Son of last Syrian chief rabbi urges new leader Sharaa to restore Jewish community
Binyamin Hamra, rabbi of Syrian community in Israel, writes Sharaa that toppling Assad was ‘historical move due to God’s providence,’ protection of Jewish sites his religious duty
The chief rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community in Israel penned a letter to the head of Syria’s new government Ahmed al-Sharaa last week, urging him to preserve the country’s historic Jewish community.
Binyamin Hamra — whose father Avraham served as the last chief rabbi of Syria from 1976 until 1994 — asked Sharaa to “protect the precious Jews who remain in Syria and to order the strict preservation of these Jewish historical sites.”
“Protecting these sites is not only a religious duty but also a gesture of respect for the history and culture of the entire Syrian people, as well as to preserve the property and homes of Syrian Jews who left everything against their will,” he said.
Syria was once home to one of the world’s largest and oldest Jewish communities. Following anti-Jewish riots and persecution in the wake of Israel’s establishment in 1948, however, almost all those Jews fled abroad when given the opportunity, and now only nine Jews are believed to live in Syria — almost all of them older men and women.
A lightning offensive by Islamist-led rebels toppled the decades-long rule of the Assad family in Syria last month, some 14 years after civil war broke out in the country amid the 2011 Arab Spring protests.
Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammad al-Julani of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which was once affiliated with al-Qaeda, has made efforts since the victory to shed his extremist image and has pledged to protect minorities in the country.
At the beginning of the month, a representative of Sharaa’s new regime met with Bakhour Chamntoub, the head of the tiny Jewish community that remains in the country, promising “peace and security” and even calling on Syrian Jews abroad to return to Syria.
Western governments have begun to gradually open channels with Sharaa and HTS, and are starting to debate whether to remove the group’s terrorist designation. Senior US diplomats who visited Damascus last month said Sharaa came across as pragmatic and that Washington has decided to remove a $10 million bounty on the HTS leader’s head.
In his letter to Sharaa, Hamra began by characterizing the HTS-led toppling of Assad as a “historical move… due to God’s providence.”
“God Almighty has granted you the leadership of Syria so that you can take Syria to a better place than before. With your good act, you will have good payment in this world, and good payment in the world to come,” Hamra said.
“For thousands of years, the Jewish community in Syria, despite being a small minority, has been an integral part of the rich and diverse fabric of the Syrian people,” he continued.
“Throughout Syria are historical sites, ancient synagogues, and tombs of great Jewish leaders, which constitute cultural and religious heritage for Jews throughout the world,” Hamra added, highlighting the synagogue and Cave of Elijah the Prophet in the village of Jobar near Damascus, which were destroyed during Syria’s civil war.
Hamra argued that restoring the cave would serve as “an act of great kindness and symbolize the unity of the peoples and their respect for a common heritage.”
“I am sure that under your leadership, Syria will be a multicultural, tolerant and inclusive country where every religious group and ethnic minority can live in peace and safety,” he said.
