An Ancient Tunisian Jewish Tradition: Writing Prayers on Eggs

From the Forward

Every year at the El Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, one of the oldest synagogues in North Africa, Jewish pilgrims take part in a custom found nowhere else: they write their hopes and prayers on eggs. In this short Forward article, Shira Feder describes the tradition.

The custom

Wishes on eggs

Pilgrims write wishes for health, marriage, children, or success on eggs and bring them to the synagogue, where they are placed in a small cave beneath the building. The custom is part of the annual pilgrimage to El Ghriba around the holiday of Lag BaOmer.

Together

Jews and Muslims

At the celebration Feder describes, dozens of Muslims joined their Jewish neighbors, carrying candles and writing on eggs. One Muslim participant told Reuters she came to share the rituals of her Jewish friends in a Tunisia built on tolerance, saying that everyone has their own religion, but they share many things in common.

A community today

Small but enduring

Jews have lived in Tunisia since Roman times. Most left after 1948 and 1967, but a small community remains, most of it on Djerba, where security around Jewish sites is still tight.

Read the full article at the Forward →

This summary was written by JIMENA and is based on “Ancient Tunisian Jewish Tradition Involves Writing Prayers, On Eggs” by Shira Feder, published by the Forward. The original article belongs to the Forward.