By: Aryeh Savir
For the first time in 82 years, a memorial day was held at the heart of Kfar Hashiloach (Silwan) just below the Old City in Jerusalem for Shlomo Madmoni, who was murdered in 1939 on his way to save the Torah scroll and other synagogue property during the Arab riots led by Haj Amin al-Husseini against the Jews in Israel.
The ceremony on Monday was initiated by the public council of the Shiloach village headed by Gadi Bashari, a member of the Zionist Archive.
A marble plaque in memory of Madmoni and his work to save the village was unveiled, and for the first time in 82 years, the Kaddish was recited in the old Yemenite synagogue by Rahamim Madmoni, Shlomo’s 86-year-old son, while his grandchildren answered Amen.
The historic memorial service was attended by the Minister of Regional Cooperation Ophir Akunis who toured the Ohel Shlomo Synagogue in the Shiloach Village, learned the story of the renewed Israeli presence in the village, and was updated on the progress of the restoration of the village and the of the establishing the Yemenite Heritage center in the area of the Old Yemenite synagogue, which dates back to the 1880’s.
The community came to Jerusalem from Yemen in 1881, and at its height, ran five synagogues and numbered some 160 families.
Encountering Arab violence and attacks for several years, the community was forced to abandon the area in 1939, and the synagogues were desecrated by Muslim attackers.
Israel reunited its capital in 1967, and the Jews began to return to the area some 20 years ago, reacquiring one property after another. 23 Israeli families currently live in the area.
Rahamim Madmoni said that “it is very moving to be here in the place where my father went to save a Torah scroll. I close the circle with my father, and I am sure that he is very proud at this moment. We continue the heritage of our ancestors, here and all over Israel.”
Akunis stated that “we are back to settle this place forever and have no intention to leave it again.”
Daniel Luria, Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim, said that the event was “an emotional and symbolic statement. We have indeed returned home to the Shiloach and Shlomo Madmoni lives on.”
The Arab Mukhtar of the village Daoud Siam watched the ceremony from his home and recalled how his grandfather Abd Siam ran a cafe in the village and how Yemeni Jews and Arabs would sit together.
When there were attacks on the village, some of the Arab neighbors protected with their bodies the Jewish neighbors they loved, he said.
“I wish we would return to these days when everyone lived in peace and tranquility and there would be a good neighborhood and love between the Jewish and Arab neighbors,” he said.
(TPS)
