Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleWelcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today’s episode.
Last week, ToI’s founding editor took a whirlwind trip to Damascus as part of a small delegation of US Jewish leaders, scholars and rabbis, which was coordinated by the new Syrian government.
More from The Daily Briefing
September 20, 2026Daily Briefing Sept. 20 - IDF bolsters forces on all fronts ahead of Yom Kippur
September 17, 2026Daily Briefing Sept. 17: Foreign Ministry tells diplomats to dial down attacks on ‘NAZA’ film
September 16, 2026Daily Briefing Sept. 16 - From Mecca to Mokha: Houthis flex as Saudis flail
September 15, 2026Daily Briefing Sept. 15: How upstart parties could determine the Israeli election
September 14, 2026Daily Briefing Sept. 14 - IDF rejects film's claim Israel killed Gazans with AI-assisted targeting
In today’s episode, we hear that getting there was just the beginning of the adventure. What might have been a three-hour car drive for Jerusalem-based Horovitz, if there were open borders, took three flights — from Tel Aviv to Athens, then to Istanbul, and finally, from Istanbul to Damascus.
He describes how, at Damascus International Airport, the group immediately launched into their packed itinerary, which had the dual nature of a Jewish roots tour and a “friendship visit” with high-level Syrian officials.
Horovitz describes at length what sounds like the pinnacle of the tour, a rare visit to the Dura-Europos synagogue, a 2,000-year-old shul in eastern Syria that was rediscovered in 1932. We learn about the seven-meter-high, vividly colored wall paintings that lined the walls of the synagogue’s assembly hall and their near miraculous survival.
And finally, we learn what the Syrian government wished the delegation to take back home and pass on to their leadership — American and Israeli.
Check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
48 surreal hours in Damascus — an Israeli reporter’s travelogue from an enemy capital
After years of war, world’s oldest synagogue paintings seen intact in Damascus
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Podwaves.
Check out this recent episode:
The Times of Israel Community.