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The Jewish Community of Damascus

Damascus

In Arabic: دمشق‎‎ 

Capital of Syria; in old times caravan center at an oasis in southern Syria, on the principal crossroads between Mesopotamia-Syria and Palestine-Transjordan, and a flourishing Jewish community.

Roman rule in Eretz Israel and Syria commenced in 64 b.c.e. and continued under the eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empire until the first half of the seventh century. During these 300 years, the Roman and Persian empires were engaged in a struggle in the region, which changed hands several times. In 613, Damascus was again captured by the Persians. They retained it only for a short time. The despotic and often religiously fanatical Byzantine administration alienated the inhabitants, even the Christians, and they certainly did not succeed in gaining sympathizers among the Jews and Samaritans. As a result all the cities submitted to the Persian armies without any opposition.

During the reigns of the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), the Jews, as well as the Christians, enjoyed a tolerant treatment. However, with the ascent to power of the Abbasis dynasty (750-1258), they suffered from decrees against them along with an increase in the taxes levied upon them. Even so, they could observe their religious rituals openly and the ties with the academies of Palestine and Babylonia were renewed. During this period Damascus, like other cities in Syria and Egypt, became the home of many Iraqi Jews who established their own synagogues in the city. After the conquest of Damascus by the Fatimids in 969, a period of prosperity began for the Jewish community. The Fatimids were noted for their tolerant attitude toward non-Muslims and they appointed Jews and Christians to high positions. At the end of the tenth century, Manasseh Ibn Ibrahim Al-Qazzaz held the position of head of the financial administration of Fatimid Syria, and used all the means within his power to further the welfare of his coreligionists.

With the conquest of the greater part of Palestine by the crusaders, the Palestinian academy was transferred to Hadrach, near Damascus, and later to Damascus itself. Many fled from Palestine to Damascus during the 12th century crusades, and the Damascus community consisted of more than 2,000 rabbanite Jews and about 600 karaites. Besides craftsmen and small tradesmen, there were also physicians and intellectuals who composed florid Hebrew poetry. The onset of Ayyubid rule (12th-13th centuries) brought a period of prosperity for the whole city. Trade relations with the European countries were strengthened as a result of the establishment of colonies of Genoese and Venetian merchants in the coastal towns of the Latin principalities.

After the Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the battle of 'Ayn Jalut in 1260 Syria came under the domination of the Mamluk sultans of Cairo. These sultans, influenced by the demands of fanatical theologians, agreed to issue decrees against non-Muslims. In 1321 the Muslims destroyed a synagogue, in 1354 there was a general persecution of non- Muslims, and in 1365 there were searches for stores of wine, as many Muslims bought wine from the Jews in spite of the Koranic prohibition of alcohol. The authorities also renewed the requirements compelling Jewish women to wear one black and one red shoe, and compelling the men to blow on a whistle when entering the public bathhouses.

Periodically, the Muslims brought accusations against the Jews and forced some of them to convert to Islam. In 1392 the Jews of Damascus were accused of having set fire to the central mosque. One Jew was then burnt alive, the community leaders were tortured, and a synagogue was converted into a mosque. At the beginning of this period, an exilarch stood at the head of the Damascus community. There is no further mention of these exilarchs during later generations; however, a deputy of the Egyptian nagid had his seat in Damascus.

During the second half of the 15th century the Jews of Damascus enjoyed a period of economic prosperity. There were wealthy merchants among them and cultural activities flourished at the same time. According to the reports of Jewish travelers who came from European countries toward the end of the 15th century, there were between 400 and 500 Jewish families in Damascus at that time, besides a small karaite community and a community of Samaritans. During the early 16th century, the Spanish refugees of 1492 began to arrive in Damascus. This immigration increased after 1516, when Syria became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Rabbi Moses Basola found 500 refugee families in the city in 1521, as well as special synagogues belonging to the Jews of Spanish, Sicilian, and Iraqi origin. There were at first some conflicts between the Spanish and Iraqi Jews. However, in time these divisions were repaired, as the Spanish Jews adopted the language of the majority.

During the second half of the 16th century, the kabbalists rabbi Moses Alshekh and rabbi Chayyim Vital went to Damascus. Rabbi Samuel ben Chayyim Vital continued to propagate the teachings of his father in Damascus. In 1604 Safed was destroyed by the Druze and many of its Jews fled to Damascus. The influence of the kabbalists then became even more important. Two of the refugees, Isaac and Jacob, the sons of the Safed printer Abraham Ashkenazi, set up a Hebrew printing press in Damascus. In 1605 they printed Kesef Nivchar ("choice silver") the work of rabbi Josiah Pinto, the rabbi of the Sephardi Jews in Damascus. By the 18th century a decline had begun in the intellectual life of the community. In contrast to former generations, during the 18th century the community did not have rabbis or scholars of renown. The most prominent rabbis were rabbi Mordecai Galante toward the end of the century, and his son and successor rabbi Moses Galante, who wrote works of homiletics and responsa. At the end of the 18the century, a group of Jewish bankers established themselves. They occupied important positions in the administration, assisted Jewish community institutions, and supported scholars. The Farchi family was the most prominent among these bankers. After the conquest of Syria by the Egyptians in 1832, the Jewish bankers were dismissed and their Christian rivals gained in influence. In 1840 the Damascus affair, the notorious blood libel against the Jews, resulted from the accusations of the Christians. While enlightened men around the world were shocked by the Damascus affair, it did not end until several Jews were tortured and some were killed.

