Wednesday, February 26, 2025
How a small delegation of US Jews got to Syria for the first time in decades
Even as tensions between Israel and Syria ramped up in recent days, a small group of Syrian Jews recently celebrated a milestone that once seemed unthinkable: a return visit to their home country.
Under the auspices of the new Syrian government, a small delegation toured Jewish heritage sites in and around Damascus last week, just two months after the fall of the dictatorial Bashar al-Assad regime. The group said it was the first official Jewish delegation to visit Syria, a country that once was home to as many as 100,000 Jews, in over three decades.
Visiting historic synagogues and praying with Torah scrolls that had remained intact through the country's brutal, 14-year civil war, these Jews were celebrating a homecoming. The visit could allow them and their descendants to imagine a potentially bright future in a place long thought lost to the many Jews who'd once called it home.
Days after the trip, Israel launched military strikes on Syria as the country's new leader and large numbers of protesters demanded Israeli troops withdraw from the country's southwestern region. Israel says it is occupying the area, the Syrian side of the Golan plateau, as a security measure amid instability in Syria.
