 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 175,000 to 275,000+ (est.) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Syria | 4 |
 Israel | 115,000 |
 United States | 75,000-90,000[1] |
 Argentina | 40,000 |
 Mexico | 16,000 |
 Panama | 10,000 |
 Brazil | 7,000 |
 Chile | 2,300 |
| Languages | |
| Modern Hebrew, Syrian Arabic, French, Spanish, English | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mizrahi Jews, Sephardi Jews, Ashkenazi Jews, other Jewish groups, other Syrian people, Arabs, other Levantines | |
| Part of a series on |
| Jews and Judaism |
|---|
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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4][5] As of December 2014, fewer than 50 Jews remained in the area due to increasing violence and war.[6] In October 2015, with the threat of ISIS nearby, nearly all of the remaining Jews in Aleppo were rescued in a covert operation and moved to Ashkelon, Israel. It was estimated in November 2015 that only 18 Jews remain in Syria.[7] In September 2016, the last Jews of Aleppo were rescued, ending the Jewish presence in Aleppo.[7] In August 2019, BBC Arabic visited some of the last remaining Jews living in Damascus.[8] As of 2022, only four Jews remain in Syria.[9]
- ^ Chafets, Zev (October 14, 2007). "The Sy Empire". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
- ^ "Syrian Jews Find Haven In Brooklyn". The New York Times. 23 May 1992.
- ^ Chafets, Zev (14 October 2007). "The Sy Empire". The New York Times.
- ^ "Damascus – Amid Civil War, Syria's Remaining Jews To Celebrate High Holy Days". Vos Iz Neias?. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013.
- ^ "Nine Months in Syria". Ninemonthsinsyria.blogspot.com. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ^ Entous, Adam (2014-12-01). "A Brief History of the Syrian Jewish Community". The Wall Street Journal. wsj.com. Retrieved 2015-09-15.
By 2008, when Mr. Marcus visited Syria to research a book on the Jewish community there, the number of Jews had shrunk to between 60 and 70 in Damascus. Another six Jews remained in Aleppo, he said. "You could say it was a community on the way to extinction," he said. "The internal war in Syria has just expedited that process." Around 17 Jews remain in Damascus today, according to community leaders.
- ^ a b Shah, Khushbu (27 November 2015). "Rescuing the last Jews of Aleppo". CNN. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- ^ "بي بي سي تتجول في حارة اليهود في دمشق" [BBC roams around the Jewish quarter of Damascus]. YouTube (in Arabic). 8 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
- ^ "President of Syria's Jewish community passed away; Damascus has 4 Jews". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2023-11-27.