From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Town in Aleppo, Syria
Tadef
(
Arabic
:
????
; also spelled
Tedef
or
Tadif
) is a town southeast of
Al-Bab
, about 20 miles (32 km) east of
Aleppo
,
Syria
and less than 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) south of
Al Bab
.
[2]
The town, which is the site of a shrine to the Jewish prophet
Ezra
(c. 400 BCE), was a popular summer resort for the
Jews of Aleppo
.
[3]
History
[
edit
]
The village was inhabited during the 19th century by
Arabs
belonging to the Aneyzeh tribe.
[4]
During the late 1800s, the village came under repeated attack by
nomadic
tribes who wished to steal sheep and cattle from the surrounding plains. Casualties were reported as the villagers were able to muster over 400 armed men to defend their flocks and herds.
[5]
At the time, about 20 Jewish families lived in the village,
[6]
which was described as a "Jewish town".
[7]
Before the festival of
Shavuot
, Jews from Aleppo made an annual pilgrimage to the village.
[6]
In 1931, there were 15 Jewish families living in the town.
[8]
Association with Ezra
[
edit
]
Local tradition maintains that
Ezra
(c. 400 BCE) paused in the town on his way from
Babylon
to
Jerusalem
and built the
synagogue
which still stands today.
[9]
In 1899,
Max Freiherr von Oppenheim
discovered 14th-century
Hebrew
inscriptions at the synagogue.
[10]
There is a spring near the town called
Ein el-Uzir
, where it is said Ezra regularly immersed himself during his sojourn there.
[11]
[12]
A tomb ascribed to Ezra is also located in the town and has been intact for many centuries.
[13]
On a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1414, Issac Elfarra of
Malaga
was informed:
At a distance of two (
sic
) miles from [Aleppo] is the tomb of Ezra the Scribe. There Ezra recorded the Torah... This village is called Taduf [and contains] a synagogue... They [also] say that every night year round a cloud ascends from the tomb of Ezra never departing.
[14]
There is also another
tomb attributed to Ezra
near
Basra
,
Iraq
.
References
[
edit
]