Istanbul rabbi says no fatalities reported among Jewish communities in quake zone

An Istanbul-based rabbi says he has been in contact with the Jewish communities in the areas of Turkey hit by two powerful earthquakes and “they are all fine — praise God.”

Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, the head of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, says that while the Jewish community members all seem to be safe, he is not yet sure if there was any damage to their synagogues.

Chitrik, a Chabad rabbi who leads the country’s Ashkenazi Jewish community, says he is heading to southern Turkey now.

It took several hours for Chitrik to get in touch with the Jewish communities in the Turkish cities of Adıyaman, Malatya, Antakya, Gaziantep, and Kilis, following the devastating tremors that have claimed the lives of over 1,300 people across Turkey and Syria.

Please keep on praying for our friends and colleagues whom we are unable to contact in Adıyaman, Malatya, Antakya, Gaziantep, and Kilis????????????

— Rabbi Mendy Chitrik (@mchitrik) February 6, 2023