Syria strikes to return property to Syrian Jews who left : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F50%2F0180a7664df699f5ba572d080223%2Fimg-3448.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F50%2F0180a7664df699f5ba572d080223%2Fimg-3448.jpeg" class="img" alt="Syrian American cantor Henry Hamra at the Central Synagogue of Aleppo" fetchpriority="high"/> Syrian-American cantor Henry Hamra on the Central Synagogue of Aleppo, as soon as the middle of a thriving Jewish group within the northern Syrian metropolis. The Syrian authorities transferred management of Jewish websites in December to Hamra's Jewish heritage group. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR ALEPPO, Syria — Many years after virtually all the Syrian Jewish group left the nation, Henry Hamra of Brooklyn, N.Y., stands on the steel door of a small synagogue on this historic Syrian metropolis, actually holding the keys to a attainable return of Jewish residents.

Hamra was 15 years outdated when his household left Damascus within the early Nineteen Nineties after the Assad regime lifted a ban on journey. Lots of the Syrian Jews had been unable to promote their properties earlier than they left. A few of the properties ended up occupied by different Syrians whereas the federal government took cost of the synagogues and faculties.

In December, simply days earlier than Hamra's go to to Aleppo, the Syrian authorities licensed a Jewish heritage basis he leads, transferring management of Jewish spiritual properties from the federal government to the group.

The group can even assist restore non-public property appropriated when the Jewish group left to its Jewish house owners.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff1%2Fc1%2Ffb71fafa4c5d8a1d71cd988c8e4e%2Fimg-3427.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ff1%2Fc1%2Ffb71fafa4c5d8a1d71cd988c8e4e%2Fimg-3427.jpeg" class="img" alt="Henry Hamra unlocks the door of a synagogue in Aleppo" loading="lazy"/> Henry Hamra unlocks the door of a synagogue in Aleppo, Syria, deserted after virtually all the remaining Jewish group left the nation within the early Nineteen Nineties. Hamra and his father, the final rabbi to go away Syria, are working with the Syrian authorities to revive property to Jewish residents. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR "What we're attempting to do is come see the properties, come see the synagogues and see what is the situation," says Hamra, now 48. "I am calling on all of the individuals who have properties to come back and we'll assist them discover them and provides them again to them."

A exceptional journey over the previous 12 months largely engineered by Syrian-American activist Mouaz Moustafa has led Hamra to at the present time, taking custody of the keys to Jewish properties by the newest in a sequence of caretakers over a long time and envisioning a time when Syrian Jews would possibly return.

On Hamra's first go to to Syria along with his father final 12 months, Syrian authorities officers pledged assist in restoring properties again to their Jewish house owners.

In a wrinkle of historical past, the brand new Syrian president restoring Jewish rights, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is a onetime al-Qaida commander who renounced the militant Islamist group's ideology.

Aleppo, in northern Syria, had one of many greatest Jewish communities on this various however principally Arab nation — courting again at the very least 2,000 years.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F10%2F7167619549dea920af8e93f4a615%2Fimg-3477.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb7%2F10%2F7167619549dea920af8e93f4a615%2Fimg-3477.jpeg" class="img" alt="Henry Hamra examines centuries-old tombstones of rabbis buried at Aleppo’s main synagogue while his son Joseph (l) says a prayer." loading="lazy"/> Henry Hamra examines centuries-old tombstones of rabbis buried at Aleppo's important synagogue whereas his son Joseph (left) says a prayer. For tons of of years, the synagogue held the oldest identified surviving manuscript of the Hebrew Bible. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR Earlier than the creation of Israel in 1948, there have been an estimated 30,000 Jews in Syria. Syrian Jews in trendy historical past had been in a position to observe their religion however confronted the identical repressive insurance policies beneath the closed regime as different residents. When President Hafez al-Assad, beneath U.S. strain, lifted journey restrictions particularly for Jewish residents starting in 1992, most of them left completely.

Hamra's father, Yusuf Hamra, was the final rabbi to go away Syria. With out somebody to carry out ceremonies, Jewish spiritual life right here died.

Now, solely six Syrian Jews — all aged — are identified to nonetheless dwell within the nation, says Hamra. When Rabbi Hamra made his first journey to Damascus final 12 months since leaving three a long time in the past, there weren't sufficient Jews even along with his visiting delegation to have the ability to maintain prayers.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4f%2Fb1%2Fc94bc71a4f7ebe0fdededf240ee0%2Fimg-3389.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F4f%2Fb1%2Fc94bc71a4f7ebe0fdededf240ee0%2Fimg-3389.jpeg" class="img" alt="Henry Hamra examining religious texts in a small Jewish school in Aleppo, Syria. " loading="lazy"/> Henry Hamra examines spiritual texts in a small Jewish college in Aleppo, Syria. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR On this journey, Henry Hamra has introduced his 21-year-old son, Joseph, with him.

Hamra opens the door to a small synagogue with layers of mud coating the heavy burgundy velvet curtains. Subsequent to it's a small college. Dim mild filtering via grime-coated home windows reveals stacks of desks piled up on scuffed wood tables.