After the renewal of Ottoman rule over Syria, the Jewish bankers resumed their prosperous activities, including international trade and the collection of taxes. The majority of the community earned their livelihood from small-scale commerce and various handicrafts. The traveler Benjamin II, who visited Damascus in 1848, estimated that the city had a Jewish population of 4,000. The massacre of Christians by Muslims and Druze in 1860 was followed by Christian accusations that the Jews had taken part in the violence and had bought their looted possessions. After 1870 the economic situation deteriorated. This was due to the opening of the Suez Canal which limited the international trade of Damascus. Furthermore, local industries were ruined by the importation of manufactured goods from Europe. The economic decline was followed by a moral and cultural decline. The Alliance Israelite Universelle opened a school for boys in 1880 and another for girls in 1883. The community was unsuccessful in its efforts at maintaining a Hebrew school. There was no increase in the population of the community due to the large emigration of Jews from Damascus to Beirut and to both north and South America. In 1900 Damascus had a population of 10,000 Jews.

Of the approximately 5,000 Jews in Damascus in 1948, there remained only between 1,000 and 1,500 in 1968. Most Jews left for Lebanon immediately after the outbreak of the Israel War of Independence, settling in Beirut; others went to Israel, Europe, and America. The vacant houses in the Jewish quarter were occupied by Palestinian Arab refugees whose presence caused constant tension and clashes with the remaining Jews. The Jews were persecuted by the authorities and frequently arrested, especially during the trial of the Israel intelligence officer Eli Cohen (1965) and during the Six-Day War (1967). The Muslim population also attacked Jews and planted a bomb in the synagogue in August 1949.
The Jewish population suffered serious financial difficulties, most of its members being artisans or unemployed and living on the charity of the community council. A few Jews worked as clerks in the Banque de Commerce (which used to be the Zilkhah Bank) or in a Jewish-owned clothing factory. The number of conversions to Islam of Jewish girls marrying Muslims increased after the Jewish mass emigration. In 1968 the community's affairs were governed by a council of seven to nine members, whose main function was to support the needy with funds from Syrian Jews in America. Rabbi Nissim Nedebo was rabbi of the community. The Alliance Israelite Universelle continued to run a school in Damascus, which had 420 pupils in 1965.

Israel Ben Moses Najara (1555-1625), poet, born in Damascus, Syria, he served as secretary of that community in which his father was a rabbi. Later he wandered widely and finally was rabbi in Gaza where upon his death his son succeeded him. He is best known for his Zemirot Yisrael (first edition Safed, 1587) and other poem collections. Many of his religious poems entered the liturgy of eastern communities while his Sabbath song Ya Ribbon Olam ve-Alemayya (“God of the World, Eternity’s sole Lord) became a popular Ashkenazi Sabbath table hymn. In his youth, Najara also wrote secular and love poems. He was also the author of a wide variety of other works ranging from moral instruction to works of halakha.

Haim Farhi (1760-1819), statesman, a member of a leading Damascus family, he was born in Damascus, Syria, where his father Shaul was finance advisor to the governor. After his father's death, Haim Farhi inherited his position. Moving to Acre in the Land of Israel about 1790, he was responsible for the finances of Ahmad al-Jazzar, the tyrannical governor of the province of Sidon. He was one of those responsible for organizing the successful defense of Acre against Napoleon's siege in 1799. Jazzar became jealous of him and put out one of his eyes, cut off a finger and removed him from office. However, Suleiman Pasha who ruled 1805-1818 restored Farhi to the office of financial advisor and gave him great power in the administration. He was frequently active in behalf of the Jewish community of Eretz Israel. However, Abdulla Pasha, the next governor, had him strangled after Haim Farhi was accused of betraying him and his body thrown into the sea and his property confiscated.

Joseph Altaras (16th cent. - 17th cent.), cantor and poet, born in Damascus, Syria. He was highly praised both as a cantor and a poet by poet Israel Najara. The poems he himself and his son Nissim wrote were scattered throughout the Aleppo prayer book (Venice, 1520). The poems are also included in the collection Shirei Yisrael be-Erez ha-Kedem (1521). He died in Aleppo, Syria.

