Officially, the “Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation” has become the first Jewish organization to be legally registered in the country, with a mission to restore what remains of Syria’s Jewish heritage — and potentially go further by reopening synagogues destroyed during the war and organizing regular religious visits in a country where a once-large Jewish community has all but vanished.
This week, a group of Syrian-American Jews registered the nongovernmental organization in Syria, among them Henry Hamra, one of the founders of the new initiative. Hamra was born in Syria but left with his family for New York in the 1990s and had been away for more than 30 years.
Hamra has returned to Syria four times since the fall of former President Bashar Assad’s regime in December 2024, as part of delegations organized by the “Syrian Emergency Task Force,” a lobbying group that opposed Assad and is now working to build closer ties between Washington and Syria’s new government.
Henry is the son of Joseph Hamra, who is believed to have been the last rabbi to leave Syria amid the restrictions the ousted Assad regime placed on Jews at the time.
According to Rami Abdulrahman, Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Hamra and another rabbi visited Damascus and Aleppo, where a synagogue that had been closed for decades was recently prepared for handover to them.
Abdulrahman told Alhurra that “available information confirms there are currently no Jews in Aleppo, but reopening the synagogue will pave the way for organizing religious and touristic visits to the site.”
He said moves are underway in both Damascus and Aleppo to transfer synagogues to Jewish stewardship, and “the next step is expected in Qamishli,” where other Jewish houses of worship also exist.
In comments to The Associated Press, Syria’s Minister of Social Affairs Hind Kabawat said Friday that “Syrian Jews are an integral part of the Syrian fabric,” adding that “our country is a mosaic of different civilizations, religions, sects and nations.”
Kabawat said the establishment of the Jewish Heritage in Syria Foundation is “a step through which we show the world that Syria is open to all, inclusive of all, and that everyone is equal before the law.” She added: “We welcome the return of Syrian Jews to their homeland.”
Several of the synagogues Hamra visited had been damaged during the 14-year civil war, and many of their artifacts were looted. Even the synagogues that remained relatively intact — including one near his former home in Damascus’s Old City — suffered from years of neglect.
“There’s a lot of damage and a lot that needs to be done,” Hamra told the AP, adding: “We’re asking the government to help us and give us the authority to clean everything up and restore it to its natural state.”
Syria’s Jewish community numbered about 100,000 at the start of the 20th century. Emigration began soon after and accelerated with the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, as Syrian Jews faced rising tensions and growing restrictions on their movement.
Under the Assad family’s 54-year authoritarian rule, Jews were allowed to practice their faith, but they were vulnerable to accusations of spying or collaborating with Israel and were barred from traveling abroad to prevent them from going to Israel.
After travel restrictions were lifted in 1992 following the start of Arab-Israeli peace talks, most of the roughly 4,500 Jews still in Syria — including the Hamra family — left the country. As they departed, synagogues and other Jewish sites steadily deteriorated.
Hamra noted that some members of the Syrian Jewish diaspora remain hesitant to return or even visit, citing concerns about the safety of religious minorities under the new authorities. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa previously led an Islamist armed faction with past ties to al-Qaida.
Since taking power, al-Sharaa has spoken about religious coexistence and pledged protection for minorities, but sectarian violence has persisted against Alawites, Druze and Christians. Minorities also remain underrepresented in senior government positions; Kabawat is both the only Christian and the only woman currently serving in the cabinet.
Hamra said he has found the new government “very cooperative” in efforts to preserve Jewish heritage, adding: “They want everyone to return — not just the Jews, but everyone — to come back and help rebuild Syria.”
