SYRIAN JEWS

'Syrian Jews' derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited the region of today's Syria from the ancient times and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492 AD). There were large communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Beirut for centuries, and a smaller community in Qamishli. In the early twentieth century a large percentage of Syrian Jews emigrated to the U.S., Central and South America and Israel. Today there are almost no Jews left in Syria. The largest Syrian-Jewish community is located in Brooklyn, New York, and estimated at 40,000; there are smaller communities elsewhere in the United States and in Latin America.

Contents

History

Present-day Syrian Jewish communities

Israel

Great Britain

United States

New York

New Jersey

South Carolina

California

Leadership

Latin America

Traditions and Customs

Liturgy

Pizmonim

Baqashot

Pronunciation of Hebrew

Aleppo Codex

Cuisine

Surnames

References

Bibliography

Prayer books

Historic

Modern

See also

External links

History

Main articles: History of the Jews in Syria

There are three basic components of the Syrian Jewish community.
#There have been Jews in Syria since ancient times: according to legend, since the time of King David, and certainly since early Roman times. Jews from this ancient community were known as ''Musta'arabim'' (Arabized Jews) 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.
#Still later, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some Jews from Italy and elsewhere, known as ''Señores Francos'', settled in Syria for trading reasons, while retaining their European nationalities.
Today there is no clear distinction between these groups, as they have intermarried extensively, and all regard themselves as "Sephardim" in a broader sense. It is said that one can tell families of Sephardic descent (in the narrow sense) by the fact that they light an extra Hanukkah candle: this custom was apparently established in gratitude for their acceptance by the older community.
In the nineteenth century the commercial importance of Aleppo and Damascus underwent a marked decline, and many families left Syria for Egypt. Beginning around 1850, and with increasing frequency until the First World War, Jews left Syria and Egypt for western countries, mainly Great Britain, the United States, Mexico and Argentina. This pattern of migration largely followed the fortunes of the cotton trade, in which many Syrian Jews were engaged.
Beginning on the Passover Holiday of 1992, the 4,000 remaining members of the Damascus Jewish community (Arabic ''Yehud ash-Sham'') as well as the Aleppo community and the Jews of Qamishli were permitted under the regime of Hafez al-Assad to leave Syria for the United States provided they did not emigrate to Israel. Within a few months, thousands of Syrian Jews made their way to Brooklyn with the help of philanthropic leaders of the Syrian Jewish community. The few remaining Jews in Syria mostly live in Damascus.
The Jews of Syria
By Mitchell Bard
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1948 Jewish population: 30,000
2003: Fewer than 10010
Syria has been a historic home for Jews, ever since the rule of King David over 2,500 years ago. In the late 19th century there were nearly 50,000 Jews in Syria, 10,000 of them in Aleppo. However, just before World War I, thousands of Jews immigrated to New York, Mexico City and Buenos Aires in order to avoid mandatory conscription into the Ottoman Army.
In 1944, after Syria gained independence from France, the new government prohibited Jewish immigration to Palestine, and severely restricted the teaching of Hebrew in Jewish schools. Attacks against Jews escalated, and boycotts were called against their businesses.
When partition was declared in 1947, Arab mobs in Aleppo devastated the 2,500-year-old Jewish community. Scores of Jews were killed and more than 200 homes, shops and synagogues were destroyed. Thousands of Jews illegally fled Syria to go to Israel.1
Shortly after, the Syrian government intensified its persecution of the Jewish population. Freedom of movement was severely restricted. Jews who attempted to flee faced either the death penalty or imprisonment at hard labor. Jews were not allowed to work for the government or banks, could not acquire telephones or driver's licenses, and were barred from buying property. Jewish bank accounts were frozen. An airport road was paved over the Jewish cemetery in Damascus; Jewish schools were closed and handed over to Muslims.
Syria's attitude toward Jews was reflected in its sheltering of Alois Brunner, one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals. Brunner, a chief aide to Adolf Eichmann, served as an adviser to the Assad regime.2
In 1987-88, the Syrian secret police seized 10 Jews on suspicion of violating travel and emigration laws, planning to escape and having taken unauthorized trips abroad. Several who were released reported being tortured while in custody.3
In November 1989, the Syrian government promised to facilitate the emigration of more than 500 single Jewish women, who greatly outnumbered eligible men in the Jewish community and could not find suitable husbands. Twenty-four were allowed to emigrate in the fall of 1989 and another 20 in 1991.4
For years, the Jews in Syria lived in extreme fear. The Jewish Quarter in Damascus was under the constant surveillance of the secret police, who were present at synagogue services, weddings, bar-mitzvahs and other Jewish gatherings. Contact with foreigners was closely monitored. Travel abroad was permitted in exceptional cases, but only if a bond of $300-$1,000 was left behind, along with family members who served as hostages. U.S. pressure applied during peace negotiations helped convince President Hafez Assad to lift these restrictions, and those prohibiting Jews from buying and selling property, in the early 1990's.
In an undercover operation in late 1994, 1,262 Syrian Jews were brought to Israel. The spiritual leader of the Syrian Jewish community for 25 years, Rabbi Avraham Hamra, was among those who left Syria and went to New York (he now lives in Israel). Syria had granted exit visas on condition that the Jews not go to Israel.5 The decision to finally free the Jews came about largely as a result of pressure from the United States following the 1991 Madrid peace conference.
By the end of 1994, the Joab Ben Zeruiah Synagogue in Aleppo, in continuous use for more than 1,600 years, was deserted. A year later, approximately 250 Jews remained in Damascus, all apparently staying by choice.6 By the middle of 2001, Rabbi Huder Shahada Kabariti estimated that 150 Jews were living in Damascus, 30 in Haleb and 20 in Kamashili. Every two or three months, a rabbi visits from Istanbul, Turkey, to oversee preparation of kosher meat, which residents freeze and use until his next visit. Two synagogues remain open in Damascus.7
Although Jews are occasionally subjected to violence by Palestinian protesters in Syria, the government has taken strict protective measures, including arresting assailants and guarding the remaining synagogues.8 Outside the Joab Ben Zeruiah Synagogue in Aleppo there is even a sign that reads “no dumping trash in front of this holy place of worship.”
According to the State Department, Jews still have a separate primary school for religious instruction on Judaism and are allowed to teach Hebrew in some schools. About a dozen students still attend the Jewish school, which had 500 students as recently as 1992. Jews and Kurds are the only minorities not allowed to participate in the political system. In addition, "the few remaining Jews are generally barred from government employment and do not have military service obligations. They are the only minority whose passports and identity cards note their religion."9
Today, the attitudes on Jews have slightly changed. As of 2007, there are fewer than 50 Jews left in Syria. The population is very old, and according to locals, nobody bothers them. The government and population are still extremely anti-Israel, but they don’t necessarily consider Israel and Jews the same thing. According to a Syrian English-speaking tour guide, the Syrians “respect the Jewish religion as one of God’s religions.11
Notes
1Howard Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time., (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979), p. 400; Maurice Roumani, The Case of the Jews from Arab Countries: A Neglected Issue, (Tel Aviv: World Organization of Jews from Arab Countries, 1977), p. 31; Norman Stillman, The Jews of Arab Lands in Modern Times. (NY: Jewish Publication Society, 1991), p. 146.
2Newsday, (November 1, 1987); information provided by Rep. Michael McNulty.
3. Middle East Watch, Human Rights in Syria, (NY: Middle East Watch, 1990), p. 94.
4Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1991, (DC: Department of State, 1992), p. 1610.
5Jerusalem Post, (Oct. 18, 1994).
6Jerusalem Post, (May 27, 1995).
7Associated Press, (January 27, 2000).
8U.S. Department of State, 2000 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom, Released by the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Washington, DC, (September 5, 2000).
9 U.S. State Department Report on Human Rights Practices for 2001.
10David Singer and Lawrence Grossman, Eds. American Jewish Year Book 2003. NY: American Jewish Committee, 2003.
11JTA, Larry Luxner, “Syrians 'hate' Israel, not Jews,” (June 8 2007).

