Aspects of modernity in the Jewish community in Sudan of the first half of the twentieth century

Abstract

Since the end of the nineteenth century until after the Six Day War (1967) there was a minute Jewish community in Sudan, which held 1,000 people at its peak. Most of them arrived from the Mediterranean countries, Iraq and Yemen. Several people arrived from Europe. Most of the members resided in Khartoum. It was an immigrant community, where most members dealt with local and international commerce, or were part of the British administration. After its establishment in January 1908, it functioned as an independent community, yet clearly linked to the Jewish community in Egypt. The Jewish community in Sudan was extremely modern. I suggest an explanation for this and comment on the level of modernism of this community compared to other Jewish communities in the Orient in the first half of the twentieth century.