The Jewish presence in Syria, one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, was on the verge of extinction. It is estimated that in 1948, after the creation of Israel, thousands of the approximately 40 Jews living there left the country. In the following decades, subjected to violent government repression, the Jewish population dwindled. Today, only four Jews remain in Syria.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish community in Syria was still large, although thousands of Jews had already left the country in search of better opportunities. The two largest communities were still Damascus, where 1911 Jews lived in 11, and Aleppo, with 9.
When World War I broke out in July 1914, the Ottomans sided with Germany and Austria in their fight against France and the United Kingdom. At the end of the war, the Ottoman Empire was dismembered among the victorious nations, and at the San Remo Conference in 1, France received the mandate over Lebanon and Syria, and Great Britain received the mandate over Ottoman Palestine and Iraq.
In the territory under the French Mandate, Paris establishes two political entities: Lebanon and Syria. Opposition to European rule fuels the growth of secularist Arab nationalism.1, a staunch opponent of Western involvement in the Arab world. Arab nationalism had clashed with Zionism, which sought the creation of a Jewish National Homeland in the Land of Israel. This confrontation resulted in a shift in the general attitude of Arabs toward Jews, who came to be seen as a political threat.
In 1925, an armed uprising against the French Mandate broke out in Syria. On this occasion, Syrian rebels entered the Jewish Quarter of Damascus, Haret Al-Yahud, located in the Old City, looting shops and homes, killing several Jews and wounding dozens of others. French troops violently suppressed the rebellion, which would last until 1927, even shelling the Old City of Damascus.
The violence of the fighting and the search for new economic opportunities led many Jews to leave Damascus and Aleppo to settle in Beirut, then the headquarters of the French High Commission. The city was developing thanks to significant investments in ports, highways, railways, and infrastructure.
Jewish life during the Mandate
The Jews enthusiastically welcomed the arrival of the French and, with them, the end of the arbitrary rule of the Ottoman government. Their lives in Syria improved significantly. With the French came law and order, as well as the principles of liberty and equality often absent in the English colonies. The lands of the provinces returned to cultivation, and large quantities of wool, wheat, and cotton began to be exported. Trade with the West represented the key to the prosperity of the region and of many Jews.
During the Mandate, Jews were present in public bodies created by the French, and in 1932, a seat for a member of the Jewish community was incorporated into the new Constitution. Even so, it could not be said that Jews participated in Syrian public life, as they faced hostility not only from nationalist Muslims but also from Christians.
Unlike England, France penetrated the social and cultural life of the countries under its rule, and virtually every aspect of the Syrian population's life, including that of the Jews, was influenced or controlled by France. The French brought French culture and modernity to Syria. The franc became the basis of the economy, and financial management was in the hands of French banks. There was an increase in European educational institutions, and French became mandatory in all schools. The existence of these institutions in the Levant was one of the main vectors for the Westernization and modernization of the Muslim world.
In both Aleppo and Damascus, a large proportion of the boys and girls in the Jewish community attended schools. Alliance Israélite Universelle. Created in 1860 in France, the first school was established in Damascus in 1864, but closed five years later, only reopening in 1880. In Aleppo, it was established in 1869. Many young Jews became bilingual, speaking French in addition to Arabic. In Aleppo, there were also young Jews studying in the schools of Mission Laïque, and a few continued their studies at American schools, where they learned English. However, despite their more European education and culture, the Syrian Jewish community maintained its Jewish traditions.
The communities of Damascus and Aleppo
During the Mandate period, the Damascus community had eight synagogues, in addition to the ancient one in Jobar, and four charitable societies responsible for caring for the community's most needy. The city was also the center of Zionist activity in Syria.
Socioeconomic differences among members of the Jewish community were stark, and the European Jewish press emphasized in its publications the poverty of the Jewish majority in Damascus and, in contrast, the high standard of living of the more affluent, who lived in European ways and lifestyles. Families of considerable means lived in mansions in the Old City of Damascus, but most Jews still lived in Haret Al-Yahud, a neighborhood of old buildings and narrow streets. Only a few wealthy families began to live outside this neighborhood. In 1930, the director of Alliance Israélite Universelle estimated that 8 Jews lived in Damascus, with no increase in the Jewish population due to the continued emigration of Jews from Damascus to Beirut, the Americas, and British Mandate Palestine.
