When President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December, the Hamra family began organizing a visit to Damascus—something that had once seemed unimaginable. With assistance from the Syrian Emergency Task Force, a U.S.-based advocacy group, they set out to reconnect with their roots.
FIRST JEWISH DELEGATION IN DECADES RETURNS TO DAMASCUS
(ILTV)
During their visit, they met with Syria’s deputy foreign minister at the ministry, now overseen by caretaker authorities appointed by the Islamist rebels who ended more than 50 years of Assad family rule. The new leadership has pledged that all of Syria’s communities will have a role in shaping the country’s future.
Inside the last remaining synagogue in Damascus, Rabbi Joseph Hamra and his son Henry read from a Torah scroll, reliving a piece of Syria’s lost Jewish history. Once home to thousands, the Jewish community in Damascus now numbers fewer than ten.
"I want to see my kids come back and see this beautiful synagogue. It’s a work of art," said Henry Hamra, son of Rabbi Joseph Hamra.
But much of that history has been erased. The ancient Jobar Synagogue—believed to have been built in honor of the prophet Elijah—was looted and reduced to rubble during Syria’s civil war.
"We need the government’s security, and it's going to happen. We spoke to the foreign minister yesterday, and he promised us that it's going to be his priority," Hamra said.
The delegation met with Syria’s new leadership, who pledged to protect Jewish heritage. But as the country reshapes its future, questions remain: Will Syria’s Jewish past truly be safeguarded? And could this visit signal the beginning of something new?
For now, it remains a return to the past—one filled with hopes for what the future might bring.