Present-day Syrian Jewish communities

Israel

There has been a Syrian presence in Jerusalem since before 1850, with many rabbinical families having members both there and in Damascus and Aleppo. These had some contact with their Ashkenazi opposite numbers of the Old Yishuv, leading to a tradition of strict orthodoxy: for example in 1860 there was a successful campaign to prevent the establishment of a Reform synagogue in Aleppo. Some Syrian traditions, such as the singing of Baqashot, were accepted by the mainstream Jerusalem Sephardi community.
A further group immigrated to Palestine around 1900, and formed the ''Ades'' Synagogue in Nahlaot. This still exists, and is the main Aleppo rite synagogue in Israel, though its membership now includes Asiatic Jews of all groups, especially Kurdish. There is also a large Syrian community in Holon and Bat Yam.
Many Jews fled from Syria to Palestine during the anti-Jewish riots of 1947. After that, the Syrian government clamped down and allowed no emigration, though some Jews left illicitly. In the last two decades some emigration has been allowed, mostly to America, though some have since left America for Israel, under the leadership of Rabbi Albert Hamra.
The older generation from prior to the establishment of the state retains little or no Syrian ethnic identity of its own and is well integrated into mainstream Israeli society. The most recent wave is integrating at different levels and has split between Israel and their kin in NY and Mexico.
There is a ''Merkaz 'Olami le-Moreshet Yahadut Aram Tsoba'' (World Center for the Heritage of Aleppo Jewry) in Tel Aviv, which publishes books of Syrian Jewish interest.

Great Britain

The main settlement of Syrian Jews was in Manchester, where they joined the synagogues of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews, which had a mixed congregation including Turkish and Egyptian Jews as well as Syrians. There were and are two of these: one in north/central Manchester, which has since moved to Salford, and the other in Queenston Road, West Didsbury in the southern suburbs. A breakaway synagogue was later formed in Old Lansdowne Road with a more Syrian flavour, but it and Queenston Road have since merged. There are still several Sephardim in the Manchester area, but many have since left for the New World.

United States

New York

Syrian Jews first immigrated to New York around 1908. Initially they lived on the Lower East Side; later settlements were in Bensonhurst and Ocean Parkway in Flatbush, Brooklyn, this last being the current center of the community. The community was formerly centered on the "Magen David" synagogue; today there is an array of different synagogues that service the community's many different needs.

