[6] In modern times, the local Jews are distinguished by their dress, which includes a black band around their pants, which signifies the destruction of the Temple.

[7] Another tradition claims that the synagogue was built on a spot where a young girl (ghriba, "the isolated one") had lived, that had not been accepted by the others.

She died, and her uncorrupted body was found by the Jews of the nearby village, and then buried in a cave which became the site of an annual pilgrimage for Lag BaOmer.

Following several structural extensions the first of the two halls was built through the roofing of a formerly open courtyard in order to increase the capacity for the number of visitors.

The attack was in response to Operation Wooden Leg (Hebrew: מבצע רגל עץ, romanized: Mivtza Regel Etz),[10] when Israel targeted the PLO headquarters in Tunisia.

[11][12] On April 11, 2002, a truck full of explosives was detonated close to the synagogue, killing 21 people, among whom were 14 German tourists, five Tunisians, and two French nationals.

Al-Qaeda militants claimed responsibility for the bombing,[13][14] which was found to have been masterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and financed by a Pakistani resident of Spain.

The shooter, a guard at a naval center, initially shot and killed a colleague and seized his ammunition before heading to the synagogue.

[17] The synagogue is being supervised by an independent administration committee that was established at the end of the nineteenth century, when Djerba was a French protectorate.