Socioeconomic differences among the Jewish population were less pronounced in Aleppo than in Damascus. Most belonged to the middle class, many were brokers, or dalal, in Arabic. There were also a small number of bankers, major merchants, and representatives of major European companies. The wealthiest lived in residential neighborhoods outside the old city, mainly in Jamilie. They had increasingly European lifestyles and manners and spoke French in addition to Arabic. Lower-middle-class or lower-class Jews lived in Bahsita, the old Jewish quarter where the Great Synagogue, known by the local population, was located. al-SafraThey were mostly artisans, servants, and other unskilled workers. The vast majority lacked access to modern education, and the economic divide that divided the Bahsita and Jamilie neighborhoods now encompassed cultural differences.
Aleppo had cafes, tea rooms, cinemas, and clubs where people could dine and dance. These modern forms of entertainment provided new meeting places for Jews. At the Halab Club, frequented by Christians, French, and some young Jews, there was an orchestra for ballroom dancing. At the Jewish club, in addition to the card room, there was a place for dancing to a gramophone. By the 1930s, private cars, buses, and taxis were already available. The arrival of modernity, however, did not shake the foundations of the community's traditionalist and religious lifestyle. These characteristics were maintained by the Jews who emigrated from Aleppo and settled in other countries.
In addition to the Great Synagogue, Aleppo had about 50 synagogues, many of which were small houses of worship set up in private homes. The Aleppo community was known for its strong ability to organize and finance community institutions and their activities.
The 1930s-1940s
The anti-Jewish violence that erupted in British Palestine in 1929 had repercussions in Syria. In Aleppo, the demonstrations were on a much smaller scale than in Damascus, a center of Arab nationalism already infected by violent anti-Zionism and consequent anti-Semitism.
Beginning in the 1930s, after Nazi Germany strengthened its ties with Syrian Arab leaders, anti-Jewish propaganda intensified in the country, particularly in Damascus. The Jewish peace became even more critical in 1939, when, instigated by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin el-Husseini, Islamic mobs began attacking Jews in Eretz Israel, spreading violence. An anti-Semite and admirer of Hitler, the Mufti incited Muslims throughout the Middle East against the Jews. In 1939, World War II broke out. In June of the following year, Marshal Pétain signed an armistice with Germany, and Syria and Lebanon found themselves subject to the French authority of the Vichy regime, submissive to Nazism.
The Syrian nationalist movement was strengthened when, in 1940, two professors trained at the Sorbonne in Paris, Michel Aflaq and Salah Bitar, founded a "discussion club"—the Arab Renaissance Movement—in Damascus. Despite preaching that the Arab nation should free itself from Western influence, Aflaq and Bitar were fascinated by Nazi ideas. The movement's great admiration for Hitler led some groups to maintain close contact with Nazi Germany. In 1947, the "Arab Renaissance Movement" became the party Baath2 (or Renaissance, in Arabic), which was in power in Syria for about 50 years.
In May 1941, the Vichy government authorized German aircraft to land and refuel in Syrian territory near Aleppo – the news left the community fearful. To halt the German advance in the Middle East, in June of that year, 1941, British and Free French troops invaded Syria and Lebanon. After defeating the Vichy forces, they occupied both countries. Arab nationalists obtained recognition of the country's independence from the Allies.
The Jews continued to fear a possible German invasion, as the Africa Korps, under the command
German General Rommel, the "Desert Fox," had won several victories against British forces in North Africa. They breathed a sigh of relief when the German offensive was finally halted by the British in early 1942 at El Alamein, less than 300 kilometers from the Egyptian capital.
The Syrian Republic
The Syrian Republic was proclaimed in 1944, officially recognized by the United Nations in 1945, and de facto independence was achieved in April 1946, when French troops withdrew from the country. Syria became a member of the Arab League in March 1945, being one of its seven founding members.
While the country was under the French Mandate, local French authorities, even during the Vichy era, defended Jews from attacks by extremist Arabs. With the departure of the French, the situation changed rapidly. The government of the new Arab republic soon enacted persecutory measures. Among these were a ban on Jewish emigration to what was then British Palestine and restrictions on the teaching of Hebrew in schools.
