Negotiating the Synagogue

A second try at the synagogue this morning. This time, I was convinced we were about to find the limits to Fadel’s access. But he knows the art of negotiation, and everything here is open to negotiation. The guard at the gate was the first stop. He called the plain clothes security chief, who said the rabbi had been there earlier for services, but that he’d left already and we couldn’t get in without his express permission. Fadel kept talking, gently, and with infinite patience. The caretaker arrived, a little old guy dressed all in brown, and a good talker, too. There followed a good ten minutes more of negotiation, this way and that, through the barred gate. This led to a gruding permissionto allow the goup inside the gate, but only outside the temple, so long as we agreed to surrender our passports to the security man. We did, and entered through the gate.

And Fadel kept talking. He found a bench in the courtyard and sat down with the caretaker, eventually persuade him to try getting the rabbi on the phone. We though this was unlikely, on a Saturday morning. Most orthodox rabbis would not answer the phone on the Sabbath. Still, it was worth a try. Ten minutes later, Fadel was on his cell phone to the rabbi’s wife: the rabbi was not home. But she had a number for him. Fadel dialed, and the caretaker spoke to the rabbi’s assistant. Fadeel spoke, too. He told the rabbi’s assistant (I think) that we were a group of American Jews who wanted to pray. Well, one of us was. The assistant said to call back in five minutes, he’d check with the rabbi.

Five minutes later, the rabbi himself was on the cell phone, speaking first to the caretaker, then to Fadel. Permission was granted—a half hour after the start of negotiations. Good for our guide. I’d have given up twennty-five minutes ago.

We improvised head coverings and went in (discovering a basket full of women’s scarves inside the door: no yarmules). A beautiful temple, probably a hundred years old, in elegant neoclassical style. Ellie played tour guide, explaining a little about the Torah and Saturday services as we made the rounds. Then we all signed in, and Fadel collected ten Egyptian pounds for each of us to thank the neogitation team, and we left. A great lesson in patience.

Back to the hotel to board the bus for our penultimate ride to Cairo. The next and last one will be tomorrow’s early ride to the airport.