Desecration of 17th-century rabbi’s Damascus tomb tests new Syria’s tolerance

When a delegation of US Jews visited Syria at the invitation of the interim government in February, one of their stops was to a small shrine in a corner of Damascus’s Jewish cemetery.

According to tradition, the shrine houses the grave of Rabbi Chaim Ben Yosef Vital, a 17th-century kabbalist who wrote down the words of his teacher Isaac Luria, preserving the work of one of the most prominent Jewish mystics of all time for posterity.

On Thursday, unknown perpetrators broke into the structure and dug up the tomb.

According to Bakhour Chamntoub, one of the handful of Jews who remain in Syria, the incident was reported to the authorities. Officials promised to investigate the apparent vandalism, an encouraging sign from a regime whose Islamist core has sparked worries over whether the new Syria will support tolerance of other religions.

“An unknown group broke into the Jewish cemetery in Damascus,” Chamntoub wrote on his Facebook page Friday, posting a picture of the tomb with a large hole next to the monument. “[They] broke the cemetery’s main gate and entered a room containing the grave of Rabbi Chaim Vital.”

“They dug the ground next to the grave in search of antiquities,” he added. “We informed the authorities responsible for the area. They inspected the site of the vandalism and promised to investigate the perpetrators and to follow up on the matter.”

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who deposed Bashar al-Assad in December, has worked to rehabilitate his image after years spent fighting in the ranks of an al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

Many are closely watching how the new regime treats religious minorities – some of which were protected under Assad’s brutal but secular rule – as the international community mulls its approach toward Damascus post-Assad.

Syria was once home to tens of thousands of Jews, with the last few thousand leaving in the 1990s, after Bashar’s father Hafez al-Assad authorized them to emigrate.

In recent weeks, the new regime has committed to rehabilitating ancient Jewish sites and allowed Jews to once again visit the country as it seeks to project an image of a new, more tolerant Syria.

Grave of 17th century Rabbi Hayyim ben Joseph Vital in Damascus was vandalized on Wednesday by an unknown group who dug under his resting place to rob it for artefacts.

Syrian Jews living in the US visited it earlier this year. pic.twitter.com/r5GYLjW35u

— Hassan Ridha (@sayed_ridha) April 25, 2025

The attack at the tomb could pose a challenge to the regime’s attempts to win over the West, or represent an opportunity to showcase the country’s new course.

Joe Jajati, a Damascus native who left Syria with his parents as a toddler in 1996, said he had been in touch with a woman who administers the Jewish cemetery.

“She confirmed that representatives of the authorities did come to check the site, but from what I heard, they did not appear to know what to do to catch the culprits,” Jajati, 30, told The Times of Israel.

“I understand that this was not the first time someone attempted to break into the shrine,” he said. “It happened at least another two or three times.”

Jajati, who joined the US Jewish delegation in February, said he had visited Damascus several times since 2018, including trips to Vital’s tomb.

He noted that rumors had been swirling around Syria’s large community of Jewish expats since the incident.

“Some people in the Syrian Jewish community of Brooklyn have been saying that it was an operation to move the remains of the rabbi to Israel, but I find it hard to believe for several reasons,” he said. “First of all, [disturbing human remains] goes against Judaism and Rabbi Vital said 400 years ago that he wanted to be buried in Damascus. In addition, I believe that if indeed an operation with this goal was planned, the perpetrators would not have attempted two or three times before succeeding.”

Jajati, who spoke with The Times of Israel over the phone from Turkey as he prepared to join another Jewish delegation to Syria, also cited rumors from people in Damascus that the diggers had been seeking gold they believe is buried with the rabbi.

After Jajati was first informed about the vandalism, he took to social media to denounce the incident. In a post on X, he noted that this kind of attack had not happened under Assad, prompting much criticism.

“People understood me the wrong way,” he said. “I’m not supporting Assad. What I’m trying to do is to say [to the new government] that since Assad was a bad government and you’re supposedly a better one, you should make sure to take care of Jewish sites.”

He said that it was the duty of the authorities to catch those responsible for the vandalism at the tomb.

“When Syria’s Foreign Minister [Asaad al-Shaibani] spoke at the UN last week, he mentioned how they [the government] were able to bring the Jews back to Syria,” Jajati noted. “They are using it as a card to try to remove the sanctions on Syria. In my view, since they are claiming it, they better be doing what is needed to actually protect Jewish sites there.”

“This is one of the reasons I’m going to Syria now,” he added. “I want my voice to be heard.”

Pilgrimage site

This is not the first time the tomb of the prominent kabbalist has been disturbed. In the 1960s, the monument and some other graves were relocated to make way for the construction of Damascus International Airport and its access road.

Born in Ottoman Safed in 1542, Vital moved to Damascus in 1595, and died there 25 years later, at the age of 77.

His tomb has been a site of pilgrimage and prayer for centuries.

“Vital was a student of Rabbi Isaac Luria, also known as the Ha’ari,” said Biti Roi, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and a lecturer at the Hebrew University, whose expertise focuses on Jewish mysticism.

“Luria himself left no writings; it was Vital who recorded his teachings, gathering notes from fellow students and insisting that the task of preserving them be entrusted to him alone,” Roi told The Times of Israel by phone.

Luria’s teachings prompted a revolution in the Jewish world regarding liturgy, customs, and the role of mysticism in Jewish life.

“Without Vital, all of this would not have been possible,” Roi said.