Tunisia’s president sent his condolences to the Jewish community after the country’s chief rabbi, Haim Madar, died December 3 at 65, Tunisian Jewish groups in France said.
Madar had been ill for some time and had been unable to attend the annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to the island of Djerba, a centerpiece of Jewish life in the country. Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali addressed his condolence messages to Madar’s family and to the rabbi of Djerba, Haim Bitan. About 2,000 Jews live in Tunisia, mostly in Tunis.