Chabad Lubavitch of Egypt
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Chabad-Lubavitch and Egypt: no resident emissary or centre; visits from Israel for Maimonides study completions in Cairo and Alexandria, Passover seders on Jabal Musa (2009–2012), and ARIS contacts
| Chabad-Lubavitch in Egypt
| |
|---|---|
| Type | No resident Chabad emissary or centre (visits and one-off activity only) |
| Headquarters | None in the country |
| Location | Egypt (no base) |
| Area served | Cairo, Alexandria, South Sinai |
| Key people | None resident. Visiting: Yosef Hecht (Eilat), Menachem Feuerstein (Kfar Chabad) |
| Remarks | Visits only; evidence comes mostly from Chabad-side and Israeli press accounts |
Chabad-Lubavitch in Egypt has no resident emissary, Chabad house or registered local body. No Egyptian centre appears in the movement's own directory.[1] Chabad's documented activity in Egypt consists of visits, mostly by Chabad people from Israel, and of contacts through the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS), which is chaired by the Istanbul emissary Mendy Chitrik.[2][3][4]
Visits and one-off activity
There is no resident emissary or centre. Each item below is a visit or a single event.
- 1970s, Sinai (under Israeli occupation). Amnon Razin, a former secretary of the Israeli settlement of Neviot (now Nuweiba) in Sinai, told Chabad.org that volunteers from Chabad of Eilat "began visiting the town and teaching their kids". Sinai was occupied by Israel from 1967 until its return to Egypt in 1982.[5]
- Cairo visits by Rabbi Yosef Hecht. Rabbi Yosef Hecht, chief rabbi of Eilat, said in 2010 that he had been to Cairo "more than 20 times to pray and to close the cycle of readings of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah" (the Siyum HaRambam).[2]
- March 2010, Maimonides Synagogue. The Jerusalem Post, republished by COLlive, reported that "a representation from Chabad", Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenasi of Kfar Chabad and Rabbi Hecht, attended the rededication of the Maimonides (Rav Moshe) Synagogue in Cairo after its restoration by Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. Hecht "came with 12 men from the Chabad community in Eilat".[2]
- 2009–2012, Passover seders on Jabal Musa. Rabbi Menachem Feuerstein of Kfar Chabad led a Passover seder on Jabal Musa (Mount Moses), a peak in South Sinai that many identify as Mount Sinai. Arutz Sheva described the 2011 group as Chabad activists and said it was the event's third year. It reported that Egyptian police escorted the group to the summit and made sure it left after the seven days of the festival.[6] In 2012, the fourth year, Israel National News reported that the seder went ahead despite Israeli terror warnings for Sinai. Feuerstein put the number of participants at 320.[3][7]
- March 2021, ARIS matzah contacts. Mendy Chitrik told The Forward that ARIS had "been in touch with individuals from Afghanistan, Lebanon, Libya, Egypt and many countries in between, to support them with their religious needs – including matzah for Passover".[4]
- May 2023, Siyum HaRambam in Cairo and Alexandria. Anash.org reported that a Siyum HaRambam was held in Egypt again "after a significant hiatus of approximately 25 years", with the blessing of Rabbi Hecht. It took place at the Sha'ar HaShamayim Synagogue in Cairo, with Israel's ambassador Amira Oren present, and at the restored Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Alexandria, with "Egypt's Minister of Heritage". The organisers had arranged a police escort with the local authorities. The group also visited Jewish cemeteries and prayed at the Cecil Hotel in Alexandria, where the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, had stayed on his way to Palestine in 1929.[8]
Relations with the state
The documented contacts are practical ones. Egyptian police escorted the Jabal Musa group in 2011 and the 2023 visitors, and a minister attended the 2023 event in Alexandria.[6][8] The 2010 synagogue restoration was carried out by the Egyptian state, not by Chabad.[2]
Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
ARIS lists Rabbi Avraham Dayan as the former rabbi of the Jewish community in Alexandria. No source found describes him as Chabad.[9]
Funding and controversies
None found.
- Editor's note: The accounts are mostly Chabad-side or from the Israeli outlet Arutz Sheva (Israel National News). No independent Egyptian source was found for any of the visits.
See also
- Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Egypt
- Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia
- Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
- Chabad Lubavitch of Libya
References
- ↑ Lubavitch.com centres directory, regional indexes for the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe, accessed 21 October 2026. None lists Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar or Syria. Chabad-side directory.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Rabbis Open Cairo Synagogue", COLlive, 7 March 2010, republishing the Jerusalem Post. Chabad-side (community news site) republishing Press.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maayana Miskin, "Jews Brave Terror Threat to Remember Exodus", Israel National News, 8 April 2012. Press.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 David Ian Klein, "Matzah in Beirut or a Seder in Samarkand? These rabbis are making it happen.", The Forward, 22 March 2021. Press.
- ↑ Dovid Margolin, "Raised in the Congo, She Will Now Start Up Chabad in Ivory Coast", Chabad.org, 12 July 2018. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Shimon Cohen, "חב"דניקים בדרך לליל סדר על הר סיני" (Chabad activists on their way to a seder on Mount Sinai), Arutz Sheva (Hebrew), 10 April 2011. Press.
- ↑ Gabe Kahn, "Jews Celebrate Passover on Mount Sinai", Israel National News, 9 April 2012. Press.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Siyum Harambam Revived in Egypt After 25 Years", Anash.org, 19 May 2023. Chabad-side (community news site).
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, "ARIS Rabbis", accessed 19 October 2026. Chabad-side (self-published; mainly Chabad-led).