★ "Shaare Zion" on Ocean Parkway.

★ "Beth Torah" on Ocean Parkway under the leadership of Rabbi Ari Azancot, for people living in and around the Avenue J area

★ "Bet Yaakob" under the leadership of Rabbi Eli Mansour

★ "Ahi Ezer" and "Shevet Achim" for Jews originating in Damascus

★ "Bnei Yitzhaq" Sephardic Synagogue

★ "B'nai Yosef Synagogue"

★ "Magen David" of Magen David Elementary on S and McDonald

★ "Ahaba Ve Ahva", for Egyptian Jews

★ "Har Halebanon" and "SLC" (Sephardic Lebanese Congregation), for Lebanese Jews

★ Congregation "Ateret Torah",

★ "Magen David of Union Square", in downtown Manhattan

★ "Safra synagogue of New York" in Manhattan 63rd Street

★ "Sephardic Synagogue" under the leadership of Rabbi Moshe Shamah
There is also a Sephardic Community Center, which is not a synagogue but a community center.
The community is characterized by multi-generational businesses; children are encouraged to stay within the family business. Those who pursue higher education are encouraged to remain within the familial structure.

New Jersey

The New Jersey community is mainly based in Monmouth County, especially Deal, Elberon, Long Branch, Oakhurst and Bradley Beach. This largely consists of an abundance of people who come there during the summer months though some live there permanently.
Synagogues include the following

★ Deal Synagogue

★ West Deal Synagogue

★ Park Avenue Synagogue

★ Hathaway Synagogue

★ Lawrence Avenue Synagogue

★ ''Ahavah Ve Achva''

★ West Long Branch

★ ''Shaare Tefillah Bene Moshe'' - Eatontown

South Carolina

★ "Beth-El Synagogue" Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

California

A Syrian synagogue exists on Foothill Road in Beverly Hills, California (although not all members are of Syrian background).

Leadership

Chief Rabbi Jacob S. Kassin was the spiritual leader of the united Syrian Community in New York until his passing in December of 1994. Today his son Rabbi Saul J. Kassin holds the title of Chief Rabbi.
As of 2007 there are no Conservative or Reform congregations affiliated with the Syrian community.

Latin America

Argentina

The largest Jewish community in Argentina is in the capital Buenos Aires. The majority are Ashkenazim, but the Sephardim, and especially the Syrians, are a sizeable community. Despite the fact that the Sephardim are a minority in the Argentine Jewish community as a whole, a majority of Orthodox (excluding Lubavitch) rabbis in Buenos Aires are of Sephardic descent. There are approximately 37,500 Sephardim in Buenos Aires.
Syrian Jews are most visible in the Once district, where there are many community schools and temples. For some decades there has been a good-natured rivalry between the ''Shami'' (Damascene) community of "Shaare Tefila (Pasito)" synagogue and the ''Halebi'' (Aleppan) community of "Sucat David" across the street. The most influential rabbinic authority was Rabbi Chehebar from the "Yessod Hadat" congregation on Lavalle street; he was consulted from all across the globe, and had an influential role in the recovery of parts of the Aleppo codex. There are many kosher butcher shops and restaurants catering to the community.
There were important communities in the Boca and Flores neighborhoods as well. Many Syrian Jews own clothing stores along Avellaneda avenue in Flores, and there is a community school on Felipe Vallese (formerly Canalejas) street. Some important clothing chains such as Chemea and Tawil, with tens of shops each, were started by Syrian Jews.

Brazil

The majority of the Syrian community of Brazil come from Beirut, Lebanon, where they had lived since their expulsion from Syria following the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent violent anti-Jewish pogroms perpetrated by their Muslim neighbours. They left Beirut in wake of the first Lebanese Civil War.
Most Syrian Jews established themselves in the industrial city of São Paulo, being attracted there by the many commercial opportunities it offered. The community became very prosperous, and several of its members are among the wealthiest and the politically and economically most influential families in São Paulo.
The community first attended Egyptian synagogues, but later founded their own synagogues, most notably the Beit Yaakov synagogues in the neighbourhoods of Jardins and Higienopolis.
The community has its own school and youth movement, and claims a strong Jewish identity and low assimilation rate. The majority of the community affiliates itself with Jewish Orthodoxy, though few could be described as fully Orthodox.
There are approximately 7,000 Syrian Jews in Brazil.

Panama

Panama also received a large number of Syrian Jewish immigrants, mostly from Halab (Aleppo), where they constitute a largest group in Panama's 8,000 strong Jewish community. (There are also some Sephardim from Ladino-speaking Turkish backgrounds.) The Panamanian Jews are among the most united Jewish communities in the world - most attend the same synagogues irrespective of ancestry, intermarriage is extremely low and scholarship in Torah is growing quickly. This community is also known for the redistribution of its wealth among its own and needy around the world.