In Damascus, boycotts of Jewish businesses and acts of violence became increasingly common. The growing antagonism between Jews and Muslims in what was then Palestine further crystallized hostility toward Jews. Anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic propaganda became increasingly common on the radio and in newspapers. Furthermore, Syria began to harbor Nazi criminals, partly out of ideological affinity and partly because the government wanted their "expertise"in the war he intended to wage against a possible Jewish state. This actually occurred, as many of the officers commanding the Syrian troops that attacked northern Israel in 1948 were German.
Tensions grew during UN debates on the partition of the region and the creation of an independent Jewish state. In February 1947, the newspaper The New York Times published the statement by Faris Al-Khuri, Syrian delegate to the United Nations: "We will have difficulty protecting Jews in the Arab world." It was no empty threat. Across the Arab world, politicians had created a climate of hysteria, aided by the media bombarding their readers with stories about Zionist "perfidy" and "danger."
On November 29, 1947, Jews around the world listened attentively to the voices coming from their radios. As soon as the results of the vote in favor of the partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state were broadcast, thousands of Jews took to the streets, hugging and weeping. Throughout the Arab world, however, the situation was tense, with frustration and resentment rippling through the masses.
The belligerent rhetoric of Arab leaders, who refused to accept the UN resolution, and the increasing violent attacks against Jewish communities in Eretz Israel, were an indication that the Jews living there should prepare for the coming war. In Syria, fear and uncertainty gripped the Jewish population, as signs of the new government's treatment of the Jews became increasingly worrying.
The Aleppo pogrom
Although figures vary, it is believed that around 10 Jews lived in Aleppo in November 1947. On December 1, two days after the Partition vote, the city's streets were filled with enraged Arabs. The government, which had ordered that no Jews be killed or injured, authorized the destruction of all Jewish property. Having received the green light, Arab mobs began to invade, destroy, and burn synagogues, places of study, schools, and homes. Shops owned by Jews were targeted, then looted and destroyed. The violence that befell the city's Jews did not spare even the Great Synagogue, the pride of the Aleppo community. Soldiers were deployed to the synagogue's gate and surrounding area to protect it, but this protection was nothing more than a farce.
In the early afternoon, a crowd gathered near the Great Synagogue, shouting, "Palestine is our land and the Jews are our dogs." Late in the afternoon, the most enraged climbed onto the shoulders of others, including soldiers, to climb over the wall and enter the synagogue courtyard. Some managed to throw open the synagogue gates, and the enraged mob entered. In less than half an hour, they had snatched 40 Sifrei Torah of the seven Hechalot (Aaron Hakodesh) of the synagogue. They threw them into the courtyard, tore up the sacred scrolls, and then set them on fire. Hundreds of tefillin were thrown into the same fire.
Syrian soldiers encouraged and aided the vandalism. When firefighters arrived, instead of using water to put out the fire, they doused the sacred texts with diesel and kerosene, fueling the flames. Keter The Aram Tzobah, the oldest known manuscript of the complete text of the Torah, was damaged in the fire. Jealously guarded for over 600 years within its walls, this Codex was kept in an iron vault within the place called the Cave of Eliyahu Hanavi.
The Arab mob then attacked Jewish homes and shops, looting and setting them on fire. The violence lasted all night, and only in the early hours of the morning did Syrian soldiers appear to disperse the crowd. Keter It lay amidst the pile of ash and rubble for four days, until Jews were allowed to enter the site. The first to find the manuscript were a group of rabbis, but of the original 487 leaves, only 295 were recovered. These were delivered to Chief Rabbi Moshe Mizrahi, who in turn took them to the home of the Austrian consul. Once the situation stabilized, the precious manuscript was hidden among merchandise in a warehouse belonging to a Jew. In 1957, the manuscript was secretly taken to Turkey and, from there, finally, to Jerusalem in 1958. Delivered to the Ben-Zvi Institute, it was placed in a special, climate-controlled compartment. And in 1986, it was taken for restoration to the laboratories of the Israel Museum, where it went on display.
The violent pogrom left a heavy toll. 18 synagogues, 150 homes, 50 shops, 5 schools, an orphanage, and a youth center were razed to the ground. Hundreds of buildings were burned. Sifrei Torah and countless books and manuscripts. The material damage from the destruction was estimated at the time at US$2,5 million.
