Syrian jewish community

Syrian Jews track down, recover stolen heritage artifact from Damascus' Old City synagogue

The chair's recovery would not have been possible without the cooperation of residents of the Jewish Quarter in Old Damascus, who helped track it down and facilitate its return to the synagogue.

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
The Central Synagogue of Aleppo in January 2016.
A rabbi holds a Torah scroll at the Ifrange Synagogue in the Jewish quarter in Old Damascus on April 29, 2025.

Damascus synagogue tours highlight renewed interest in Syrian Jewish history and diaspora ties

Tours of synagogues and meetings with religious leaders highlight renewed interest in Jewish history and unresolved questions over historic sites, property, and diaspora ties.

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
The view of Damascus from Damascus University.

After Syria trip, Dartmouth prof. hopes for academic relationship with Damascus University

Syria, especially Damascus and Aleppo, was home to Jewish communities for centuries, communities woven into the country’s social and cultural fabric.

|ByFELICE FRIEDSON/THE MEDIA LINE, RIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE
Participants in the event from the Jewish community of Damascus.

Syrian Jews in Damascus donate meat for iftar, support Muslim families in need during Ramadan

Needy families receive Ramadan support as a small remaining Jewish community highlights longstanding ties with Muslim neighbors.

|ByRIZIK ALABI/THE MEDIA LINE

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]