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Syrian Jews
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Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews (Hebrew: יהודי סוריה Yehudey Surya, Arabic: الْيَهُود السُّورِيُّون al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn, colloquially called SYs /ˈɛswaɪz/ in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times (known as Musta'arabi Jews), and sometimes classified as Mizrahi Jews (Mizrahi is a generic term for the Jews with an extended history in Asia or North Africa); and from the Sephardi Jews (referring to Jews with an extended history in the Iberian Peninsula, i.e. Spain and Portugal) who fled to Syria after the Alhambra Decree forced the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
There were large communities in Aleppo ("Halabi Jews", Halab is "Aleppo" in Arabic) and Damascus ("Shami Jews") for centuries, and a smaller community in Qamishli on the Turkish border near Nusaybin. In the first half of the 20th century a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to the U.S., Latin America and Israel. Most of the remaining Jews left in the 28 years following 1973, due in part to the efforts of Judy Feld Carr, who claims to have helped some 3,228 Jews emigrate; emigration was officially allowed in 1992. The largest number of Jews of Syrian descent live in Israel. Outside Israel, the largest Syrian Jewish community is in Brooklyn, New York and is estimated at 75,000 strong. There are smaller communities elsewhere in the United States and in Latin America.
In 2011, there had been about 250 Jews still living within Syria, mostly in Damascus. As of December 2014, fewer than 50 Jews remained in the area due to increasing violence and war. In October 2015, with the threat of ISIS nearby, some of the remaining Jews in Aleppo were taken to Ashkelon, Israel in a rescue covert operation. In August 2019, BBC Arabic visited some of the last remaining Jews living in Damascus. By the fall of the Assad regime, it is believed that only 6 Jews remain in Syria.
According to the community's tradition, Jews have been in Syria since ancient times, since the time of King David and certainly since early Roman times. Jews from this ancient community were known as Musta'arabim "Arabizers" to themselves or Moriscos to the Sephardim. Many Sephardim arrived following the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and quickly took a leading position in the community. For example, five successive Chief Rabbis of Aleppo were drawn from the Laniado family.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, some Jews from Italy and elsewhere, known as Señores Francos (Frank Lords), notable Franco families are the Ancona, Silvera, and Pichotto families they settled in Syria for trading reasons, while retaining their European nationalities.
Kurdish Jews, hailing from the region of Kurdistan, represent another sub-group of Syrian Jews. Their presence in Syria predates the arrival of Sephardic Jews following the Reconquista. The ancient communities of Urfa and Çermik also formed part of the broader Syrian community and the Aleppo community included some migrants from these cities.
Today, some distinctions between these sub-groups are preserved because particular families have traditions about their origins. However, there is considerable intermarriage among the groups, and all regard themselves as "Sephardim" in a broader sense. One can tell Aleppo families of Spanish descent by the fact that they light an extra Hanukkah candle. This custom was established in gratitude for their acceptance by the more native Syrian-based community.
In the 19th century, following the completion of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1869, trade shifted to that route from the overland route through Syria, and the commercial importance of Aleppo and Damascus underwent a marked decline. Many families left Syria for Egypt (and a few for Lebanon) in the following decades, and with increasing frequency until the First World War, many Jews left the Middle East for western countries, mainly Great Britain, the United States, Mexico and Argentina.
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Syrian Jews
Syrian Jews (Hebrew: יהודי סוריה Yehudey Surya, Arabic: الْيَهُود السُّورِيُّون al-Yahūd as-Sūriyyūn, colloquially called SYs /ˈɛswaɪz/ in the United States) are Jews who live in the region of the modern state of Syria, and their descendants born outside Syria. Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: from the Jews who inhabited the region of today's Syria from ancient times (known as Musta'arabi Jews), and sometimes classified as Mizrahi Jews (Mizrahi is a generic term for the Jews with an extended history in Asia or North Africa); and from the Sephardi Jews (referring to Jews with an extended history in the Iberian Peninsula, i.e. Spain and Portugal) who fled to Syria after the Alhambra Decree forced the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
There were large communities in Aleppo ("Halabi Jews", Halab is "Aleppo" in Arabic) and Damascus ("Shami Jews") for centuries, and a smaller community in Qamishli on the Turkish border near Nusaybin. In the first half of the 20th century a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to the U.S., Latin America and Israel. Most of the remaining Jews left in the 28 years following 1973, due in part to the efforts of Judy Feld Carr, who claims to have helped some 3,228 Jews emigrate; emigration was officially allowed in 1992. The largest number of Jews of Syrian descent live in Israel. Outside Israel, the largest Syrian Jewish community is in Brooklyn, New York and is estimated at 75,000 strong. There are smaller communities elsewhere in the United States and in Latin America.
In 2011, there had been about 250 Jews still living within Syria, mostly in Damascus. As of December 2014, fewer than 50 Jews remained in the area due to increasing violence and war. In October 2015, with the threat of ISIS nearby, some of the remaining Jews in Aleppo were taken to Ashkelon, Israel in a rescue covert operation. In August 2019, BBC Arabic visited some of the last remaining Jews living in Damascus. By the fall of the Assad regime, it is believed that only 6 Jews remain in Syria.
According to the community's tradition, Jews have been in Syria since ancient times, since the time of King David and certainly since early Roman times. Jews from this ancient community were known as Musta'arabim "Arabizers" to themselves or Moriscos to the Sephardim. Many Sephardim arrived following the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and quickly took a leading position in the community. For example, five successive Chief Rabbis of Aleppo were drawn from the Laniado family.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, some Jews from Italy and elsewhere, known as Señores Francos (Frank Lords), notable Franco families are the Ancona, Silvera, and Pichotto families they settled in Syria for trading reasons, while retaining their European nationalities.
Kurdish Jews, hailing from the region of Kurdistan, represent another sub-group of Syrian Jews. Their presence in Syria predates the arrival of Sephardic Jews following the Reconquista. The ancient communities of Urfa and Çermik also formed part of the broader Syrian community and the Aleppo community included some migrants from these cities.
Today, some distinctions between these sub-groups are preserved because particular families have traditions about their origins. However, there is considerable intermarriage among the groups, and all regard themselves as "Sephardim" in a broader sense. One can tell Aleppo families of Spanish descent by the fact that they light an extra Hanukkah candle. This custom was established in gratitude for their acceptance by the more native Syrian-based community.
In the 19th century, following the completion of the Suez Canal in Egypt in 1869, trade shifted to that route from the overland route through Syria, and the commercial importance of Aleppo and Damascus underwent a marked decline. Many families left Syria for Egypt (and a few for Lebanon) in the following decades, and with increasing frequency until the First World War, many Jews left the Middle East for western countries, mainly Great Britain, the United States, Mexico and Argentina.
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