Malta boasts a rich Jewish history, tracing its roots back to Phoenician times. Currently, it is estimated that only around 100-300 Jews reside in the Mediterranean island state, including Jews who moved there from Israel and elsewhere in Europe. The significance of its larger historical Jewish population is underscored by the presence of three remaining Jewish cemeteries. The oldest among them dates back to 1784, though several menorahs found carved on tombs in the St. Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat testify to the existence of a Jewish community on the Maltese archipelago in ancient Roman times. The Valletta-based Tayar Foundation has embarked on projects to renovate and maintain these sites as well as promote Jewish culture and memory.
In this Spotlight, JHE contributor Michele Migliori focuses on the Foundation and its work regarding Malta’s Jewish heritage — specifically its Jewish cemeteries.
—-
The Tayar Foundation Aims to Safeguard Malta’s Three Jewish Cemeteries and Promote Jewish Culture and Memory on the Mediterranean Island State
By Michele Migliori
February 2, 2024
The Tayar Foundation for Jewish Heritage in Malta was established in 2019 by a group of Jewish and non-Jewish activists aimed at preserving, restoring, and maintaining Jewish heritage sites on the Maltese islands as well as promoting Jewish culture and memory.
It honors George Tayar, a former President of the Malta Jewish Community who died in 1994 aged 87, his first wife Gita, who died in 1992, and his second wife Shelley, a journalist and Gita’s sister, who died in 2019. George, a prominent businessman and philanthropist, was a descendant of Rabbi Josef Tayar, who in 1846 became the first Rabbi to hold this post in Malta, coming from Tripoli, Libya.
The Foundation was created by a group of the Tayars’ friends in the Jewish community and in the academic and cultural sectors of Malta, all keen on promoting their interest in Maltese Jewish life, history, and culture. It was launched at a memorial for Shelley Tayar soon after her death. It is independent from, but actively collaborates with the Jewish Community.
The Foundation is chaired by Julius Nehorai, a retired businessman with a background in real estate, who moved to Malta in 2003. He is also a vice-president for Malta in the Commonwealth Jewish Council, which links Jewish communities in the British Commonwealth. Other founding members include Dr. Sarah Azzopardi-Ljubibratic, who holds a Ph.D. in the History of Religions from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and Reuben Ohayon, president of the Jewish community of Malta. Dr. Dennis Mizzi, a senior lecturer in Hebrew and Ancient Judaism at the University of Malta, is the Foundation’s Projects Director.
The Foundation’s main goal is to restore Malta’s three Jewish cemeteries: Kalkara and Ta’ Braxia (picture above), which are no longer in use, and Marsa, still used by the Jewish community and soon to be expanded. It aims “to increase awareness of this unique aspect of Malta’s history” and eventually organize “open-days […] to invite locals and tourists to discover these windows onto Maltese history and learn the stories they still have to tell.”
Nehorai told JHE that the Foundation plans to carry out work in all three cemeteries this year, focusing on clean-up, landscaping, and restoration of matzevot. It is hoping to raise $100,000 through a crowd-funding campaign on the WhyDonate platform. (a crowdfunder in 2021 successfully raised ore than $10,000.)
The cemetery in Kalkara, established in 1784, is Malta’s oldest surviving Jewish burial ground, aside from the catacombs. It lies on the third of four promontories opposite Valletta on the southeast side of the Grand Harbor area.
From 1530 to 1798, the Knights of St. John ruled the islands and brought back large numbers of Jewish prisoners captured in battles against the Ottomans. The Jews of Venice, Livorno, and elsewhere raised funds to ransom these Jewish prisoners, many of whom were kept in slavery, through the Societies for Redeeming Captives (Chevrot Pidyon Shevuyim).
The cemetery is entered through a narrow wooden door and steep, narrow steps. A plaque at its entrance states that the Kalkara cemetery was established by the Society financed by Jews in Livorno. No Jewish slaves are believed to have buried in the cemetery, however, and in 1798, Napoleon conquered Malta and outlawed slavery.
