Beirut Synagogue

I broke into the Beirut synagogue.

It wasn't hard. The gate has a lock on it, but it was knocked down, and the security guards no longer patrol the place as vigilantly. The Ottoman era buildings around the synagogue have been destroyed, and the edifice poses no security risk to the Prime Minister's Grand Serail or Future Movement leader Saad Hariri's future residence.

My friend and I climbed over the trees growing in the courtyard and walked into the main hall, decorated with 6-point stars. The front of the synagogue was desecrated. The holy documents were intentionally removed, but the other ornamental structures were destroyed.

Twenty foot tall trees grow where pews should be. The support beams of the roof still exist, but the tiles are destroyed. The staircase to the upper women's section remains intact.

Hebrew graffiti adorns the walls. I don't know what it says, but I assume Jews from abroad journeyed in and wrote on both the side walls and the front area where the arc is supposed to reside.

Jews are not the only group to have a downtown religious establishment remain in shambles. Two Greek Catholic churches lie in disarray in Beirut's downtown. One of them is in stumbling distance of the parliament, and the other is closer to the Parliament building than the synagogue.

However, the Greek Catholic community has fully operable churches in Beirut and is a functioning sect in Lebanon's confessional democracy.

Sadly, Jews remain in hiding in Lebanon.

Media reports about Beirut's synagogue, such as this, are heartening. Unfortunately, I doubt that much action will be taken to restore the synagogue in the coming months.