Libya - Mother Tongue

Aïn Zaouia

Julia ῾Ezra

The bird (Al-Asfoura)

Wedding and accompanying the bride songs

Sa῾ida Tsror

Preparation of couscous and brik

Al-Khums

Bruria Gedwa

Life in Al-Khums, school, Aliya and meeting Yosef

Pogroms and burning of the synagogue

School and Rabbi Frija

Nissim Rubin

Song about American aircraft

Shalom Ḥamisa

Abduction of Jewish girls by Muslims

Belief in demons, use of amulets and fish and changing the family name

Family life in Al-Khums

From the songs of Rabbi Frija Zoaretz

German bombings, forced labour and starvation

Harassment and false accusations of Muslims against Jews

Integration in Israel and the beginning of settlement in moshav Dalton

Introduction to his wife, asking for her hand and their wedding

Journey on donkeys and the discovery of an ancient Jewish script

Leadership of the Jewish community

Learning Hebrew, bat mitzva lessons and celebration

Piyyut for Eliyahu HaNavi

Piyyutim of brit mila

Rabbi Shimon Lavi's tomb and the person of Rabbi Chamous Cohen (Meiss Cohen)

School punishments and learning to sing psalms in three voices

The different dialects of the Jewish communities in Libya

The imprisonment of his friend in the Italian military prison and bringing Jewish women from the labour camp

The initial organization of Aliya to Israel

The professions of the Jews in Libya

ʿAmos Raḥamim

"I didn't look at your beautiful face"

Education and the teaching of women

Ḥad Gadya in Arabic from Libya

Leading a bride to the mikve song

Meeting his wife and sharing a life

Piyyut for the people of Israel

Relationship with the Muslims and women's abduction

Song about earthquake

Amrus

Dina Revivo (Kaḥlon)

Amrus and the pogroms against the Jews

Bar mitzva celebration in the synagogue

Cooking meatballs and foods according to the days of the week

Difficulties of making a living and a life of scarcity

Learning Hebrew in Israel

Making aliya, absorption difficulties and meeting her husband in the maʿabara (absorption camp)

Preparation of a 'kandil': oil lamps with a wick

Rabbi Chamous Daboush, Rabbi Yehuda Lavi and the 'Zulaikha' at the Bushaeff synagogue

Song for the end of World War II

Synagogue and the Jewish community in Amrus

The girls' Shabbat, bride care and wedding customs

The life story of the sate son

Wedding in Israel and moving homes

Wisdom of life and the proverb of grandmothers

Az-Zawiya

Liza Zigdon

Aliya and settlement in Israel

Bsisa

Congratulations and greetings

Foods and song about tea

Natural remedies

Preparation of the bride to her wedding

Slat Ibn Shaif Synagogue

Song for bride and groom

Masʿuda Zigdon

Births during the stay in the maʿabara (absorption camp)

History of the nuclear family

Lamb slaughter during Passover

Life, education and clothing in Az-Zawiya and Tripoli

Living conditions in the maʿabara (absorption camp)

Making aliya from Libya

Speaking Judeo-Arabic in Israel

Two-week wedding celebrations in Libya

Women's occupations and men's livelihoods in Libya

Miriam Hallel

Aliya to Israel and the relationship with non-Jews

Passover and matzot making

Benghazi

Prof. Maurice M. Roumani

Passover Haggada from Libya

Rachel ʾArbib

Aliya, discrimination in Israel and compensation from Germany

Brit Yitzchak and bar mitzva

Language and community

Moving to Zliten following the Holocaust and the relationship with the Muslims

Rachel's family and children

Rivka Gridish

Foods and preparations for Passover and Rosh Hashana

Life story and blessings for the family

Toni (Tova) Bramly

Bereavement customs and the name of the community's Rabbi

Blessings

Childhood and death of the grandfather

Children's songs

Family experience in Libya and Israel

Foods

Holidays and customs (Purim, girls' Shabbat and ḥenna)

Life story (the family, the Holocaust and Aliya)

Protection against ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye) and entering a new home

Songs and women's proverbs

ʾIda Sasson

Absorption and life in Israel

Aliya to Israel

Escape to the mountains and life during the Nazi invasion of Libya

Girls' education

Her parents' matchmaking

Life on a mount village near Misrata

Meeting her husband

Muslim pogroms in Benghazi

Occupations and livelihoods

Garyan

Ḥassan ʾEliyahu

Arab-Jews relations

Foods and holidays

Holy studies, bar mitzva and family

Ravita Ḥassan

Holidays and their foods

Journey to Israel by ship and adjusting to the country

ʿAmos Ḥajaj

Eḥad Mi Yodeaʿ in Arabic from Libya

Ḥad Gadya in Arabic from Libya

Leval Yimmot Netzach (Let It Never Fall) - Passover piyyut

Gharyan

ʿAmos Ḥen (Ḥassan)

Dropping out of school and helping with the household through agriculture

Aliya to Israel and absorption

Childhood

Community life and mutual aid

Honouring parents and treating the children with love and care

Life in Gharyan and Tripoli

Marriage and livelihood in Israel and abroad

Military service

Israel

Herzl Kaḥlon

Bushaeff: it's magnificence, the synagogue named after it and celebrations created for it