Mexico

There have been Jews from Aleppo in Mexico City since the early years of the twentieth century. Originally they worshipped in a private house transformed in a synagogue - ''Sinagoga Ketana (Bet Haknesset HaKatan)'' located in Calles de Jesús María.
The ''Rodfe Sedek'' synagogue was established in 1931, largely through the efforts of Rabbi Mordejay Attie. This synagogue, known also as ''Knis de Cordoba'', is situated at 238 Cordoba Street in the Roma quarter of Mexico City. At the time this neighborhood was home to the largest concentration of Jews from Aleppo in Mexico City. The first mikveh (ritual bath) in Mexico was established within the Rodfe Sedek synagogue. In 1982 a funeral house was built in the courtyard of the synagogue.
In 1938 the Jewish immigrants from Aleppo set up ''Sociedad de Beneficencia Sedaká u Marpé'', which evolved into a separate Jewish community: since 1984 it has been known as ''Comunidad Maguen David''.

Traditions and Customs

Liturgy

Main articles: Sephardic Judaism


There exists a fragment of the old Aleppo prayer book for the High Holy Days, published in Venice in 1560. This represents the liturgy of the ''Musta'arabim'' (native Arabic-speaking Jews) as distinct from that of the Sephardim proper (immigrants from Spain and Portugal): it recognisably belongs to the "Sephardic" family of rites in the widest sense, but is different from any liturgy used today.
Following the immigration of Jews from Spain following the expulsion, a compromise liturgy evolved containing elements from the customs of both communities, but with the Sephardic element taking an ever larger share. In Syria, as in North African countries, there was no attempt to print a Siddur containing the actual usages of the community, as this would not generally be commercially viable. Major publishing centres, principally Livorno, and later Vienna, would produce standard "Sephardic" prayer books suitable for use in all communities, and particular communities such as the Syrians would order these in bulk, preserving any special usages by oral tradition. (For example, ִHacham Abraham ִHamwi of Aleppo commissioned a series of prayer-books from Livorno, which were printed in 1878, but even these were "pan-Sephardic" in character and did not attempt to set out a specific "minhag Aram Tsoba".) As details of the oral tradition faded from memory, the liturgy in use came ever nearer to the "Livorno" standard. In the early years of the twentieth century, this "Sephardic" rite was almost universal in Syria. The only exception (in Aleppo) was a "Musta'arabi" minyan at the Great Synagogue, but even their liturgy differed from the standard in only a few details such as the order of the hymns on Rosh Hashanah.
The liturgy of Damascus differed from that of Aleppo in some details, mostly because of its greater proximity to the Holy Land. Some of the laws specific to Eretz Yisrael are regarded as extending to Damascus, and the city had ties both to the Safed Kabbalists and to the Jerusalem Sephardic community.
The liturgy now used in Syrian communities round the world is textually speaking Oriental-Sephardic. That is to say, it is based on the Spanish rite as varied by the customs of Isaac Luria, and resembles those in use in Greek, Turkish and North African Jewish communities. However, some communities and individuals use "Edot ha-Mizraִh" prayer-books which contain a slightly different text, based on the Baghdadi rite, as these are more commonly available, leaving any specifically Syrian usages to be perpetuated by oral tradition.
The musical customs of Syrian communities are very distinctive, as many of the prayers are chanted to the melodies of the pizmonim, according to a complicated annual rota designed to ensure that the maqam (musical mode) used suits the mood of the festival or of the Torah reading for the week. ''See Syrian Cantors and The Weekly Maqam.

Pizmonim

Main articles: Pizmonim

Syrian Jews have a large repertoire of hymns, sung on social and ceremonial occasions such as weddings and bar mitzvahs. Pizmonim are also used in the prayers of Sabbath and holidays. Some of these are ancient and others were composed more recently as adaptations of popular Arabic songs; sometimes they are written or commissioned for particular occasions, and contain coded allusions to the name of the person honoured. There is a standard Pizmonim book called "Shir uShbaha Hallel veZimrah", in which the hymns are classified according to the musical mode (maqam) to which the melody belongs. As time passes and more and more pizmonim are getting lost, efforts are being made by the Sephardic Pizmonim Project to preserve as many pizmonim as possible.

Baqashot

Main articles: Baqashot

It was a custom in Syrian Jewish communities (and some others) to sing Baqashot (petitionary hymns) before the morning service on Shabbat. In the winter months the full corpus of 66 hymns is sung, finishing with Adon Olam and Kaddish: this service generally lasts about four hours, from 3 a.m. to 7 a.m..
This tradition still obtains in full force in the ''Ades'' synagogue in Jerusalem. In other communities such as New York it is less widespread, though the hymns are sung on other occasions.