Mauricio Abadi (1918-2003), psychoanalyst, born in Damascus, Syria, and immigrated to Argentina in 1937. In 1946 he became a doctor and the following year began his training as a psychoanalyst. He worked until after his 80. Abadi was president of Argentinian Psychoanalytic Association (APA), professor of the universities of Buenos Aires, Belgrano and Kennedy, wrote books like Psychoanalysis and the 'other reality'  and Transfer. His ideas and opinions reached many people through his writing, his articles and, especially, the television programs on which he appeared. His last program on Argentina's cable TV was Talking with Mauricio Abadi, a talk show on which he frequently analyzed his guests.

Haim Ben Joseph Vital (1542-1620), Kabbalist and poet, born in Safed, Eretz Israel, where his father was a scribe. He attended yeshivot in Safed and in 1564 began to study the Kabbala. He also spent two years studying alchemy. The turning point in his life was the arrival in Safed of Isaac (Yitzhak) Luria. During the two years Luria spent there before his death, Vital was his main disciple. After Luria's death, it was Vital who organized his teachings in written form and developed them according to his own interpretation. He did all he could to prevent other disciples from presenting Luria's views and gathered a circle who pledged to study Lurianic Kabbala only with him. From 1577 to 1575, he headed an academy in Jerusalem, was back in Safed 1585-1591, and then divided his time between the two cities. In 1598, he moved to Damascus where he lived until his death. There he assembled autobiographical material including his dreams. He was convinced that the spirit of the Messiah son of Joseph had passed from Luria to himself. His Etz ha-Hayyim is regarded as the basic work on Luria's teachings, his other writings were collected in Etz ha-Da’at. He died in Damascus, Syria.

Joseph Ben Isaac Ibn Abitur (c.939-1012), poet and Talmudic scholar, born in Mérida, Spain. He is frequently mentioned as Ibn Shatanash. Ibn Abitur lived in Spain during the second half of the 10th century and in Eretz Israel and Near-Eastern countries at the beginning of the 11th century. He studied in Córdoba under Rabbi Moses Ben Hanoch. After the death of his former teacher's son, who was rabbi and head of the yeshiva in Córdoba, Ibn Abitur claimed the position for himself. However, he failed and was forced to flee. A short time afterwards, he was appointed to the position yet refused the offer. Ibn Abitur died in Damascus.
He composed a threnody describing the persecutions that took place in Eretz Israel at the orders of the Egyptian Caliph al-Hakim.

Bela Basol was born in Damascus, Syria. In this interview she recounts her life in Syria and then her escape from Syria via Lebanon and the immigration to Israel in January 1973.  

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This testimony was produced as part of Seeing the Voices – the Israeli national project for the documentation of the heritage of Jews of Arab lands and Iran. The project was initiated by the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, in cooperation with The Heritage Wing of the Israeli Ministry of Education, The Yad Ben Zvi Institute, and The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
The Oster Visual Documentation Center, ANU - Museum of the Jewish People. The film was produced as part of the Seeing the Voices project, 2019

Meir Mishan, Damascus, Syria, 2018. Year of birth: 1939, Country of origin: Syria, City of origin: Damascus. Meir was born in 1939 in Damascus, the eldest son to his parents, Mordechai and Ajni. His mother Ajni was the daughter of Rabbi Ezra Trav of Salton, known to all as the 'Chacham (sage) of Azor'. His father, Mordechai, was named after his uncle, Chacham Mordechai Mishan, who was a member of the rabbinical court of Damascus. Meir studied in the Talmud Torah named after Maimonides, which was run by his uncle. There was also an Alliance school in Damascus, and members of the community could choose where to send their children to study. It was a traditional community, centered in the Jewish neighborhood of Haret al-Yahud, and around two central synagogues, and many midrash schools and small minyanim. Meir's father was a strong Zionist, and in his youth he was a member of the Zionist youth movements that operated in Damascus. The establishment of the State of Israel created great tension between Muslims and Jews. In 1949, in the middle of the Shabbat night prayer, when the Menashe synagogue was full of people praying, a grenade was thrown into the synagogue, killing 18 people and injuring many others. Meir and his family were also in the synagogue at the time. Immediately afterward, the parents decided that it was time to leave Syria. The family already had six children, with the eldest Meir about 10 years old and the youngest Rafael three months old. In those days, there was no legal way to leave Syria. The father contacted the secret emissaries of the Aliyah, and the family set off on a bus to Beirut. The children were dressed in several layers of clothing, and apart from a suitcase for the trip, they left all their belongings behind. In Beirut, they met other families from Damascus, and together they boarded two boats of Muslim smugglers late at night towards the coast of Israel. The boats sailed in complete darkness and cold (it was the days of Elul), and suddenly water began to enter the boat. The smugglers gave them empty cups so that they could empty the water during the journey. And so, on such a terrifying journey, they arrived at dawn opposite the Achziv beach. From the kibbutz near by, the kibbutz members came out to meet them in the water, and carried them on their shoulders safely to the kibbutz. Meir remembers the dining room where they were brought, and how they were welcomed with a cup of tea and a slice of bread with jam. They were sent to the Aliyah gate, and from there to the tents at the Beit Lid crossing. The year was the end of 1949, and the harsh winter of 1950 was their first winter in the transit camp. Baby Rafael caught a cold and fell ill, and the father took him to Donolo Hospital in Jaffa. A few days later, he was informed that Rafael had died and was buried. There were no documents, no burial place. The parents were new to the country, and did not know the customs of the country or who to turn to. It was very difficult. The father returned to the transit camp without his son, and told them that he had died. Only then did the fear begin to creep in that Rafael had been kidnapped like the children of Yemen. To this day, the family has not been able to track him down. From the Beit Lid transit camp, they were sent to live in barracks on the outskirts of Petah Tikva - in Shikun Yovel. The father found work, they made do with what they had. The children studied and developed. Here in Israel, three more children were added to the family. Meir became a diplomat, a member of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and a consul in Turkey, South America and Egypt. Photo: Liron Lev

