A delegation of Syrian American Jews prayed Tuesday in a Damascus synagogue, where such visits have increased since the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in December, according to an AFP photographer. The delegation had visited the grave of a revered 17th-century rabbi, which was vandalized last week, said the president of the Jewish community in Syria, Bakhour Chamntoub.
Rabbi Henry Hamra led the prayer at the Faranj synagogue in the old city of Damascus, one of the Jewish places of worship in Syria.
This visit aims to "prepare the synagogues, prepare the community here so people start visiting" Syria, Victor Kamil, one of the Syrian Jews from Brooklyn, New York, told AFP. After the fall of Assad’s power in December, Henry Hamra returned to Syria in February with his father, Syrian U.S. Rabbi Youssef Hamra, 77, who was the last rabbi to leave the country. A prayer was organized at the Faranj synagogue for the first time in over thirty years.
On Monday, the delegation visited the grave of Rabbi Chaim Vital, a revered 17th-century Kabbalist, according to Victor Kamil. The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States declared over the weekend it was "deeply shocked and saddened by the desecration" of this grave on April 24. It called on the Syrian government to "secure Jewish holy sites, synagogues, and cemeteries immediately." "We are trying to determine if ... Rabbi's bones were affected, moved," or desecrated, Kamil said, assuring that the incident would not affect the site's importance.
The Jews of Syria, present for centuries before Jesus Christ, were able to practice their religion freely under Assad father and son. However, their movements were restricted, and overseas travel banned until 1992.
Since then, their numbers have fallen from about 5,000 to only seven people currently living in Damascus. With the start of the civil war in 2011, visits by Syrian Jews became rare, and all synagogues had closed. During a recent visit to New York, Syrian Foreign Minister Assaad al-Shaibani met with members of the Syrian Jewish community, with whom he discussed "the importance of strengthening communication," according to the official Syrian news agency SANA.
