Laghouat, Algeria

Parashat Bo (בא – Go), Exodus 10:1–13:16.

G. send the three last plagues: locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn.

Synagogues were numerous in the main big cities of Algeria but also in very remote small villages where a very ancient Judaism was practiced often pre-existing to Islam.
The town of Laghouat is located on Oued Mzi, to the south-east of the Djebel Amour massif, in the foothills of the Saharan Atlas; it has a vast palm grove, in the shade of which some cereals and fruit trees are grown. The Jews occupied the lower part of the Ahlaf and Ouled Serguine districts. They did heavy and dirty work. The Jews were subordinates and laborers in the service of the Muslims. The year 1967 marked the departure of the last Jew from Laghouat, a woman in this case.

The region of Laghouat had to undergo during the spring of 1933 an invasion of locusts of such importance that the oldest inhabitants did not remember to have seen any similar.
In 2020, locusts invaded East Africa. 360 billion locusts devoured crops at a frightening rate. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) experts believe that this scourge could become much worse in the coming months and that insects will invade North Africa and the Middle East.
These immense clouds of locusts darken the sky to the point of making the sun disappear. If nothing is done, it could lead to millions of deaths.

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