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This testimony was produced as part of Seeing the Voices – the Israeli national project for the documentation of the heritage of Jews of Arab lands and Iran. The project was initiated by the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, in cooperation with The Heritage Wing of the Israeli Ministry of Education, The Yad Ben Zvi Institute, and The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
The Oster Visual Documentation Center, ANU - Museum of the Jewish People. The film was produced as part of the Seeing the Voices project, 2019 

Louis Loewe (1809-1888), orientalist, Born in Zuelz, Germany (now Biala Prudnica, Poland). He studied in yeshivot and universities and in 1833 moved to London. In 1837 he undertook an expedition to Egypt and deciphered many ancient inscriptions. From 1839 Loewe accompanied Sir Moses Montefiore on all his travels as interpreter and secretary in oriental languages. He published an account of their visit to the Middle East in the wake of the Damascus Affair in 1840. After directing the oriental section of the library of the Duke of Sussex in London, Loewe became principal of Jews' College (1856-58) and then was in Brighton where he founded a school for Jewish boys in 1861. Then from 1869 to his death he headed the theological seminary for Sephardi students founded by Montefiore at Ramsgate.

Shmuel (Samuel) Abbo (1789-1879), rabbi, born in Algeria, son of Abraham, a wealthy merchant. Soon after becoming a rabbi, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1817 and settled in Safed. In order to protect the local Jews, Abbo travelled to Algeria. He managed to persuade the French government to appoint him as the French general consul for the Galilee, a position that enabled him to turn into a leader of the Jewish communities in the northern regions of Eretz Israel and earn much respect from the Ottoman authorities as well as the Muslim inhabitants. According to another version, Abbo received the title with the help of Moses Montefiore who visited Eretz Israel in 1827. Abbo was instrumental in registering large numbers of Jews from Safed and Tiberias as French subjects. Abbo travelled with Montefiore to Damascus, Syria, to fight the blood libel against the local Jews in 1840.

Abbo travelled to India and obtained from David Sassoon the monopoly of importing the dye indigo from India. While in India, Abbo met members of Bene Israel, one of the ancient Jewish communities of India. At the request of David Sassoon, Abbo stayed in India for a number of years teaching the Bene Israel community. Abbo travelled a second time to India in 1859 and met again the Bene Israel community. In recognition of his work, the Jews of Bombay built a hostel named after Rabbi Shmuel Abbo. When his son Rabbi Avraham Chaim Abbo visited India in 1869, he was surprised to see that the Baghdadi Jewish community of India did not recognize the Jewishness of the Bene Israel community. After Avraham Chaim Abbo's return to Safed, he discussed the matter of Bene Israel with his father and the local rabbis who following one year of deliberations declared in a halakhic ruling in 1870 that Bene Israel are fully Jewish.

Abbo renovated the grave of Rabbi Shimeon Bar Yochai and built the nearby synogogue, rebuilt the Arie Hakadosh Synagogue in Safed, and helped rebuild the Jewish quarter of Safed that was devastated by the earthquake of 1837. In 1870 Abbo purchased about 7,000 dunams (1,800 acres) of land in Meron, near Safed, that was used in the 1880s for settling dozens of Jewish families from Kurdistan.

In recognition of his life time activities, the Jewish community of Safed dedicated him a Torah Scroll that on the eve of Lag Ba'Omer of 1833 was taken for the first time in festive ceremony from the house of Rabbi Abbo to the Rashbi Synagogue in Meron. This ceremony started a tradition that has been kept ever since. Some years later the original Torah scroll was replaced with a richly ornamentated Torah scroll donated by Rabbi Yitzhak Mordechai Abbo, the son of Rabbi Shmuel Abbo. According to local tradition, the Torah scroll is kept at Meron until after Shavuoth, when it is returned to the HaTzadik HaLavan Synagogue in Safed until the next year's ceremony.

Rabbi Shmuel Abbo had three sons: Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, and two daughters: Sarah and Simcha.

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The Jewish Community of Damascus

Damascus

In Arabic: دمشق‎‎ 

Capital of Syria; in old times caravan center at an oasis in southern Syria, on the principal crossroads between Mesopotamia-Syria and Palestine-Transjordan, and a flourishing Jewish community.

