Beth Meir Synagogue

Beth Meir Synagogue
French: Synagogue de Bastia Beth Meir
Hebrew: בית כנסת בית מאיר
Religion
AffiliationOrthodox Judaism
RiteNusach Sefard
Ecclesiastical or organisational statusSynagogue
Location
Location3 Rue du Castagno, Bastia, Corscia, Hauts-de-France
CountryFrance
Beth Meir Synagogue is located in Corsica
Beth Meir Synagogue
Locatio of the synagogue in Corsica
Geographic coordinates42°41′47″N 9°26′55″E / 42.696306°N 9.448694°E / 42.696306; 9.448694
Architecture
TypeSynagogue architecture
StyleVernacular
Date established1934 (as a congregation)
Completed1934
MaterialsBrick
Website
synagoguecorsebastia.org (in French)

The Beth Meir Synagogue, officially Beth Knesset Beth Meir, (French: Synagogue de Bastia Beth Meir; Hebrew: בית כנסת בית מאיר), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue. located at 3 Rue du Castagno in Bastia, on the island of Corsica, in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is the only synagogue on the island of Corsica; and the congregation worships in the Sephardic rite.[1]

History

During World War I, Jewish families from French Mandated Syria and Lebanon arrived in Corsica, escaping the ravages of the Sinai and Palestine campaign led by the armies of the German and Ottoman Empire. They settled in the large coastal villages, Bastia and Ajaccio.[2]

The congregation in Bastia was founded in 1934 in an apartment in the historic section of the city.[3] The brick synagogue building was completed in the same year.[4] Its name, Beth Knesset Beth Meir, is a reference to Rabbi Meïr, one of the biblical sages quoted in the Mishnah. During the Second World War, when 80,000 Italian soldiers and 15,000 Nazi German soldiers occupied the island, part of the community was imprisoned at a camp in Asco. None of them were deported to Nazi concentration camps in Continental Europe, and were released from the prison camp after the liberation of Corsica by the Moroccan Goumiers and French Resistance guerilla forces.[5][6][7] Rabbi Méir Tolédano (1889-1970) was the community's rabbi from 1920 until his death in 1970.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Beth Meir". Synagoges360. 2024. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Jews of Corsica Get a New Synagogue". Mosaic Magazine. October 7, 2016. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  3. ^ Albertini, Antoine (September 1, 2007). "Le kaddish perdu des juifs de Corse". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  4. ^ "Beit Meir Synagogue in Bastia, Corsica". Historic Synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  5. ^ "Une plaque commémorative " Village des Justes " inaugurée en Corse". Times of Israel (in French). May 22, 2019. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  6. ^ "Corse : des croix gammées sur la synagogue de Bastia". Le Parisien (in French). September 29, 2014.
  7. ^ "Un jeune homme reconnaît être l'auteur de croix gammées sur la synagogue de Bastia". La Croix (in French). October 2, 2014. ISSN 0242-6056. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  8. ^ "OGHJE". memoria ebraica di a Corsica (in French). June 12, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2019.

Media related to Synagogue Beth Meir de Bastia at Wikimedia Commons