jews lived in large apartments,” said Mr. Levy. Of the many shuls in Beirut, the largest and central Sephardic shul was Magen Avraham, in the center of the Jewish quarter. In addition, leading families had their own shuls.
After the Six Day War in Israel, things became worse for the Jews of Lebanon, as it did for Jews in all Middle East countries. More and more Muslims and terrorists came into Lebanon, quickly becoming a majority. The situation for Jews became uncomfortable and unsafe. The Muslim religion did not allow for equality between Jew and Muslim and the idea of a Jewish state in their midst was intolerable.
“When the Muslims came, the Jews felt put aside,” said Mr. Dahan. Many Jews fled the country, fearing for their lives. Mr. Dahan left Lebanon for Israel with his wife and two sons. “The Phalangists were like Lebanese nationalists. When the Muslims came, they fell apart. The Jews fled. I did not feel as respected as before.”
“People left property, stores, and medical clinics,” he continued. But since it was a democratic country, the Jews were able to transfer funds and take money out of the country.
After living in Israel for a while, Mr. Dahan’s first son married and moved to Venezuela. Soon his second son married and moved to New York. He and his wife decided to come to New York to be near their son and his family. Soon the son from Venezuela came to New York also, so the family is together again.
While Lebanon suffered years of civil war and strife, the Jewish Quarter, which was essentially abandoned by the Jews, was destroyed by bombs. The Jewish cemetery and Magen Avraham were bombed, but still stand today, said Mr. Levy, who visited Lebanon in 1994. He explained that the Jewish Quarter sits in the middle of the city, on the border between the two opposing factions, so there were bombings.
Both Mr. Levy and Mr. Dahan loved living in Lebanon, but are grateful that Brooklyn’s Sephardic community has embraced them. Each worked to open a new Sephardic Lebanese synagogue in Brooklyn.