Roman rule in Eretz Israel and Syria commenced in 64 b.c.e. and continued under the eastern (Byzantine) Roman Empire until the first half of the seventh century. During these 300 years, the Roman and Persian empires were engaged in a struggle in the region, which changed hands several times. In 613, Damascus was again captured by the Persians. They retained it only for a short time. The despotic and often religiously fanatical Byzantine administration alienated the inhabitants, even the Christians, and they certainly did not succeed in gaining sympathizers among the Jews and Samaritans. As a result all the cities submitted to the Persian armies without any opposition.

During the reigns of the caliphs of the Umayyad dynasty (661-750), the Jews, as well as the Christians, enjoyed a tolerant treatment. However, with the ascent to power of the Abbasis dynasty (750-1258), they suffered from decrees against them along with an increase in the taxes levied upon them. Even so, they could observe their religious rituals openly and the ties with the academies of Palestine and Babylonia were renewed. During this period Damascus, like other cities in Syria and Egypt, became the home of many Iraqi Jews who established their own synagogues in the city. After the conquest of Damascus by the Fatimids in 969, a period of prosperity began for the Jewish community. The Fatimids were noted for their tolerant attitude toward non-Muslims and they appointed Jews and Christians to high positions. At the end of the tenth century, Manasseh Ibn Ibrahim Al-Qazzaz held the position of head of the financial administration of Fatimid Syria, and used all the means within his power to further the welfare of his coreligionists.

With the conquest of the greater part of Palestine by the crusaders, the Palestinian academy was transferred to Hadrach, near Damascus, and later to Damascus itself. Many fled from Palestine to Damascus during the 12th century crusades, and the Damascus community consisted of more than 2,000 rabbanite Jews and about 600 karaites. Besides craftsmen and small tradesmen, there were also physicians and intellectuals who composed florid Hebrew poetry. The onset of Ayyubid rule (12th-13th centuries) brought a period of prosperity for the whole city. Trade relations with the European countries were strengthened as a result of the establishment of colonies of Genoese and Venetian merchants in the coastal towns of the Latin principalities.

After the Mamluks defeated the Mongols at the battle of 'Ayn Jalut in 1260 Syria came under the domination of the Mamluk sultans of Cairo. These sultans, influenced by the demands of fanatical theologians, agreed to issue decrees against non-Muslims. In 1321 the Muslims destroyed a synagogue, in 1354 there was a general persecution of non- Muslims, and in 1365 there were searches for stores of wine, as many Muslims bought wine from the Jews in spite of the Koranic prohibition of alcohol. The authorities also renewed the requirements compelling Jewish women to wear one black and one red shoe, and compelling the men to blow on a whistle when entering the public bathhouses.

Periodically, the Muslims brought accusations against the Jews and forced some of them to convert to Islam. In 1392 the Jews of Damascus were accused of having set fire to the central mosque. One Jew was then burnt alive, the community leaders were tortured, and a synagogue was converted into a mosque. At the beginning of this period, an exilarch stood at the head of the Damascus community. There is no further mention of these exilarchs during later generations; however, a deputy of the Egyptian nagid had his seat in Damascus.

During the second half of the 15th century the Jews of Damascus enjoyed a period of economic prosperity. There were wealthy merchants among them and cultural activities flourished at the same time. According to the reports of Jewish travelers who came from European countries toward the end of the 15th century, there were between 400 and 500 Jewish families in Damascus at that time, besides a small karaite community and a community of Samaritans. During the early 16th century, the Spanish refugees of 1492 began to arrive in Damascus. This immigration increased after 1516, when Syria became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Rabbi Moses Basola found 500 refugee families in the city in 1521, as well as special synagogues belonging to the Jews of Spanish, Sicilian, and Iraqi origin. There were at first some conflicts between the Spanish and Iraqi Jews. However, in time these divisions were repaired, as the Spanish Jews adopted the language of the majority.

During the second half of the 16th century, the kabbalists rabbi Moses Alshekh and rabbi Chayyim Vital went to Damascus. Rabbi Samuel ben Chayyim Vital continued to propagate the teachings of his father in Damascus. In 1604 Safed was destroyed by the Druze and many of its Jews fled to Damascus. The influence of the kabbalists then became even more important. Two of the refugees, Isaac and Jacob, the sons of the Safed printer Abraham Ashkenazi, set up a Hebrew printing press in Damascus. In 1605 they printed Kesef Nivchar ("choice silver") the work of rabbi Josiah Pinto, the rabbi of the Sephardi Jews in Damascus. By the 18th century a decline had begun in the intellectual life of the community. In contrast to former generations, during the 18th century the community did not have rabbis or scholars of renown. The most prominent rabbis were rabbi Mordecai Galante toward the end of the century, and his son and successor rabbi Moses Galante, who wrote works of homiletics and responsa. At the end of the 18the century, a group of Jewish bankers established themselves. They occupied important positions in the administration, assisted Jewish community institutions, and supported scholars. The Farchi family was the most prominent among these bankers. After the conquest of Syria by the Egyptians in 1832, the Jewish bankers were dismissed and their Christian rivals gained in influence. In 1840 the Damascus affair, the notorious blood libel against the Jews, resulted from the accusations of the Christians. While enlightened men around the world were shocked by the Damascus affair, it did not end until several Jews were tortured and some were killed.