The small, walled enclosure includes 12 identified graves from the early 19th century, plus four unidentifiable ones, and other fragments. Nehorai told JHE that it is in serious disrepair, surrounded on three sides by houses with limited access to the general public.
“The Foundation has access to it, but its restoration work is delayed pending the establishment of who has legal ownership of the site,” he said. “We have not been able to identify who owns this cemetery. If land has not been claimed for a certain period of time, it reverts to the government, and it is probable that is what has happened here, but the Government has not formally adopted it.” This needs to be clarified before restoration efforts can begin, he said.
The Jewish cemetery at Ta’ Braxia, located two km from downtown Valletta, was founded around 1830 and in use until 1880, when it reached full capacity. Sir Moses Montefiore, while visiting Malta, was instrumental in obtaining the small strip of land for it. Malta’s main British multi-faith cemetery at Ta’ Braxia was established next to it in 1855, and the Jewish cemetery is now a separate section of that complex.
The Friends of Ta’ Braxia Association has helped the Jewish community maintain the cemetery since 2001. This association was formed by a couple, Jenny and Andy Welsh, who came to Malta from the UK many years ago and had an interest in maintaining cemeteries.
“They took care of Ta’ Braxia, and when they became aware of the Jewish section of the cemetery, which was concealed behind a wall, they kindly took care of that as well,” Nehorai told JHE. “The Tayar Foundation is contributing towards the cost of maintaining the cemetery and donating towards Friends of Ta’ Braxia from time to time for this purpose.”
Today, he said, the Ta’ Braxia Jewish cemetery requires a restoration plan and periodic maintenance to make it more accessible. As we posted on JHE in 2016, the Braxia and Addolorata Army Association cleaned up the cemetery that year, but, Nehorai said, it does not appear to have worked on the site since then.
The Jewish Cemetery in Marsa, also just outside Valletta, is the only Jewish cemetery still in use. Located next to the Turkish military cemetery, which is noted for its ornate entry walls, the Marsa Jewish cemetery was established in December 1879, as the Ta’ Braxia Jewish cemetery reached full capacity. It is the only cemetery directly owned by Malta’s Jewish Community and was designed by the English architect Webster Paulson. The grand neoclassical façade of its entrance, a Grade I listed building, “is crumbling and urgently needs restoration,” the Foundation said.
The cemetery includes about 80-100 graves, six of which belong to WWI and WWII soldiers who died defending the island. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission maintains these graves. Although it is in the best condition of Malta’s three cemeteries, the Marsa cemetery also needs extensive renovation.
Nehorai told JHE that the Rotary Club Malta is donating €10,000 for the restoration of certain graves, to which the Tayar Foundation will also contribute.
In 2022, the Government of Malta and the Jewish Community of Malta signed a Memorandum of Understanding, in which the government pledged to contribute towards the renovation of the cemetery in two phases. Phase One is to restore the entrance to the cemetery and provide a wheelchair ramp. Phase two involves extending the burial ground by incorporating the adjoining vacant lot, providing a further 80 burial plots, and constructing a boundary wall and entrance to link it to the current cemetery grounds, which incorporate a Tahara house.
The local news media Malta Today said the Jewish Community’s plans for the expansion would also include extensive landscaping, including the removal of some trees “the introduction of 32 Cypress trees, 40 Myrtle trees, 32 palm trees, and five olive trees. Additionally, four existing almond trees will be transplanted.”
In addition to the cemetery work, the Tayar Foundation organizes cultural and educational events. These have included a Holocaust exhibition at the University in 2023, and an Anne Frank exhibition 2022, which was displayed at University campuses and was available online.
For more information about the Foundation’s activities or volunteering, or to obtain lists of people buried in the cemeteries, you may email: [email protected].
Click here to access the Tayar Foundation website
Click here to donate to help restore Malta’s Jewish cemeteries
See web sites with information about the Kalkara cemetery HERE and HERE
The article “The Jewish cemetery at Kalkara, Malta,” by Derek Davis, in Transactions & Miscellanies (Jewish Historical Society of England), Vol. 28 (1981-1982), pp. 145-170 can be read on line via JStor