Childhood in moshav Zeitan (village)

Tsuri ʾArviv

"Let Us Praise" - Passover Piyyut from Libya

Eḥad Mi Yodea' from Libya

Ḥad Gadya in Arabic from Libya

ʾAriela ʾEliyahu (Liktevi)

Passover customs

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

ʿAmos Ḥajaj

Eḥad Mi Yodeaʿ in Arabic from Libya

Ḥad Gadya in Arabic from Libya

Leval Yimmot Netzach (Let It Never Fall) - Passover piyyut

Janzur

Sara Ben ʿAmos

Aliya and absorption

Childhood during the Holocaust

Matchmaking, wedding and crossing Israel

Rosh Hashana and Passover foods

Libya

Herzl Kaḥlon

Childhood in moshav Zeitan (village)

Misrata

Yehudit ʾEnoshi (Samia)

'Dayenu' ("it would have sufficed us”) in Arabic

Blessings for the month of Nisan

Maqama for women celebrating Rosh Ḥodesh Nisan

ʾIda Sasson

Absorption and life in Israel

Aliya to Israel

Escape to the mountains and life during the Nazi invasion of Libya

Girls' education

Her parents' matchmaking

Life on a mount village near Misrata

Meeting her husband

Muslim pogroms in Benghazi

Occupations and livelihoods

Msallata

Gila Dabush

Miriam Shweed

A folk tale that opens with a formulaic statement and ends with a proverb

Song about relationships in the family

Speaking Arabic in the family and the moshav (village) and the names of the children

Sara Maʿatuk

Ḥenna eve song

Bridal dress and wedding preparations

Childhood and making aliya

Tsiona ʾArbiv

Avoiding the pronunciation of the words 'fish' and 'five' and rituals to ward off ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Differences between Msallata and Tripoli dialects and proverbs

Education at the school in Kerem Ben Zimra under the direction of Rabbi Getz and learning the sewing profession

Finger song for children and recitation for the game

Folk medicine for various pains and for a breastfeeding woman

Folk song

Food and Drink: couscous, ʿasida (traditional porridge), tea with peanuts and various types of pastries

Her grandmother's blessings for her grandchildren

Her mother's passing and bereavement customs during shiv‘a (week-long mourning) and memorials

Hillula (celebration) of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and song in his honora

Juḥa stories: the door of the house and the chickens

Stories of demons: encountering and identifying a Ghoul demon

The celebration in the Bushaeff synagogue at Zeitan moshav (village) and a special song

The three sources of flesh and the sultan's advice and the recitation

Women's occupations, wearing modern clothing and their friendships

Yosef Gedwa

Aliya and Zionism

Bar mitzva, rabbis, wedding and brit mila

Yosef Magro

'Eternal Lord' and 'dwell in houses of clay'

Aliya to Israel

His father and bar mitzva

Meeting his future wife, youth and conscription

Passover customs

Schooling and education

Song and proverb: "You laugh, the world laughs"

Story and song of friend lost along the way

ʾArbona Shaqir

Bereavement customs

Matchmaking and wedding

Seven days before the wedding

ʾEliyahu Shamaka

Childhood memories

Holidays and their foods

Language, Aliya and absorption

Meeting his wife, family and livelihood

ʿAziza Dishek

Event recitation

Folk beliefs and ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye)

Her mother's livelihood and Rabbi Frija Zuares

Matchmaking and wedding

Pogroms in Tripoli and moving to Al-Khums

Rabbi Mordechai Buskila and school

Recitation composed after Aliya to Israel

Shabbat and holidays

Song recitation

Tripoli

Geʾula Yamin (Sasi)

Her mother giving birth in Libya

Life at the maʿabara (absorption camp): residence, showering, education, food and neighbors

The family's use of her mother's house

Tora studies during the night and holiday foods

Aliya to Israel after 1948 anti-Jewish riots in Tripolitania

Celebration at Djerba during Lag Ba'omer

Her grandfather’s relationship with the Muslims

Her parents' life in Libya: the elder son's passing, the father's livelihood and the mother's role in the kitchen

Lamb slaughter during Passover and making matzot in a special oven

The Rabbi Kamos Yamin ZT"L story and the Ziyarat in his honor

Tishrei holidays: building the Sukka, Hosha'ana Rabba and Rosh Hashana blessings

Raḥamim Fadlon

The nearest beach and the nearby Jewish cemetery

Communal support for the poor

Date drink 'lagmi' and the occupations of Jews and non-Jews

Education and school curriculum

Life story and family

Relationship with the Muslims and the Tripoli pogroms

Wedding

Zionism, Aliya and settlement

Toni Kaḥlon (ʾElgawi)

Integration in Israel and life at Kurdani maʿabara (absorption camp)

Ḥenna's celebration in Israel

Meeting her future husband

Song for a mother

The history of the family and moving to Beʾer Yaʿakov

The history of the family: the life story of her mother, giving birth and the language spoken at home