Pronunciation of Hebrew

Main articles: Mizrahi Hebrew language

The Syrian pronunciation of Hebrew is similar to that of other Mizrahi communities, and is influenced both by Sephardi Hebrew and by the Syrian dialect of Arabic. It does not reflect the formal rules for the pronunciation of Classical Arabic (tajwid) to the same extent as the pronunciation of Iraqi Jews. Particular features are as follows:

★ ב (''Beth'' without ''dagesh'') is traditionally /b/, but in Israel is often now /v/ under the influence of Israeli Hebrew

★ ה (''He'' with ''mappiq'') is pronounced with a very short following schwa /ə/

★ ו (''Vav'') is pronounced /v/, not /w/

★ ח (''Heth'') is pronounced /ħ/, like Arabic ح (voiceless pharyngeal fricative)

★ ט (''Teth'') is pronounced /tˁ/, like Arabic ط (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar plosive)

★ ע (''Ayin'') is pronounced /ʕ/, like Arabic ع (voiced pharyngeal fricative), but this is less emphatic than in some other dialects

★ צ (''Tsadi'') is pronounced /sˁ/, like Arabic ص (voiceless pharyngealized alveolar fricative); that is, like English voiceless "s" but with the tongue a little retracted

★ ק (''Qof'') varies between /q/, like Classical Arabic ق (voiceless uvular plosive) and /ʔ/, a glottal stop

★ ת (''Tav'' without ''dagesh'') is pronounced /t/, not /θ/

Aleppo Codex

Main articles: Aleppo Codex

The Aleppo Codex, now known in Hebrew as ''Keter Aram Tsoba'', is the oldest and most famous manuscript of the Bible. Written in Tiberias in the year 920, and annotated by Aaron ben Asher, it has become the most authoritative Biblical text in Jewish culture. The most famous halachic authority to rely on it was Maimonides, in his exposition of the laws governing the writing of Torah scrolls in his codification of Jewish law (Mishneh Torah). After its completion, the Codex was brought to Jerusalem. Toward the end of the 11th century, it was stolen and taken to Egypt, where it was redeemed by the Jewish community of Cairo. At the end of the 14th century the Codex was taken to Aleppo, Syria (called by the Jews Aram Tsoba, the biblical name of part of Syria) — this is the origin of the manuscript’s modern name.
For the next five centuries it was kept closely guarded in the basement of the main synagogue in Aleppo, and was considered the community's greatest treasure. Scholars from round the world would consult it to check the accuracy of their Torah scrolls. In the modern era the community would occasionally allow academics, such as Umberto Cassuto, access to the Codex, but would not permit it to be reproduced photographically or otherwise.
The Codex remained in the keeping of the Aleppo Jewish community until the anti-Jewish riots of December 1947, during which the ancient synagogue where it was kept was broken into and burned. The Codex itself disappeared. In 1958 the Keter was smuggled into Israel by Murad Faham and wife Sarina, and presented to the President of the State, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. Upon its arrival it was found that parts of the Codex, including most of the Torah, had been lost. The Codex was entrusted to the keeping of the Ben-Zvi Institute and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, though the Porat Yosef Yeshivah has argued that, as the spiritual heir of the Aleppo community, it was the legitimate guardian. Some time after the arrival of the Codex, Mordechai Breuer began the monumental work of reconstructing the lost sections, on the basis of other well-known ancient manuscripts. Since then a few other leaves have been found.
Modern editions of the Bible, such as the Hebrew University's "Jerusalem Crown" and Bar-Ilan University's "Mikraot Gedolot ha-Keter", have been based on the Codex. The missing sections have been reconstructed on the basis of cross-references in the Masorah (textual notes) in the surviving sections, of the notes of scholars who have consulted the Codex and of other manuscripts.
The codex is now kept in the Israel Museum, in the building known as "The Shrine of The Book." It lies there along with the Dead Sea Scrolls and many other ancient Jewish relics.
===Attitudes to Conversion===
In the early twentieth century the Syrian Jewish communities of New York and Buenos Aires adopted rulings designed to discourage intermarriage. The communities would not carry out conversions to Judaism; they would not recognise the conversions of other communities or admit converts to join Syrian synagogues; marriages between Syrian Jews and converts would not be recognised, and the children of such marriages would not be allowed to join the Syrian community.
Hacham Uzziel, then Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, was asked to rule on the validity of this ban. He acknowledged the right of the community to refuse to carry out conversions and to regard as invalid conversions carried out by other communities in which marriage is a factor. At the same time he cautioned that persons converted out of genuine conviction and recognised by established rabbinic authorities should not be regarded as non-Jews, even if they were not allowed to join the Syrian community.
The ban is popularly known within the Syrian community as the "edict" or "proclamation" (in Hebrew, ''takkanah''). Every twenty years or so, the edict is reaffirmed by all leaders and rabbis of the community, often with extra clauses. A full list is as follows:

★ Buenos Aires, 1927 (R. David Setton)

★ New York, 1935 (R. Jacob Kassin)

★ New York, 1946 "Clarification"

★ New York, 1972 "Affirmation"

★ New York, 1984 "Reaffirmation"

★ New York, 2006 "Reaffirmation".
There has been some argument as to whether the ruling amounts to a blanket ban on all converts or whether sincere converts from other communities, not motivated by marriage, may be accepted. The relevant sentence is "no male or female member of our community has the right to intermarry with non-Jews; this law covers conversions which we consider to be fictitious and valueless". In the 1946 "Clarification" a comma appears after the word "conversions", which makes it appear that ''all'' conversions are "fictitious and valueless", though this understanding is not uncontested.
Today the Syrian community's rate of intermarriage with non-Jews is less than one percent, as compared to anything up to 50% among American Jews generally.

