Syrian jewish community

In Damascus’ former Jewish quarter, optimism about the Syrian Jewish future is hard to muster

The Jewish Quarter of Damascus, once thriving with synagogues and schools, now holds only five Jews. Locals fear sectarian violence, even as some in exile see hope of return.

|ByTHEIA CHATELLE/JTA
Damascus' Jewish Quarter, as seen in August 2025, betrays signs of the local exodus and decade of civil war.
Syrian Rabbi Yousef Hamra and accompanying Jews visit the Frenc and Raki churches, the Maimonides Jewish School and the Jobar Synagogue, which was largely destroyed during the civil war, in the historic districts of Damascus, Syria on February 18, 2025.

How a small delegation of US Jews got to Syria for the first time in decades

Visiting historic synagogues and praying with Torah scrolls that had remained intact through the country’s brutal, 14-year civil war, these Jews were celebrating a homecoming.

|ByANDREW LAPIN/JTA
ILAN RAMON in front of an F16 aircraft.

This week in Jewish history: Israel's first astronaut, invention of cardioverter-defibrillator

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars.

|BySTEVEN DRUCKER
syrian jews 224.88 ap

Damascus Jewish community unharmed despite rebel overthrow, Syrian Jew tells KAN

The source said they were optimistic that the new government might move towards peace with Israel.

|ByMATHILDA HELLER

BBC sparks outrage over 'diverse' Syrian Jewish population claim

As of 2022, there were reported to be only four Jews left in Syria, the Jewish Virtual Library said. 

DECEMBER 11, 2024ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF
Screenshot from a BBC broadcast in Syria, December 11, 2024.

President Herzog hosts delegation from Sephardic Syrian community of New York

The delegation presented Herzog with a  giant, beautifully engraved silver mezuza and the inscribed parchment that goes with it.

DECEMBER 26, 2023ByGREER FAY CASHMAN
Israeli president Isaac Herzog attends the President's Award for volunteering at the president's residence in Jerusalem, June 14, 2023.

Transgender teacher outed, fired by Brooklyn Jewish day school

One week after landing a new job, Talia Avrahami was out of the job after a firestorm erupted about the fact that she is transgender.

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022ByJACKIE HAJDENBERG/JTA
Orthodox Jewish children get off a Yeshiva school bus, as New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a public health emergency in parts of Brooklyn in response to a measles outbreak, in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, US, April 9, 2019.

Time running out in race to preserve endangered Jewish languages

The many endangered dialects of Judeo-Arabic have been documented to varying extents, from Egypt to Morocco, from Syria to Yemen. And some young people are keeping the music alive.

FEBRUARY 9, 2021BySARAH BUNIN BENOR/JTA
A kippah and a pile of documents.

Syrian citizen arrested in attack on German man wearing kippah

JULY 30, 2019ByTOBY AXELROD/JTA
A child wearing a Kippah

Jewish family escapes from Syria, arrives safely in Israel

The rescue was organized by an Israeli-American humanitarian activist with the help of Syrian opposition leaders, the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Absorption.

JULY 3, 2014ByYOSSI MELMAN
A Syrian boy crosses through the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, as seen from the Israeli side of the Golan Heights [Illustrative]