Syrian Jews originate from two groups: Mizrahi Jews who have been present in Syria since ancient times, and Sephardic Jews who fled the Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal) in 1492 AD after the expulsion and forced conversion of its Muslim and Jewish population at the hands of the Spanish monarchy. Arriving during the late Mamluk period in Syria only two decades before Ottoman rule, they integrated with an established community of Jews in Aleppo and Damascus.
By the early 1900’s, Jews formed approximately 5% of Syria, mainly centred in Damascus, Aleppo, and Qamishli. They were renowned for their significant role in Syria, becoming established doctors, artisanal craftsmen, merchants, business owners, and bankers.
Syrian Jews, along with the rest of Levantine Jews, have been around since the beginning of Judaism, existing in our community for thousands of years.
It is believed that King David’s General, Joab ben Zeruiah, built one of the oldest ever synagogues in Aleppo (950 BCE) which contained the Aleppo Codex for about 600 years. The Aleppo Codex was the oldest manuscript containing the complete Hebrew Bible. It was put together in Tiberias, Northern Palestine, before finding its way to Aleppo, and it is located today in Jerusalem (today the codex in Jerusalem is missing several portions).
In Aleppo, the community numbered roughly 10,000 prior to the anti Jewish violence that erupted in 1947 at the hands of angry mobs, following the partitioning of Palestine and the creation of the Zionist Jewish state of lsrael with the U.N’s aid, on occupied Palestinian land. Dozens of Jews were killed, the Great Synagogue of Aleppo was torched, and estates were destroyed. The event led half of the community to flee. In 1967, Aleppo’s Jews numbered 1,500 and by the early 2010s, Jewish presence in Aleppo had officially ended.
In Damascus, Damascene Jewish families lived alongside their Muslim and Christian Damascene brethren. They were centred in the Amin Neighbourhood, in Old Damascus, where the Jewish Quarter still remains, as well as the suburb of Jobar (a historically Syrian Jewish village) which had an important synagogue dating back to medieval times (unfortunately destroyed during the war). Some of Damascus’s most splendid houses belonged to the city’s Jewish community such as Maktab Anbar, Beit Farhi, Beit Niado, Beit Shamaya, Beit Lisbona, and the famous Talisman Hotel. Hebrew inscriptions can still be seen scattered across the quarter.
From the late 1800s to the 1920’s, the first wave of Syrian Jewish emigration took place as members of the community made their way to the UK, the US, Mexico, and Argentina. Many Syrian Jews headed for Palestine between 1930-1947, which led the Syrian government to establish laws that stripped the Jewish community of the ability to move freely within Syria, restricting their travel, placing them under a watchful eye. In 1991, at the Madrid Peace Conference, the US pressured Syria into lifting these bans on its Jewish population, leading to a mass exodus of the remaining 4,000 Jews in the country.
Today, approximately 40% of Syrian Jews live in Occupied Palestine. In the US, they form a stronghold of 75,000 in New York, mainly in Brooklyn, with some 15,000 located elsewhere mainly in New Jersey and Florida. The remaining 75,000 are based in Central and South America. Syrian Jews in diaspora, are renowned for their unique cultural and religious traditions, and are very much connected to their homeland.
By the start of the war, there were roughly 100 Jews in Damascus. Today a handful of elders remain in the old city, and occasionally a few living abroad visit infrequently. Unfortunately, this marks the end of Jewish presence in Syria.
Syria is home to a diverse and rich mosaic of cultures, and among them are the Circassians, an ethnic group from the Northern Caucasus region. Circassians have a tragic history
Armenian identity is greatly impacted by a deep wound. Today, we celebrate their presence, perseverance and legacy in Syria, and we also acknowledge that many Armenians have become refugees once
Part 8 and the final religious group of the series about Syria’s religious makeup: the Yazidis. Special thanks to Syrian Yazidi followers @wailoo_ & @samarshekho who helped with the info!<br