|
2025-02-20 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
|
|
Syrian Jews in Damascus after thirty years
|
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
Hoping to see more Jewish tourists and their money, maybe even followed by them investing in renovating the old Jewish sites and properties or even in setting up businesses that the HTS government can tax. [Rudaw] A Jewish Syrian Rabbi and his son have returned to their homeland from the United States after more than three decades of being forced to leave Syria by the Hafez al-Assad-led Baath regime.
Speaking to Rudaw’s Dilkhwaz Mohammed on Wednesday, Rabbi Yusef Hamra said he had returned to Damascus after 33 years of being forced to leave. "I am the first Jew to return to Syria. I arrived here with my son on Monday evening," he said.
Hamra expressed sadness at the state of the neighborhood he grew up, the Jewish Quarter southeast of Old Damascus. "It is empty of residents," he said.
After visiting his old synagogue, Hamra remarked, "I am upset that the place needs more attention and care." When asked about the possibility of holding prayers in the Jewish house of worship, he responded, "We are trying to gather a quorum of ten people. If they come, we will hold the prayer, but if they do not, the prayer cannot be performed."
In the Jewish faith, at least ten people must be present to conduct certain prayers. A quorum of ten Jewish adults, known as a Minyan, is the most highly recommended and required for some forms of prayer.
In 1992, more than 5,000 Jews were forcibly deported by the regime of Hafez al-Assad, father of the recently ousted Syrian president, Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. These individuals were forced to settle in various European and Western countries and were unable to return to Syria.
Hamra visited some of the historic Jewish sites in Damascus, including the al-Franj, al-Raki and Jobar synagogues. He additionally visited the Ibn Maimonides Jewish school. Bashir al-Assad’s regime also prevented Jews from returning in subsequent years and confiscated their property.
In the Middle Ages, Syria was home to one of the largest Jewish settlements in the world, with most living in the Damascus area. The community dates back to Elijah’s Damascus sojourn nearly 3,000 years ago, but Jewish life really blossomed in the city after 1099, when Christian armies conquered Jerusalem in the First Crusade and massacred the city’s inhabitants.
Historians say 50,000 Jews fled to Damascus, making almost one in three Damascenes Jewish almost overnight. Some became government advisors and ministers, and the community grew to around 100,000 by the turn of the 20th century.
Tens of thousands of Jews relocated to Israel following its creation in 1948. Others held in Syria against their will, emigrated once they were allowed to when Middle East peace talks began in the 1990s.
Syrian Jews say held first group prayer in decades in Damascus synagogue
[MSN-AFP] Syria's tiny Jewish community said they held their first group prayer in decades Wednesday, in a synagogue in Damascus's Old City, expressing joy at the long-awaited return to public worship.
In the Faranj synagogue, Syrian-American Rabbi Yusuf Hamra led the prayer for the first time since arriving this week from the United States, where he has lived since the 1990s.
"The last time I visited the synagogue here and prayed was before I travelled to America," said Hamra, 77.
"After arriving in Damascus two days ago, I came to pray for the first time... after 34 years," he told AFP in the Jewish quarter of the capital's Old City.
Hamra said he was the last rabbi to quit Syria -- one of thousands of members of the Jewish community to leave in the 1990s.
Syria's centuries-old Jewish community was able to practise their religion under then president Hafez al-Assad, but the strongman prevented them from leaving the country until 1992.
After that, their numbers plummeted from around 5,000 at the time.
Now just seven elderly Jews are believed to live in Damascus.
After an Islamist-led rebel alliance overthrew Hafez's son Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
in December last year, Hamra said he seized the opportunity to return with his son.
All of Syria's synagogues closed when civil war erupted in 2011, Hamra said.
A historic synagogue in the Damascus suburb of Jobar once drew Jewish pilgrims from around the world but was looted and heavily damaged during the war.
The whole suburb was devastated during the conflict.
The Assad family had presented itself as a protector of minorities in multi-ethnic, multi-confessional Syria.
Syria's new Islamist-led authorities have repeatedly sought to reassure minorities that they will be protected, and have pledged to involve all Syrians in building the country's future.
At the end of the prayer, community leader Bakhour Chamntoub expressed happiness at Hamra's return to the synagogue.
"I need Jews with me in the neighbourhood," he said of the Jewish quarter, where he lives.
He expressed hope that "Jews will return to their neighbourhood and their people" in Syria.
"For nearly 40 years, I haven't prayed with others. The feeling is indescribable," he said. 
|
Posted by Fred 2025-02-20 2025-02-20 00:58||
||
Front Page|| [11139 views ]
Top
File under: Govt of Syria
|
|
14:48 NoMoreBS
14:31 NoMoreBS
14:16 NoMoreBS
14:15 NoMoreBS
14:04 swksvolFF
13:47 Regular joe
13:43 swksvolFF
13:38 swksvolFF
13:34 swksvolFF
13:31 Abu Uluque
13:25 Heribertus Vedente
13:24 mossomo
13:20 Abu Uluque
13:14 mossomo
13:06 swksvolFF
12:51 Grom the Affective
12:31 Abu Uluque
12:20 swksvolFF
12:17 Abu Uluque
12:08 swksvolFF
12:08 ed in texas
12:05 ed in texas
12:01 ed in texas
12:00 ed in texas
|
