Restoring Libya’s Ancient Jewish Community | Algemeiner.com

The Libyan Jewish community was one of the world’s oldest Jewish communities, with some historians tracing the Jewish settlement there as far back as the 4th century BCE, and the earliest synagogue in Sirte having been built in 10 BCE. In 1911, there were approximately 21,000 Jews in the country, largely based in Tripoli, in the northwest, and a smaller number in Benghazi, in the northeast. By 1941, 25% of Tripoli’s population remained Jewish, and there were 44 synagogues in the city. By the end of World War II, Libyan Jews numbered more than 30,000.