After the renewal of Ottoman rule over Syria, the Jewish bankers resumed their prosperous activities, including international trade and the collection of taxes. The majority of the community earned their livelihood from small-scale commerce and various handicrafts. The traveler Benjamin II, who visited Damascus in 1848, estimated that the city had a Jewish population of 4,000. The massacre of Christians by Muslims and Druze in 1860 was followed by Christian accusations that the Jews had taken part in the violence and had bought their looted possessions. After 1870 the economic situation deteriorated. This was due to the opening of the Suez Canal which limited the international trade of Damascus. Furthermore, local industries were ruined by the importation of manufactured goods from Europe. The economic decline was followed by a moral and cultural decline. The Alliance Israelite Universelle opened a school for boys in 1880 and another for girls in 1883. The community was unsuccessful in its efforts at maintaining a Hebrew school. There was no increase in the population of the community due to the large emigration of Jews from Damascus to Beirut and to both north and South America. In 1900 Damascus had a population of 10,000 Jews.

Of the approximately 5,000 Jews in Damascus in 1948, there remained only between 1,000 and 1,500 in 1968. Most Jews left for Lebanon immediately after the outbreak of the Israel War of Independence, settling in Beirut; others went to Israel, Europe, and America. The vacant houses in the Jewish quarter were occupied by Palestinian Arab refugees whose presence caused constant tension and clashes with the remaining Jews. The Jews were persecuted by the authorities and frequently arrested, especially during the trial of the Israel intelligence officer Eli Cohen (1965) and during the Six-Day War (1967). The Muslim population also attacked Jews and planted a bomb in the synagogue in August 1949.
The Jewish population suffered serious financial difficulties, most of its members being artisans or unemployed and living on the charity of the community council. A few Jews worked as clerks in the Banque de Commerce (which used to be the Zilkhah Bank) or in a Jewish-owned clothing factory. The number of conversions to Islam of Jewish girls marrying Muslims increased after the Jewish mass emigration. In 1968 the community's affairs were governed by a council of seven to nine members, whose main function was to support the needy with funds from Syrian Jews in America. Rabbi Nissim Nedebo was rabbi of the community. The Alliance Israelite Universelle continued to run a school in Damascus, which had 420 pupils in 1965.

Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Israel Najara

Israel Ben Moses Najara (1555-1625), poet, born in Damascus, Syria, he served as secretary of that community in which his father was a rabbi. Later he wandered widely and finally was rabbi in Gaza where upon his death his son succeeded him. He is best known for his Zemirot Yisrael (first edition Safed, 1587) and other poem collections. Many of his religious poems entered the liturgy of eastern communities while his Sabbath song Ya Ribbon Olam ve-Alemayya (“God of the World, Eternity’s sole Lord) became a popular Ashkenazi Sabbath table hymn. In his youth, Najara also wrote secular and love poems. He was also the author of a wide variety of other works ranging from moral instruction to works of halakha.

Haim Farhi

Haim Farhi (1760-1819), statesman, a member of a leading Damascus family, he was born in Damascus, Syria, where his father Shaul was finance advisor to the governor. After his father's death, Haim Farhi inherited his position. Moving to Acre in the Land of Israel about 1790, he was responsible for the finances of Ahmad al-Jazzar, the tyrannical governor of the province of Sidon. He was one of those responsible for organizing the successful defense of Acre against Napoleon's siege in 1799. Jazzar became jealous of him and put out one of his eyes, cut off a finger and removed him from office. However, Suleiman Pasha who ruled 1805-1818 restored Farhi to the office of financial advisor and gave him great power in the administration. He was frequently active in behalf of the Jewish community of Eretz Israel. However, Abdulla Pasha, the next governor, had him strangled after Haim Farhi was accused of betraying him and his body thrown into the sea and his property confiscated.

Joseph Altaras

Joseph Altaras (16th cent. - 17th cent.), cantor and poet, born in Damascus, Syria. He was highly praised both as a cantor and a poet by poet Israel Najara. The poems he himself and his son Nissim wrote were scattered throughout the Aleppo prayer book (Venice, 1520). The poems are also included in the collection Shirei Yisrael be-Erez ha-Kedem (1521). He died in Aleppo, Syria.

Mauricio Abadi

Mauricio Abadi (1918-2003), psychoanalyst, born in Damascus, Syria, and immigrated to Argentina in 1937. In 1946 he became a doctor and the following year began his training as a psychoanalyst. He worked until after his 80. Abadi was president of Argentinian Psychoanalytic Association (APA), professor of the universities of Buenos Aires, Belgrano and Kennedy, wrote books like Psychoanalysis and the 'other reality'  and Transfer. His ideas and opinions reached many people through his writing, his articles and, especially, the television programs on which he appeared. His last program on Argentina's cable TV was Talking with Mauricio Abadi, a talk show on which he frequently analyzed his guests.