The synagogue is in an Aleppo neighborhood closely broken in Syria's 14-year-long civil conflict. That battle ended when opposition fighters toppled authoritarian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

Subsequent door, the proprietor of a tiny neighboring plumbing provide store says he's pleased that Syria helps Jewish residents return.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdf%2F18%2F10d1a42e4ec6bd0348698a3d4004%2Fimg-3486.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4032x3024+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdf%2F18%2F10d1a42e4ec6bd0348698a3d4004%2Fimg-3486.jpeg" class="img" alt="The view from the womens’ section at Aleppo’s central synagogue, also known as the al Bandara synagogue, after the neighborhood. The iron grates on the second floor allowed women to attend prayers without being seen by male worshippers.

" loading="lazy"/> The view from the ladies's part at Aleppo's Central Synagogue, often known as al-Bandara Synagogue. The iron grates on the second ground allowed girls to attend prayers with out being seen by male worshippers. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR "They had been our buddies," says Abu Alaa al-Muhandis, 75. "We hope they may come again, they may carry life again to the town."

Whereas Israel, which has seized extra Syrian territory and launched common airstrikes, is controversial in Syria, Syrian American Jews are seen for probably the most half merely as Syrian.

"At all times in Syria you recognize we had church buildings, synagogues and mosques collectively in the identical space as a result of folks used to dwell collectively, as neighbors," says Maissa Kabbani, the founding father of a Syrian justice group. She factors out a broken mosque near the synagogue.

Throughout city, Hamra is proven for the primary time the jewel of Aleppo's once-thriving Jewish group — the Central Synagogue, often known as the al-Bandara Synagogue, named after the neighborhood it is situated in.

The dimensions of the 1,500-year-old synagogue speaks to a as soon as giant and vibrant Jewish group in a metropolis that for a lot of centuries was a thriving commerce middle.

Inside, stone arches high Roman columns overlooking courtyard after courtyard. There are marble-tile flooring and an ornate girls's part on the second ground, the place girls and women may take part in prayers behind ornamental iron screens with out being seen.

In New York, Hamra's household is within the menswear enterprise. In spiritual life he's a cantor — a clergy member who leads the congregation in prayers and track.

Hamra wanders via the open areas of the synagogue, stepping up onto an elevated marble platform the place cantors have stood over the centuries.

"Wow," he says repeatedly, seemingly at a lack of phrases over his environment.

The central synagogue was additionally for tons of of years the house to a Hebrew manuscript referred to as the Aleppo Codex. The 1,000-year-old manuscript is the oldest identified surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible. The codex was smuggled to Israel within the Fifties though solely partially intact.

Syrian President Sharaa has been eager to reassure the West that minorities will probably be protected within the new Syria. The Syrian authorities, in asserting that it was handing over Jewish spiritual properties, stated it was an indication that every one minorities had been welcome.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F77%2F31dbb2b24dc981c7eaa5bd6c290a%2Fimg-3502.jpeg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/5712x4284+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F0d%2F77%2F31dbb2b24dc981c7eaa5bd6c290a%2Fimg-3502.jpeg" class="img" alt="" loading="lazy"/> The varsity and adjoining synagogue had been deserted in spite of everything Aleppo Jews emigrated within the early Nineteen Nineties. Jane Arraf/NPR conceal caption

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Jane Arraf/NPR In Washington, D.C., the Syrian Jewish group represented by the Hamras, working with Mouaz Moustafa's Syrian Emergency Process Pressure, have proved efficient advocates for lifting U.S. sanctions in opposition to Syria. The U.S. eliminated the final of the devastating commerce sanctions in December.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6660x4440+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe6%2F69%2Fbf1c1bc5438abe2fabdcaeb2742a%2Fgettyimages-2190985601.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/6660x4440+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fe6%2F69%2Fbf1c1bc5438abe2fabdcaeb2742a%2Fgettyimages-2190985601.jpg" class="img" alt="Mouaz Moustafa, the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, speaks during an exclusive interview in Washington, United States on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)" loading="lazy"/> Mouaz Moustafa, the chief director of the Syrian Emergency Process Pressure, speaks throughout an interview in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 19, 2024. Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos conceal caption

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Celal Gunes/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos That advocacy has generated controversy amongst some Syrian-American Jews who imagine that Sharaa and his authorities can't be trusted to guard Jews or different Syrian minorities.

"It may take numerous time for Syria to come back again," says Hamra, citing a scarcity of electrical energy, working water and in locations like Aleppo, safety.

In Damascus and Aleppo, the small delegation is accompanied by younger Syrian authorities fighters with rifles. Some ask to pose for selfies with Hamra.

Hamra grew up talking Arabic at residence. He refers to Syria as "the outdated nation."

He says whereas it's a stretch now to examine Syrian Jews shifting right here, he says many would cherish the chance to go to.

"There's numerous issues we used to do over right here we do not do within the U.S. — just like the interplay with folks," he says. "Syrian individuals are very loving folks and so they're very welcoming."

His son Joseph says he cannot cease smiling.

"You see my face?" he asks. "I've by no means had this face in my life. It is loopy."

Joseph Hamra says, for his half, he can envision youthful Syrian Jews coming to dwell.

"I am planning on making a visit with all my buddies quickly to see all their roots, like the place their dad and mom and grandparents grew up, the place a few of their grandparents are buried," he says. "They might 100% suppose at the back of their heads, 'Wow think about constructing one thing right here.'"