More than 6 Jews fled the city in the following months, most crossing the borders into Turkey and Lebanon, where they settled or continued on to other countries. They left the city, never to return. They locked their doors, trying to avoid attracting the attention of their Arab neighbors, and left everything behind—properties, shops, money, and souvenirs. They were not allowed to take anything with them that would arouse suspicion of fleeing. Some left disguised as Arabs or Bedouins. Many traveled by train to Lebanon or by car along one of the two roads that led to Beirut.
after 1948
With the creation of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, the situation of Syrian Jews worsened. The following day, a war broke out between Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq against the new country. The Syrian army invaded the Galilee, but the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) halted their advance and drove the Syrians back to the Golan Heights. This humiliating military defeat fueled Syrian hatred of Jews.
Jewish neighborhoods are invaded, and the Syrian government enacts new anti-Jewish laws. The passports of Jews who left Syria were canceled, rendering them stateless, and the identity cards of those who remained in the country bore the stamp Mussaw, Jewish, in big red letters.
An article published in The New York Times, on May 16 of that year, reveals the government's position: "A policy of economic discrimination against Jews was implemented in Syria. Virtually all Jewish citizens employed by the government were fired. In practice, freedom of movement was abolished. Special border checkpoints were established to control the movement of Jews." In 1949, the situation deteriorated further. In Damascus, a bomb exploded at the Al-Manshiyeh Synagogue, located in the Jewish quarter, killing 12 people, most of them children.
Despite the prohibition on leaving Syria, the leaders organized to facilitate their departure. The risks were great, as, if captured, a Jew attempting to flee could be executed or sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. Those who managed to escape had to abandon everything they owned, as the government had forbidden Jews from selling their property.
Those left behind suffered all kinds of discrimination, having to live with social and economic strangulation. Religious and social welfare institutions, as well as Jewish schools, fell under the control of Muslim authorities. The government confiscated numerous Jewish properties, handing them over to Palestinian refugees. In Damascus, for example, these refugees were housed in the mansions of the Jewish quarter, transforming them into slums. The Alliance Israélite Universelle, opened in 1939, became a school for Palestinian children.
In 1953, bank accounts were frozen. This led to the impoverishment of the community, with many of its members living off community charities. The feared Syrian secret police, known as the Muhabarat, trained by the Nazi Aloïs Brünner3, created a special department to handle so-called "Jewish affairs," and its agents began to monitor Jews. All religious and community activities were monitored, contacts with foreigners were controlled, and all correspondence was violated. The few telephone lines they were granted were tapped. They were only allowed to live in the Jewish neighborhoods of Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamishli, and if they had to go anywhere more than 3 km from their residence, they needed government permission.
Barred from leaving the country, some lost their lives trying to escape; if captured, they were locked in prisons and tortured. When Jewish merchants were allowed to travel abroad, they had to pay exorbitant taxes, and their families were held hostage in the country—as collateral until their return.
In 1971, when Assad came to power, there were about 5 Jews "trapped" in Syria. Periodically, external pressure, mainly from the United States, led the government to allow Jews to travel abroad, which amounted to a clear opportunity for "escape."
But to obtain an exit visa, they were forced to pay a "legal" ransom of $800, and then fork over another $225 to secure their papers. The necessary funds were raised primarily among Syrian Jews living in the United States. In 1977, Canadian Judy Carr, who had embraced the cause of Syrian Jews for years, became personally involved in getting them out of the country. In her 23 years of work, she successfully evacuated 3.288 Jews from Syria.
The cruelty with which they were treated made international headlines when 10 Jews arrested in 1988 on charges of planning to escape were released and reported the mistreatment and torture. Under pressure, the government promised to facilitate the emigration of more than 500 Jewish women. But only 24 were allowed to leave in 1989, and another 20 in 1991.
Once again, under American pressure, President Assad initiated a more flexible policy toward Jews in 1990, eliminating restrictions on property sales and promising to facilitate emigration, except to Israel. Beginning with Passover 1992, approximately 4 Jews were allowed to leave Syria, with around 300 remaining in the country. Of those who left for the United States, more than 2.400 settled in New York, and 1.262 were later taken to Israel in a secret operation. It is estimated that by the end of the 1990s, fewer than 100 Jews remained in Syria.
