🧵1) Margalit Zinati is not Sephardic, Ashkenazi, or Yemeni
Her family has lived in the Galilee continuously for over 2,000 years. She comes from a family of Cohanim who left #Jerusalem upon the destruction of the 2nd Temple and found safe haven in the town of Peki'in
2) Peki'in was a #Jewish village since the time of the Temple and is mentioned extensively throughout the Mishna and Talmud.
It is recorded that the influential Sage Rabbi Yehoshua and his many disciples set up their Yeshiva in Peki'in
3) The #Jewish population of Peki'in saw a significant drop during the Crusader and Mamluk period. During the early Mamluk period documents show the growing presence of #Druze in the village. But #Jews continued living in the village throughout, the majority of which were Kohanim
4) Margalit Zinati's family have been the caretakers of the ancient synagogue of Peki'in, believed to be the original site of Rabbi Yehoshua's Talmudic yeshiva 2,000 years ago
5) She leads tours of the ancient synagogue and takes care of all its needs
6) The interior of the synagogue appears similar to other ancient synagogues in the Galilee; Large open space with "benches" built into the structure under the windows
7) The walls of the synagogue have inscriptions of the Menorah and Temple gates, dating back to the time of the 2nd Temple
8) Peki'in is also the site of the cave where Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and his son hid from the Romans
A common tradition cites this is the site of the cave. Druze and Christians of Peki'in also hold to such a tradition. They called this cave "The Cave of Jacob's Children"
9) The majority of Peki'in's residents today are Druze
Margalit Zinati is the only Jew left, but she continues to keep the flame burning, telling the story of her family and the ancient history of Peki'in
10) Keeping the flame alive!❤️🔥
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🧵 1) The Mufti of #Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, was the founder of Palestinian Nationalism and a Nazi collaborator
In his early writings, he identified as a South Syrian
However, as more Jews arrived and bought land in #Israel, he shifted to a new form of local nationalism
2) In 1936 he established himself in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany by making propagandistic radio broadcasts and by helping the Nazis recruit Muslims from Bosnia and the Caucauses to the Waffen SS
3) His master plan was to establish Nazi death camps in the Dotan Valley in North Samaria and to slaughter all the Jews of the Middle East
He even visited concentration camps in Europe in order to learn first hand about their systems and techniques
🧵 1) Amazing how the staff at al-Shifa, the largest hospital in #Gaza was complicit with hostages and rape victims from #Israel being dragged into their property by #Hamas terrorists on October 7th
🧵1) The Houthis recently made the news with attempted rocket attacks on #Israel but they have been wreaking havoc in #Yemen for over a decade
Like #Hamas, The Houthis are funded by #Iran. They killed over 500,000 Yemenis and ethnically cleansed Yemen's entire Jewish community
2) Ever heard of Taiz? It's #Yemen's 3rd largest city, which has been under complete blockade by the Houthis since 2015!
Despite pleas from human rights organizations, the Houthis continued shelling civilians, starving the population, and not allowing any humanitarian aid
3) The Houthis have also destroyed ancient heritage sites in #Yemen, like the 3,000 year old Al-Qahira castle and the16th-century mosque of Sufi Sheikh Abdulhadi al-Sudi
Our revered Sage Rabbi Shalom Shabazi's tomb is in Taiz, and there are rumors they damaged it as well
🧵The #Cairo Geniza is a collection of 400,000 #Jewish manuscript fragments which were stored in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fostat #Egypt 🇪🇬
Spanning 6th-19th Centuries, the Geniza comprises the largest and most diverse collection of medieval manuscripts in the world
2) The Torah forbids throwing away writings containing the name of God. It was common to open personal letter with an invocation of God so this rule is not limited to religious materials
All such documents must be stored in a separate archive, and the buried in a cemetery
3) In practice, these archives contained any writing in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Judeo-Arabic, even if it had no religious significance
As such, the Geniza gives us a unique peek into the past
Over the past decade, applying #AI techniques led to discovery of important lost works
1) People are trying to justify yesterday's horrific attack on Jews (as they exited synagoguge prayers during the holiest day of the week) by saying it took place in "East" #Jerusalem, a term made up by #Jordan when they occupied this land in 1948
2) Did you know that Batn Al-Hawa حي بطن الهوى the largest part of Silwan #Jerusalem was established by #Yemeni Jews in 1881? The land was purchased by the Ezrat Nidachim charity fund and included synagogues, yeshivas, and many homes
3) Here is a picture from 1890 showing Yemeni Jews (with our famous sidecurls) working the fields, with the Yemeni neighborhood in the background