Bahrain’s Only Synagogue Hosts Historic Morning Service

i24NEWS English
Published on Jun 26, 2019

NEWS DESK | US President Donald Trump’s special adviser on Mideast negotiations Jason Greenblatt took part in a rare group prayer with American rabbis and members of Bahrain’s tiny Jewish community on Wednesday morning at the at the Gulf Kingdom’s only synagogue.

The exceptional “minyan” — prayers requiring a gathering of ten or more Jewish men — was held on the sidelines of the US-led “Peace to Prosperity” economic conference towards Mideast peace in Manama.

“This is an example of the future we can all build together,” Greenblatt wrote on Twitter, adding that he prayed for his family “and of course for peace.”

Bahrain’s tiny Jewish community totals approximately 34 people, making it one of the smallest in the world. As such, “minyans” are exceedingly rare usually happening only after a death in the community.

The Bahrain Synagogue in Manama — the only Jewish house of worship in the Gulf Kingdom — was built in the late 19th century after Jews from Iraq, Iran and India settled in the country.

It was destroyed by rioters following the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which envisaged partitioning British Mandate Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states.