Haim Ben Joseph Vital

Haim Ben Joseph Vital (1542-1620), Kabbalist and poet, born in Safed, Eretz Israel, where his father was a scribe. He attended yeshivot in Safed and in 1564 began to study the Kabbala. He also spent two years studying alchemy. The turning point in his life was the arrival in Safed of Isaac (Yitzhak) Luria. During the two years Luria spent there before his death, Vital was his main disciple. After Luria's death, it was Vital who organized his teachings in written form and developed them according to his own interpretation. He did all he could to prevent other disciples from presenting Luria's views and gathered a circle who pledged to study Lurianic Kabbala only with him. From 1577 to 1575, he headed an academy in Jerusalem, was back in Safed 1585-1591, and then divided his time between the two cities. In 1598, he moved to Damascus where he lived until his death. There he assembled autobiographical material including his dreams. He was convinced that the spirit of the Messiah son of Joseph had passed from Luria to himself. His Etz ha-Hayyim is regarded as the basic work on Luria's teachings, his other writings were collected in Etz ha-Da’at. He died in Damascus, Syria.

Joseph Ben Isaac Ibn Abitur

Joseph Ben Isaac Ibn Abitur (c.939-1012), poet and Talmudic scholar, born in Mérida, Spain. He is frequently mentioned as Ibn Shatanash. Ibn Abitur lived in Spain during the second half of the 10th century and in Eretz Israel and Near-Eastern countries at the beginning of the 11th century. He studied in Córdoba under Rabbi Moses Ben Hanoch. After the death of his former teacher's son, who was rabbi and head of the yeshiva in Córdoba, Ibn Abitur claimed the position for himself. However, he failed and was forced to flee. A short time afterwards, he was appointed to the position yet refused the offer. Ibn Abitur died in Damascus.
He composed a threnody describing the persecutions that took place in Eretz Israel at the orders of the Egyptian Caliph al-Hakim.

Bela Basol, Damascus, Syria, 2018

Bela Basol was born in Damascus, Syria. In this interview she recounts her life in Syria and then her escape from Syria via Lebanon and the immigration to Israel in January 1973.  

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This testimony was produced as part of Seeing the Voices – the Israeli national project for the documentation of the heritage of Jews of Arab lands and Iran. The project was initiated by the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, in cooperation with The Heritage Wing of the Israeli Ministry of Education, The Yad Ben Zvi Institute, and The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
The Oster Visual Documentation Center, ANU - Museum of the Jewish People. The film was produced as part of the Seeing the Voices project, 2019

Meir Mishan, Damascus, Syria, 2018

Meir Mishan, Damascus, Syria, 2018. Year of birth: 1939, Country of origin: Syria, City of origin: Damascus. Meir was born in 1939 in Damascus, the eldest son to his parents, Mordechai and Ajni. His mother Ajni was the daughter of Rabbi Ezra Trav of Salton, known to all as the 'Chacham (sage) of Azor'. His father, Mordechai, was named after his uncle, Chacham Mordechai Mishan, who was a member of the rabbinical court of Damascus. Meir studied in the Talmud Torah named after Maimonides, which was run by his uncle. There was also an Alliance school in Damascus, and members of the community could choose where to send their children to study. It was a traditional community, centered in the Jewish neighborhood of Haret al-Yahud, and around two central synagogues, and many midrash schools and small minyanim. Meir's father was a strong Zionist, and in his youth he was a member of the Zionist youth movements that operated in Damascus. The establishment of the State of Israel created great tension between Muslims and Jews. In 1949, in the middle of the Shabbat night prayer, when the Menashe synagogue was full of people praying, a grenade was thrown into the synagogue, killing 18 people and injuring many others. Meir and his family were also in the synagogue at the time. Immediately afterward, the parents decided that it was time to leave Syria. The family already had six children, with the eldest Meir about 10 years old and the youngest Rafael three months old. In those days, there was no legal way to leave Syria. The father contacted the secret emissaries of the Aliyah, and the family set off on a bus to Beirut. The children were dressed in several layers of clothing, and apart from a suitcase for the trip, they left all their belongings behind. In Beirut, they met other families from Damascus, and together they boarded two boats of Muslim smugglers late at night towards the coast of Israel. The boats sailed in complete darkness and cold (it was the days of Elul), and suddenly water began to enter the boat. The smugglers gave them empty cups so that they could empty the water during the journey. And so, on such a terrifying journey, they arrived at dawn opposite the Achziv beach. From the kibbutz near by, the kibbutz members came out to meet them in the water, and carried them on their shoulders safely to the kibbutz. Meir remembers the dining room where they were brought, and how they were welcomed with a cup of tea and a slice of bread with jam. They were sent to the Aliyah gate, and from there to the tents at the Beit Lid crossing. The year was the end of 1949, and the harsh winter of 1950 was their first winter in the transit camp. Baby Rafael caught a cold and fell ill, and the father took him to Donolo Hospital in Jaffa. A few days later, he was informed that Rafael had died and was buried. There were no documents, no burial place. The parents were new to the country, and did not know the customs of the country or who to turn to. It was very difficult. The father returned to the transit camp without his son, and told them that he had died. Only then did the fear begin to creep in that Rafael had been kidnapped like the children of Yemen. To this day, the family has not been able to track him down. From the Beit Lid transit camp, they were sent to live in barracks on the outskirts of Petah Tikva - in Shikun Yovel. The father found work, they made do with what they had. The children studied and developed. Here in Israel, three more children were added to the family. Meir became a diplomat, a member of the Israeli Foreign Ministry and a consul in Turkey, South America and Egypt. Photo: Liron Lev