21st century
According to U.S. State Department estimates, in 2005, there were about 80 Jews living in Syria, most of them in Damascus. They were the only minority whose religion was explicitly listed on their identity cards.
This small community was subject to all kinds of restrictions and discrimination. It became increasingly difficult to maintain Jewish religious practices, such as complying with the laws of kashrut and gather a minian – the quorum of ten Jews required for certain communal prayers, such as the reading of the Torah and the recitation of the Kaddish. A rabbi from Istanbul visited the community every two or three months to supervise the preparation of the meat. kosher.
In October 2007, Israeli journalist Ron Ben-Yishai managed to go to Damascus and participate in the prayers of Yom Kippur in the synagogue “Al Francis", located in the heart of Damascus's Old City. Six years later, in 2013, the BBC revealed that Damascus's Jewish cemetery had been demolished to make way for the regional headquarters of the ISIS group – the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
In 2011, Syria was the scene of Arab Spring protests that ultimately led the country to civil war. The protests, initially calling for democratic reforms and the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, were violently repressed by the government. This repression led to the formation of armed opposition groups and the escalation of the conflict.
By October 2014, it was estimated that fewer than 50 Jews remained in the country. Faced with the imminent threat of the Islamic State, in December of that year, all Jews remaining in Aleppo were rescued and brought to Israel through a secret operation.
Only a small group of elderly Jews remained in Syria, all in Damascus. Estimates varied, but according to a recent report by the organization Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), only four Jews still resided in the country, all in Damascus.
A guerra civil
The 13-year civil war in Syria caused widespread devastation in the country. It is estimated that more than 600 people died in the conflict, and millions were displaced, both internally and abroad, generating a severe refugee crisis. Several cities, such as Aleppo, Raqa, and Homs, were virtually destroyed. A lightning offensive led by rebels led by Islamist groups ended the Assad family's regime. On December 8, 2024, the conflict culminated in the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
This civil war caused the destruction of numerous historical monuments and important cultural sites, both Jewish and non-Jewish. In Aleppo, parts of the Great Synagogue—one of the oldest in the city—were destroyed. A recent virtual reality exhibition at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem allowed visitors to virtually explore the synagogue as it appeared in 1947. Also in Aleppo, the fighting caused damage to the Great Mosque of Aleppo and the Souq al-Madina, an icon of the city that was the largest covered market in the world.
The Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in Jobar—a site associated with the Prophet Eliyahu (Elijah)—was also severely damaged, particularly during the fighting in May 2014. Walls and ceilings collapsed, and numerous artifacts were missing. After the fall of the Assad regime, the area—including the synagogue—became more accessible, allowing Syrian Jews to visit.
Jewish cemeteries have also been desecrated, with tombstones vandalized or stolen. Experts are concerned about the ruins of Roman-era synagogues in ancient Syrian cities such as Apamea and Dura-Europos. Satellite imagery has revealed that Dura-Europos was extensively looted while under ISIS control.
Syrian Jewish communities around the world are concerned about preserving Jewish heritage and culture in Syria. In January 2025, Rabbi Binyamin Hamra—leader of the Syrian Jewish community in Israel—wrote to the head of the new Syrian government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, congratulating him on his victory over the ousted regime of Bashar al-Assad and emphasizing the importance of preserving the country's historic Jewish community. In February, Rabbi Joseph Hamra—son of Rabbi Avraham Hamra, who immigrated to Israel in 1994—traveled to Damascus and, for the first time in three decades, read publicly from a Torah scroll in a synagogue in the heart of the Syrian capital.
The Jewish presence in Syria, one of the oldest in the world, was on the brink of extinction after decades of repression and the devastating effects of the civil war. Today, few physical or human traces remain of this ancient history. Yet, recent preservation initiatives and the return of community representatives demonstrate that Syrian Jewish memory lives on—not only as a record of the past, but as an essential part of the Jewish people's cultural heritage.
- Secularist Arab nationalism, which emerged in the late 19th century, is based on the idea that Arab peoples constitute a single nation, united by common factors such as language, culture, history and, in some cases, religion.
- The Baath Party was led by Hafez al-Assad and later by his son, Bashar al-Assad. The Baath Party's hegemony was challenged by the 2011 Arab uprising, which resulted in a civil war. After the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Baath Party declared its support for the transition in Syria, advocating for the country's unity.