Cuisine

As in most Arab and Mediterranean countries, Syrian Jewish food is fairly similar to Syrian food generally. This is partly because of the eastern Mediterranean origins of Judaism as such and partly because the similarity of the Islamic dietary laws to the Jewish. Syrian (and Egyptian) recipes remain popular in Syrian Jewish communities round the world. There are traditions linking different dishes to the Jewish festivals.
Popular dishes are as follows:

★ ''Kibbeh'': minced meat with burghul, often in the form of stuffed fritters

★ ''Kibbeh ħamda'': meat balls in chicken soup made with lemon juice and vegetables (eaten before Yom Kippur fast)

★ ''Ijjeh'' or ''eggah'': egg dish, similar to a Spanish omelette

★ ''Ijjeh blahme'': fried meat burgers with eggs

★ ''Muħshi Badinjan'': Stuffed eggplant with rice & meat and chick peas

★ ''Muħshi Kousa'': Stuffed zucchini with rice & meat, nana mint and lemon

★ ''Yaprak'': Stuffed vine leaves with rice and meat

★ ''Kebab'': Meat balls (sometimes with cherries or pomegranate paste)

★ Chicken ''sofrito'' (''Ed-Djaj Sofreeto''): chicken sautéed with lemon juice, turmeric and cardamom

★ Chicken ''beida bi-lemoune'': chicken soup served with egg and lemon sauce

★ ''Dfeena'': Sabbath meat and bean stew equivalent to cholent

★ ''Ħammin'' eggs: hard-boiled eggs stained brown by being baked with ''dfeena'' or boiled with onion skins, sometimes adding tea leaves or coffee grounds[1]

★ ''Laħmajeen'' (or ''Laħmabajeen''): meat (sometimes with pomegranate paste or prune juice) on small round pastry base

★ ''Matahamre'': boiled squash, cheese, eggs and pieces of pita bread

★ ''Mefarka'': cold minced beef with broad beans and egg (for Shabbat)

★ Meat balls with chick peas and spinach

★ ''Sambousak'': small half-moon pasty filled with cheese or meat

★ ''Kousa b'jibn'': Squash baked with cheese

★ ''M'jadra'': rice and lentil or burghul and lentil kedgeree

★ ''Tabbouleh'': burghul salad with vine leaves

★ ''Bazirjan or Mhammara'': burghul, crushed wheat with pomegranate paste or prune juice

★ ''Shakshuka or Beid bifranji'': boiled tomato puree with onion and eggs

★ ''Beid blaban'': boiled yogurt with garlic, nana mint and eggs

★ ''Ka'ak'': aniseed-flavoured bracelets with sesame seeds

★ ''Ghreibe'': shortbread biscuits, often in bracelet form

★ ''Ma'amoul'': shortbread pastries with date or nut fillings (the Jewish version differs from the Arab in not using semolina flour)

★ Orange Passover cakes (derived from Spanish recipes through Sephardic immigration)

★ Coconut jam (used at Passover)

★ '' (iced drink made from almond syrup; generally a summer drink, but also used before Yom Kippur).

Surnames

Common Syrian-Jewish surnames are:

★ Abadi

★ Abboud

★ Abdul or Abdoul

★ Aboudi

★ Abulafia

★ Ades

★ Adjmi

★ Alfieh

★ Allako

★ Altaras

★ Amash

★ Amkieh

★ Ancona

★ Antar

★ Antebi or Anteby

★ Antaki

★ Anzarut

★ Arazi

★ Ariel

★ Arking or Arakanji

★ Armut

★ Ashkenazi or Ash

★ Ashqar or Ashear

★ Assa

★ Assoulin

★ Attar

★ Attiah, Atiyyah or Atieh

★ Azar

★ Azrak

★ Balanka, Blanka, Blanco

★ Ballas

★ Baruch

★ Bassul

★ Battat

★ Bawabeh

★ Bechar

★ Belilios

★ Benun

★ Betesh or Btesh

★ Beyda

★ Biba, Bibi, Bobo

★ Bijou, Bissou, Bozo

★ Braha or Braka

★ Breska

★ Bukai or Bukkei

★ Cabbaso

★ Cario

★ Cattan or Catton

★ Cayre or Kairey

★ Chalouh or Shalouh

★ Chappan

★ Chera or Chirro

★ Chemtob

★ Choeka, Shweke or Schweky

★ Churba

★ Cohen

★ Dabbah

★ Dana

★ Dahab

★ Darbakli or Derli

★ Dayan

★ Dayeh

★ Deiri

★ Dibbo

★ Didya

★ Djeddah

★ Dichy, Dishi

★ Drejo

★ Durzieh

★ Dweck, Dwek, Douek

★ Ekes or Ekas

★ Erfeli or Urfali

★ Esses or Asis

★ Faham

★ Falack

★ Fallas

★ Faour

★ Farah

★ Farashe

★ Farhi

★ Fattal

★ Faqs

★ Fayena

★ Franco

★ Freiwa

★ Gabbay

★ Gadeh

★ Ghazaleh

★ Gilla or Gil

★ Gindi or Zaknish

★ Goldman

★ Grazi

★ Haber

★ Haddad

★ Hakim

★ Halabi

★ Halima

★ Hamoui, Hamway or Hamwy

★ Hamra

★ Hanan, Hanon or Hanono

★ Hara

★ Harari-Raful or Harary (Naem)