Yaʿacov Kaḥlon

A Muslim's violence during World War II

Children's clothing in Tripoli and dressing the boy for his bar mitzva

Childhood in Libya after his mother's passing and commemorating her

Emigrating to Israel and settling in it

Family ties during childhood

His grandmother's passing at home in Libya

His mother's passing during World War II and his father remarrying

ʿAmos Ḥen (Ḥassan)

Dropping out of school and helping with the household through agriculture

Aliya to Israel and absorption

Childhood

Community life and mutual aid

Honouring parents and treating the children with love and care

Life in Gharyan and Tripoli

Marriage and livelihood in Israel and abroad

Military service

Ahisamakh residents

Love song about separation

David (Didi) Bechor Tayer

Life in Tripoli until 1967

Pogroms in Libya and Aliya to Israel

Doris Bracha (Sarusi)

Family

Passover

Fortuna Diamant (Maimon)

Aliya, absorption and search for relatives

Passover preparations

Hadassa Toledano

A song for a girl who came of age

Children's plaything song: Mumna ya Mumna

Mimouna: the holiday of engagement

Piyyutim on Shabbat eve

Purim

Shabbat and holiday foods

Songs and Piyyutim

Tale of the Sultan and the loaf of bread

The Jewish school in Tripoli

Ḥaim Bublil

Abraham's tale ('utqul lu ya ibni')

Ha Laḥma ʿAnya

Piyyutim of Simḥat Tora ha-qafot (encirclement)

The long kiddush of Passover Seder

Ḥassan ʾEliyahu

Arab-Jews relations

Foods and holidays

Holy studies, bar mitzva and family

Herzl Kaḥlon

Bushaeff: it's magnificence, the synagogue named after it and celebrations created for it

Julia Gil (Zigdon)

Making aliya and integrating at a maʿabara (absorption camp)

The 1948 anti-Jewish riots in Tripoli

Women’s household duties and raising their children, and girls’ schooling

Lina Naḥum (Daʿadush)

School and making couscous

Malka (Regina) Barda (ʾArbiv)

About birth: name choosing, brit mila and helping the mother

Bar Mitzva at the synagogue, Tora study and youth after school activities

Bsisa ceremony during the month of Nisan

Children's song on rain

Collection of proverbs and their meaning

Community: life in communes, helping others, keeping mitzvot and nidda

Farming in Israel

Fear of the Muslims during the family's Aliya journey

Her mother's life in Israel, charity to the poor and helping others

Her uncle's murder in Giado concentration camp and her mother's silence

Jewish holidays in the village (moshav) and family celebrations

Matchmaking, ḥenna celebration and party for groom

Preparing and cooking for the holidays

Shabbat in Tripoli

Shavuot foods: bazin and shkak

Suitor's song to his beloved

The mother's family

The mother's work as a nurse in Libya with a Muslim sheikh despite the family's concern

Tripoli proud and connection with other Tripoli Jews in Israel

Wedding songs for bride

ʿAyin Haraʿ (the evil eye) and ways to manage it

Toni Ḥayun

Her family story

Toni Yona (Tsemaḥ)

Aliya and life story

Birth ceremonies

Tsuri ʾArviv

"Let Us Praise" - Passover Piyyut from Libya

Eḥad Mi Yodea' from Libya

Ḥad Gadya in Arabic from Libya

Yehudit Cohen (Dia Falaḥ)

Education, relationship with the Muslims, neighborhood and bar mitzva

My parents' occupations

Shabbat, Sukkot, Purim and Yom Kipur

ʾAriela ʾEliyahu (Liktevi)

Passover customs

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

ʾIda ‘Ezra

Bar mitzva: studying the Haftara and celebrating at the synagogue

Birth of a son: pidyon haben (redemption of the first-born son), Brit Yitzchak and brit mila

Passover foods, baking matzot and cleaning the house

The Italian school

Theft, livelihood and her husband's occupation

ʾOlga Rabiʿa

Good neighborly relations with a Muslim woman and the birth of twins

Jewish holidays

‘Amos Kaḥlon

Aliya and settlement during the 'year of snow'

Children's games: soccer, tiro, bocce ball and hopscotch

Differences between dialects in Libya

Food at school, sweets and recipes for various dishes

His family members' professions: education, sewing and dairy farming

His grandfather's death during World War II and the labor camps in Libya

Lamb slaughter during Passover and clothing during Yom Kippur

Learning to write in Hebrew and Arabic, Zionist songs and Italian

Meeting his wife and their wedding in Tel Aviv

Night demon: ghoul

Rabbi Shimon Lavi and Rabbi David Yamin

Recipes for Rosh Hashana blessings

The Jewish Quarter in Tripoli, the capital

Work at the Jewish National Fund and in agriculture

Zawiya

Kamila Zigdon

A song Kamila wrote about the Ministry of Labor

Fear of demons and natural remedies

Foods

Livelihood and education

Recitation in rhymes

Song for the birth of a son and an amulet for protection

Tombs of the righteous and celebration at the Bushaeff synagogue

Wedding and ḥenna song

Zliten

ʾAriela ʾEliyahu (Liktevi)

Passover customs

Rabbi Shakir and brit mila

טריפולי

Geʾula Yamin (Sasi)

New clothes for the bar mitzva celebrations

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