الفهرس 
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Abstract
This thesis has tried to construct a complete analysis of a clearly defined Jewish community from Egypt:
The period covering the nineteenth and early twentieth century was an important time of great change in the history of Egypt. In the relativity short time the country came with the orbit of conflicting European interests and, in consequence, the impact of modernization was felt everywhere, even among minority groups.Their contribution to tpe economic development and modernization of the country was immense and ’totally out of proportion to their actual numbers. Apart from a small group of indigenous Jews, most of the Jewish population of modem Egypt had emigrated from countries within the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Western and Eastern Europe. Searching fo,! better.economic conditions and political stability, or fleeing persecution in their country of origin, the Jews migrated to Egypt, from the mid-nineteenth century, attracted by the policy of economic liberalism and legal privilege for foreigners, promoted by Egyptian rulers and guaranteed by British occupation.
The immigration of the Jews to Egypt increased the Jewish minority until the population of the Jews was smaller than that of the Muslims and Copts. The rise of their numbers and the relative security that they enjoyed during the British occupation ensured that the prosperity of the Egyptian Jews towards the end of the period under survey. The Egyptian Jewry formed by a combination of the autochthonous community and waves of immigration that came mostly from the countries of the Levant, Turkey, the Aegean, Greece, Corfu, Italy and North Africa and Tripoli. These Egyptianized Jews often continued to maintain religious, cultural, family and business connections with their communities of origin, even the second and third generation. Languages spoken in this multilingual society included Italian, Latino, Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish.
As a consequence of that immigration, they were not a homogeneous community. They were divided along the lines of ethnic origin, rite, nationality, language, and class. As per Ottoman and Islamic tradition, they were defined by their religion and lived side by side with several non-Muslim communities, such as the Copts, the Greeks, the Syrians, and the
That is, each minority still lived apart with its own religious practices, community organizations, schools, charities and judicial system, but at least the wealthier members of the Egyptian society began to mingle.
The golden era of the Jews of Egypt as well as the cultural and economic prosperity of Egypt at this time, came as a result of the enlightened ruler Mohammed Ali initiatives, who brought back to Egypt its liberal and Mediterranean character, and’ opened the country to Eastern culture and to commerce and trade. The high-quality Egyptian Jewish community, combined with Mohammed Ali s’ liberalism and tolerance, led to prosperity .
The growth of the community in this period, extending from the last quarter of the nineteenth century to the idle of the twentieth century, were facilitated by the dynamic modernization of the country, its integration with international finance and commerce and openness encouraged by external influences and the prevalence of the Egyptian normative and political system of that period, which was characterized as the ”Liberal Age”. All these conditions resulted in the emergence of an Egyptian Jewish society whose economic assets, institutional development.
Their contribution to tpe economic development and modernization of the country was immense and ’totally out of proportion to their actual numbers. Apart from a small group of indigenous Jews, most of the Jewish population of modem Egypt had emigrated from countries within the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, Western and Eastern Europe. Searching fo,! better
. economic conditions and political stability, or fleeing persecution in their country of origin, the Jews migrated to Egypt, from the mid-nineteenth century, attracted by the policy of economic liberalism and legal privilege for foreigners, promoted by Egyptian rulers and guaranteed by British occupation.
The immigration of the Jews to Egypt increased the Jewish minority until the population of the Jews was smaller than that of the Muslims and Copts. The rise of their numbers and the relative security that they enjoyed during the British occupation ensured that the prosperity of the Egyptian Jews towards the end of the period under survey. The Egyptian Jewry formed by a combination of the autochthonous community and waves of immigration that came mostly from the countries of the Levant, Turkey, the Aegean, Greece, Corfu, Italy and North Africa and Tripoli. These Egyptianized Jews often continued to maintain religious, cultural, family and business connections with their communities of origin, even the second and third generation. Languages spoken in this multilingual society included Italian, Latino, Arabic, Hebrew and Turkish.
As a consequence of that immigration, they were not a homogeneous community. They were divided along the lines of ethnic origin, rite, nationality, language, and class. As per Ottoman and Islamic tradition, they were defined by their religion and lived side by side with several non-Muslim communities, such as the Copts, the Greeks, the Syrians, and the Armenians as well as colonies of Italians, French, and British expatriates. The place of the Jews in the political community during the monarch period, which had a liberal . constitution and under which the Jews community flourished, more than half the Jews were eventually left stateless. Thus, whereas those in the welllconnected upper stratum of the community managed to acquire foreign nationalists and members of lower stratum, consisting mostly of native Egyptian Jews.Their integration in the Egyptian Political community during the monarchy period through-collective political orientation, rather than individual acquisition of status, the Jews community had four major options that existed at this period: maintaining loyalty to the king and country while avoiding involvement in politics; as integration into the Egyptian patriotism or the Arabic culture: integration through the transformation of society according to the Marxist principles; or abounding integration altogether and strengthening particular Jewish identity and Zionist orientation.
Economically, the dynasty of Mohammed Ali, including Khedive Ismail, King Fouad and king Farouk, continued his liberal regime, and the Jews of Egypt felt protected and absolutely secure. Khedive Ismail nominated many Jews to important government posts.
Members of various Jewish groups became increasingly active in commerce and banking and, later, industry, they established many commercial, industrial and banking institutions even as owners or partners. Organized Zionism, thriving since the end of the nineteenth century, made comparatively little headway in Egypt up to World War I, both due to the apolitical attitude of most Egyptian Jews and to their relativity prosperous, secure situation under British rule. The majority of the Jews in Egypt were enthusiastic about Balfour Declaration and the outcome of San Remo Conference.
These events gave boost to the Zionist activity at the same time.
Moreover, the continued presence of the Ashkenazi Jews exiled from Palestine provided Zionism in Egypt with experienced activists and ideologues. Many emissaries from the pre-1939 period arrived in Egypt with preconceived notion that very little could be done to awaken the Jews to become Zionists, or simply came for the purpose of collecting funds on behalf of the Jewish National Fund or in favor of the Hebrew University.
The rise of an exclusively Arab-Islamic type of nationalism, the Arab revolt (1936-1939) in Palestine; the growing threat of Islamic fundamentalism and the escalating Arab-Israeli conflict constituted the fundamental’ causes for the demise of Egyptian Jewry.
The situation changed during the late 1940s and early of 1950s, following the ~alestine war 1948, Zionist action became clandestine and illegal. Especially, that the Jews took an
. advantage of their status in the Arab countries in general and Egypt in particular, to serve of the Jewish Agency in Palestine, thus, achieves the goals of the World Zionist Movement.
As a result most of the Arabic books after 1948 war focused on the role of the Jewish communities in the Arab lands, especially in Egypt, although that Egypt witnessed a Zionist activity in a wide range, but it was not a formal activity which means that it was a product of individual efforts.
Finally, like all the other Jewish communities of Arab lands, the Egyptian community has come to an end, without any prospect of being revived in the near or distant future, as it was either expelled or forced into exile in the aftermath of the three wars waged between Egypt and Israel (1948, 1956 and 1967).
Before the events that led to their dispersion, the Jews of Egypt had occupied what they thought was a safe and respected place in Egyptian society.