★ Hasbani

★ Hazan

★ Hedaya

★ Hefes

★ Hidary or Khidrieh

★ Hilweni or Helwani

★ Hlaleh

★ Homsani

★ Horn or Hwerin

★ Husney

★ Indibo

★ Ini or Heiney

★ Jajati or Jouejati

★ Jamous

★ Janani

★ Jemal, Jammal, Jamal

★ Jerome

★ Jradeh

★ Kadshe

★ Kamishli

★ Kamkhaji

★ Kassab,

★ Kassar,

★ Khalusi (Dwek)

★ Kassin

★ Katash

★ Katri

★ Kbabieh

★ Kbariti

★ Khabbaz

★ Khafif

★ Khalife

★ Khamri

★ Khaski

★ Khayyat

★ Kilzi

★ Kochab

★ Kos

★ Kredi

★ Kubbeni or Kabbani

★ Kwan

★ Labaton

★ Ladkani

★ Lahham

★ Lala, Lolo, Lalo

★ Laniado

★ Lati

★ Levy

★ Lisbona

★ Lopez or Lofes

★ Lozeh

★ Malach

★ Maleh

★ Mandalawi

★ Manopla

★ Mansour

★ Mamiye or (Mamille)

★ Marashli

★ Marcus

★ Maslaton (Tarrab)

★ Massre, Massry, Missry or Mesrie

★ Matalon

★ Mattut

★ Mehanna

★ Menaged

★ Menashe or Menashe-Setton

★ Metta

★ Monsa

★ Mochon, Moshon

★ Mouadeb

★ Mishan or Mishanieh

★ Mizrahi

★ Mizreb or Mizrab

★ Mnefikhi, Minfakh

★ Musan

★ Mustaki

★ Naftali

★ Nahum

★ Najjar

★ Nakkash

★ Nasser

★ Nseiri, Nsiri,Nusseiri or Mousseiri

★ Nassi

★ Nawama

★ Nawlo

★ Nehmad

★ Paredes

★ Penhos

★ Picciotto

★ Rabi

★ Rahmey

★ Reuben

★ Romano

★ Saad, Saadiah, Saadimo, Seede

★ Saba, Sabbagh, Shabbe, Shabbo

★ Sacal, Sakkal

★ Safdie

★ Safra

★ Sakka

★ Salem

★ Salama or Salame

★ Salman

★ Sanado

★ Sardar or Sardel

★ Sarway

★ Sasson

★ Sayyagh

★ Semah or Sameh

★ Semantob

★ Serouya or Taraman

★ Sethon, Setton or Sutton

★ Shaab

★ Shabbot (Rofé)

★ Shahino

★ Shaalo or Shakkalo

★ Shalom

★ Shalam, Shalme or Chalme

★ Shamah or Shammah

★ Shameh, Shama or Shami

★ Shammosh

★ Shasho

★ Shawafan

★ Shayo or Chayo

★ Shehebar

★ Shohet

★ Shomer

★ Shrem or Chrem

★ Silvera (Senior)

★ Sitt

★ Skef, Shkefati

★ Slelat

★ Sofer

★ Srour or Serure

★ Srugo

★ Stambouli or Stanbuli

★ Sultan

★ Swed, Sweid or Soued

★ Tabbash or Tobias

★ Tabbush

★ Talgham

★ Tarzi

★ Tawil

★ Tebele, Teubal or Tobal

★ Telegraphchi

★ Tosoun

★ Totah

★ Toussie

★ Tuachi or Tawashi

★ Turkie or Turkiye

★ Wayya

★ Yashar

★ Yatshe

★ Yazdi

★ Yedid

★ Zafrani

★ Zaga

★ Zalta

★ Zarif

★ Zayyat, Zeitoune or Zeit

★ Zeibak

★ Zilkha

★ Zonana
Some of these surnames are also found in other communities, such as among Egyptian, Turkish and Iraqi Jews.

References

Bibliography

★ Abadi, J.F., ''A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen'': Harvard 2002. Hardback: ISBN 1-55832-218-3

★ Ades, Abraham, ''Derech Ere"tz'': Bene Berak 1990

★ Collins, Lydia, ''The Sephardim of Manchester: Pedigrees and Pioneers'': Manchester 2006 ISBN 0-9552980-0-8

★ Dobrinsky, Herbert C.: ''A treasury of Sephardic laws and customs: the ritual practices of Syrian, Moroccan, Judeo-Spanish and Spanish and Portuguese Jews of North America.'' Revised ed. Hoboken, N.J. : KTAV; New York, N.Y. : Yeshiva Univ. Press, 1988. ISBN 0-88125-031-7

★ Dweck, Poopa and Michael J. Cohen, ''Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews'': HarperCollins 2007, ISBN-10: 0060888180, ISBN-13: 9780060888183

★ Harel, Yaron, ''Sifre Ere"tz: ha-Sifrut ha-Toranit shel ִHachme Aram Tsoba'' (The Books of Aleppo: Torah Literature of the Rabbis of Aleppo): Jerusalem 1996

★ Idelsohn, A.Z., ''Phonographierte Gesänge und Aussprachsproben des Hebräischen der jemenitischen, persischen und syrischen Juden'': Vienna 1917