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This testimony was produced as part of Seeing the Voices – the Israeli national project for the documentation of the heritage of Jews of Arab lands and Iran. The project was initiated by the Israeli Ministry for Social Equality, in cooperation with The Heritage Wing of the Israeli Ministry of Education, The Yad Ben Zvi Institute, and The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
The Oster Visual Documentation Center, ANU - Museum of the Jewish People. The film was produced as part of the Seeing the Voices project, 2019 

Louis Loewe

Louis Loewe (1809-1888), orientalist, Born in Zuelz, Germany (now Biala Prudnica, Poland). He studied in yeshivot and universities and in 1833 moved to London. In 1837 he undertook an expedition to Egypt and deciphered many ancient inscriptions. From 1839 Loewe accompanied Sir Moses Montefiore on all his travels as interpreter and secretary in oriental languages. He published an account of their visit to the Middle East in the wake of the Damascus Affair in 1840. After directing the oriental section of the library of the Duke of Sussex in London, Loewe became principal of Jews' College (1856-58) and then was in Brighton where he founded a school for Jewish boys in 1861. Then from 1869 to his death he headed the theological seminary for Sephardi students founded by Montefiore at Ramsgate.

Shmuel (Samuel) Abbo

Shmuel (Samuel) Abbo (1789-1879), rabbi, born in Algeria, son of Abraham, a wealthy merchant. Soon after becoming a rabbi, he immigrated to Eretz Israel in 1817 and settled in Safed. In order to protect the local Jews, Abbo travelled to Algeria. He managed to persuade the French government to appoint him as the French general consul for the Galilee, a position that enabled him to turn into a leader of the Jewish communities in the northern regions of Eretz Israel and earn much respect from the Ottoman authorities as well as the Muslim inhabitants. According to another version, Abbo received the title with the help of Moses Montefiore who visited Eretz Israel in 1827. Abbo was instrumental in registering large numbers of Jews from Safed and Tiberias as French subjects. Abbo travelled with Montefiore to Damascus, Syria, to fight the blood libel against the local Jews in 1840.

Abbo travelled to India and obtained from David Sassoon the monopoly of importing the dye indigo from India. While in India, Abbo met members of Bene Israel, one of the ancient Jewish communities of India. At the request of David Sassoon, Abbo stayed in India for a number of years teaching the Bene Israel community. Abbo travelled a second time to India in 1859 and met again the Bene Israel community. In recognition of his work, the Jews of Bombay built a hostel named after Rabbi Shmuel Abbo. When his son Rabbi Avraham Chaim Abbo visited India in 1869, he was surprised to see that the Baghdadi Jewish community of India did not recognize the Jewishness of the Bene Israel community. After Avraham Chaim Abbo's return to Safed, he discussed the matter of Bene Israel with his father and the local rabbis who following one year of deliberations declared in a halakhic ruling in 1870 that Bene Israel are fully Jewish.

Abbo renovated the grave of Rabbi Shimeon Bar Yochai and built the nearby synogogue, rebuilt the Arie Hakadosh Synagogue in Safed, and helped rebuild the Jewish quarter of Safed that was devastated by the earthquake of 1837. In 1870 Abbo purchased about 7,000 dunams (1,800 acres) of land in Meron, near Safed, that was used in the 1880s for settling dozens of Jewish families from Kurdistan.

In recognition of his life time activities, the Jewish community of Safed dedicated him a Torah Scroll that on the eve of Lag Ba'Omer of 1833 was taken for the first time in festive ceremony from the house of Rabbi Abbo to the Rashbi Synagogue in Meron. This ceremony started a tradition that has been kept ever since. Some years later the original Torah scroll was replaced with a richly ornamentated Torah scroll donated by Rabbi Yitzhak Mordechai Abbo, the son of Rabbi Shmuel Abbo. According to local tradition, the Torah scroll is kept at Meron until after Shavuoth, when it is returned to the HaTzadik HaLavan Synagogue in Safed until the next year's ceremony.

Rabbi Shmuel Abbo had three sons: Abraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov, and two daughters: Sarah and Simcha.