El Ghriba, Djerba — the cave of the girl

OVERVIEW

The El Ghriba Synagogue on Djerba is the centre of the island's Jewish life and a Jewish site of pilgrimage. Its present building dates from the end of the 19th century, on the spot where a 6th-century building stood; inside, unlike Djerba's other synagogues, it has two covered halls.

HISTORY

One legend dates it to the High Priests' escape after the Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple in 586 BC (or the Second Temple in AD 70), carrying a door and a stone of the Temple with them. Another tradition says it was built where a young girl — ghriba, 'the isolated one' — had lived, not accepted by the others; after her death her uncorrupted body was found by the Jews of the nearby village and buried in a cave, which became the site of an annual pilgrimage for Lag BaOmer.

REPORTED ACTIVITY

LEGEND. A recess under the holy ark marks where the girl's body is supposed to have been found, known as 'the cave of the girl'. The tradition is recorded, not dated.

VISITING

A pilgrimage site; pilgrims can stay in the adjacent buildings.