★ Katz, K., ''Masoret ha-lashon ha-‘Ibrit shel Yehude Aram-Tsoba (ִHalab) bi-ִkeri’at ha-Miqra ve-ha-Mishnah'' (The Hebrew Language Tradition of the Jews of Aleppo in the Reading of the Bible and Mishnah), 1981 (Hebrew)

★ Laniado, David Tsion, ''La-Qedoshim asher ba-are"ts'': Jerusalem 1935 repr. 1980

★ Laniado, Samuel, ''Debash ve-ִHALAB al-leshonech'': Jerusalem 1998/9 (Hebrew)

★ Roden, Claudia, ''A New Book of Middle Eastern Food'': London 1986 ISBN 0-14-046588-X

★ Roden, Claudia, ''The Book of Jewish Food'': New York 1997, London 1999 ISBN 0-14-046609-6

★ Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, ''Let Jasmine Rain Down'', Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology: 1998. Hardback: ISBN 0-226-75211-9, Paperback: ISBN 0-226-75212-7.

★ Sutton, David, ''Aleppo: City of Scholars'': Artscroll 2005 ISBN 1-57819-056-8 (partly based on Laniado, ''La-Qedoshim asher ba-are"ts'')

★ Sutton, Joseph, ''Aleppo Chronicles: the Story of the Unique Sepharadeem of the Ancient Near East - in their Own Words'': Brooklyn 1988

★ Sutton, Joseph, ''Magic Carpet: Aleppo in Flatbush'': Brooklyn 1979

★ Zenner, Walter P., ''A Global Community: The Jews from Aleppo, Syria'': Wayne State University Press 2000 ISBN 0-8143-2791-5

Prayer books

Historic

★ ''Maִhzor Aram Tsoba'' (fragment): Venice 1560

★ ''Bet El'' (seliִhot and morning service), Abraham ִHamwi: Livorno 1878 (repr. New York 1982)

★ ''Bet Din'' (Rosh Hashanah), Abraham ִHamwi: Livorno 1878 (repr. Jerusalem 1986)

★ ''Bet ha-Kapporet'' (Kippur), Abraham ִHamwi: Livorno 1879

★ ''Bet Simִhah'' (Sukkot), Abraham ִHamwi: Livorno 1879 (repr. Jerusalem 1970)

★ ''Bet ha-Beִhirah'' (Pesaִh), Abraham ִHamwi: Livorno 1880 (repr. Jerusalem 1985)

★ ''Seder Olat Tamid'' (''minִhah'' and ''arbit'' only): Aleppo 1907

★ ''Olat ha-Shaִhar'': Aleppo 1915

Modern

★ ''Seder Seliִhot'', ed. Shehebar: Jerusalem 1973

★ ''Bet Yosef ve-Ohel Abraham'': Jerusalem, Manִsur (Hebrew only, based on Baghdadi text) 1974-80

★ ''Siddur le-Tish'ah be-Ab'', ed. Shehebar: Jerusalem 1976

★ ''Mahzor Shelom Yerushalayim'', ed. Albeg: New York, Sephardic Heritage Foundation 1982

★ ''Siddur Kol Mordechai'', ed. Faham bros: Jerusalem 1984 (''minִhah'' and ''arbit'' only)

★ ''Sha'are Ratson'', ed. Moshe Cohen: Tel Aviv 1988, repr. 2003 (High Holy Days only)

★ ''Kol Yaakob'', ed. Alouf: New York, Sephardic Heritage Foundation 1990 (Hebrew only; revised edition 1996, Hebrew and English))

★ ''The Aram Soba Siddur: According to the Sephardic Custom of Aleppo Syria'', Moshe Antebi: Jerusalem, Aram Soba Foundation 1993 (''minִhah'' and ''arbit'' only)

★ ''Orִhot ִHayim'', ed. Yedid: Jerusalem 1995 (Hebrew only)

★ ''Orot Sephardic Siddur'', Eliezer Toledano: Lakewood, NJ, Orot Inc. (Hebrew and English: Baghdadi text, Syrian variants shown in square brackets)

★ ''Siddur Abodat Haleb / Prayers from the Heart'', Moshe Antebi, Lakewood, NJ: Israel Book Shop, 2002

★ ''Abir Yaakob'', ed. Haber: Sephardic Press (Hebrew and English, Shabbat only)

See also

★ Sephardi Jews

★ Mizrahi Jews

★ History of the Jews in Syria

★ History of the Jews in Lebanon

★ Baqashot

★ Pizmonim

★ The Weekly Maqam

★ Syrian Cantors

★ Aleppo Codex

External links

★ History: The Jews of Aleppo

★ Pizmonim: The Sephardic Pizmonim Project

★ Monuments: International Survey of Jewish Monuments: Syria: contains many photographs of synagogues in Syria

★ Religion: Sephardic Institute Judaic Seminar

★ Genealogy: Les Fleurs de L'Orient

★ Publications: Syrian Community Magazine

★ Social: Sephardic Community Center (Brooklyn)

★ Syrian Jews Mark 100 Years in U.S.

★ Cookery: NY Times article