Before describing the Jewish holiday which is called Simhat torah ( the joy of the Torah) I feel compelled to elaborate the beginning of the presence of Jews in Tunisia. For centuries the Jews in Tunisia had constituted one of the oldest communities of the Diaspora. Tunisia played an important role of crossroads, attracting and assimilating different ethnicities. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Byzantines, the Berbers, the Arabs, the Spaniards, the Turks, the Italians, the French. One could easily change the language and the civilization by moving just a few blocks away. The presence of the Jews in Roman Africa was mentioned by authors such as Florens Tertullianus and Saint Augustine the African and confirmed by the Hebrew inscriptions found in various places, by the vestiges of the Jewish necropolis of Carthage, and the Talmud of Babylon and the one of Jerusalem, which describe the opinion of the Rabbis of Carthage.
Having laid the ground of the existence of the Jews in Carthage since ancient times, it is known that since then, every year at the conclusion of the high holidays of the first month of the Jewish year, which usually falls in October, the holiday of Simhat Torah symbolizes the conclusion of the torah scroll reading and the start of the new cycle of reading from the beginning of the scroll.
In every community the Jews celebrate this holiday by walking in a procession with the Torah scrolls. This time it was before World War II when my father was called to duty in the French army reserve, in case that Hitler or Mussolini would attack the French protectorate. In order to see my dad, my mom sent me to Tunis. I was staying at my grandma’s who lived at Sidi Khlef. I went to the synagogue of the Jewish quarters of the Hafsia, together with all my friends.
I remember on the occasion of the Simhat Torah holyday we sang the traditional liturgy song when the men were holding the torah scrolls and dancing with it. Then we left the Synagogue holding the scrolls and singing. Outside on the street, Jews and non-Jews joined us and the procession grew and became almost a national procession, like the ones we see in New York such as the Italian parade, the Irish parade, etc. People came from all the side streets of the Jewish quarters.
When we reached the famous Porte de France, other processions coming from different directions with their Torah Scrolls from other synagogues joined the parade. When we crossed Avenue de France with the scrolls, I noticed that some people brought with them bottles of wine, others brought bottles of a famous local alcoholic drink called Boukha, others brought bottles of fragrance - Eau de Cologne and others had bottles of orange blossom water called Mazhar. Some women brought with them a drink made from almonds, called Ruzata, in French - Orgeat and in Italian - Orzata. The music group grew with many music players, some played the drum called Darbouka, others played the violins called Ejrana. Then the son of Shneyshen from Sidi Mardoum (May God bless his soul) electrified the entire procession with his bag pipe. We sang the song “Kemi Tzion Tize Torah”, (From Zion the Torah will arise). Other groups waking from Avenue de Londre and thru the Passage moving towards Avenue Gambetta rallied to the large parade.
Then we reached our destination on Avenue Gambetta, in the direction of the lake, which is called the Dead Sea. This place is destined for all kind of events like ours and even for a circus. On both sides of the avenue, palm trees were looking as if they were waiting for us. Their large leaves along with the soft wind that was coming from the sea seemed to dance with us to the rhythm of the music. The Italians, the Maltese, and some French public figures joined us as a sign of good community and good neighborhood. The Arab population contributed respectfully to our procession, a gesture of coexistence, in the spirit of solidarity. I remember that as we crossed the main street, the entire traffic of the tramway, the busses, and the cars came to a halt, to let the procession pass peacefully. The tourists and the foreign residents, who did not know our tradition, were stupefied. At the shore of the lake we made our prayer. At the end of our procession everyone went in his direction and the rabbis and some helpers took the scrolls back to the synagogue.
Copyright Emile Tubiana
