This was an interview that I felt only scratched the surface not only of the book, Lebanon’s Jewish Community: Fragments of Lives Arrested (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) but of Professor Salameh's knowledge and understanding of the region. Our discussion spanned the ancient roots of the people of Lebanon through his personal story growing up in the multicultural city of Beirut through the current state of affairs in Lebanon. Growing up as a Maronite his first exposure to Jews in Lebanon was an absentee neighbor who would come to air out and check on the house maybe once a month. He did not know what to make of her - but then when he was studying for his Baccalaureate she sent a message that she was carrying out a nine day novena to the Virgin Mary on his behalf. This cross-culture was the basis for the thriving Jewish community in Lebanon.
Unfortunately we did not touch upon the interviews that he conducted as there was just so much to say. I want to share here one that puts things in context - he writes about Alain who lives today in Northern Israel, a mere two-hour car ride from his native Beirut but worlds away from the port city. Franck himself talks about the last time he was in Lebanon, in 2016, and how he felt he could never go back.
Another moving interview is that of Fady Galen who talks about wearing tefillin (phylacteries) in his Catholic school.
Through the good and bad it was so wonderful to speak about the possibilities and the fanatics. As Franck said, he is human and therefore the passion will show in his scholarly work and his writing - it definitely showed in our discussion.
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Franck Salameh, "Lebanon’s Jewish Community: Fragments of Lives Arrested" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) | New Books in Middle Eastern Studies podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
