Aleppo Emptied of Jews: The Last Two Jewish Women Rescued to Israel

The year is 2015, and for the first time in many years, the city of Aleppo in Syria is empty of Jews. The two elderly Jewish women who remained in Aleppo were smuggled out in a secret operation and are now residing in Ashkelon, according to a report published by the long-standing British-Jewish newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle.

The report extensively covered that a businessman named Moti Kahana, a former Israeli who grew up in Jerusalem and now resides in the USA, was behind the operation to rescue the last Jewish women. Kahana had previously been involved in efforts to rescue Jews, especially after learning about the dire situation in Syria, and particularly when he learned that the terrorist organization "Daesh" was closing in on them.

Objective: Leaving Syria

Months before the rescue, the family was told that a wealthy businessman from the United States planned to help them flee their home in Aleppo, an area where thousands had died from sniper fire, bombings, and shelling over the previous three years.

The family, referred to in the article as the "Halabi" family, was afraid to leave their home and initially refused the escape offer due to the constant warfare in the entire area, in the city, and at crossings controlled by terrorist organizations.

Later, Kahana recounted in a phone call to the newspaper from New York: "After the family decided not to leave, and every moment they stayed there was very dangerous, I had to scare them. So, one morning, three men arrived at the family's home, knocked on their door. Inside, there was immense fear, and they were afraid of the worst. After opening the door, the men came in and shouted at them that they had little time to pack bags and grab personal items before being taken away. The women donned hijabs over their faces, and the family got into a white minibus waiting for them outside. The three accompanied them and during the trip provided them with Syrian passports, waiting until 12:00 noon - a time when most fighters halt their attacks to pray, and then continued on their way. The family realized they were being rescued and were 'on their way to America'."

"They didn't stop along the way, surviving on pita and yogurt they brought with them. The minibus passed through a war-torn area. They intended to bypass most checkpoints but suddenly encountered a new one controlled by the extremist group Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda's branch in Syria. An armed bearded man called for the vehicle to stop. He leaned on the window, looked at the family, and the driver claimed they were refugees fleeing Assad's regime on their way north. His words resonated with the guard, who then contacted another organization guard further down the road, instructing him to allow the minibus to pass.

The minibus's destination was to leave Syria. After 36 hours of travel, they reached a covert location, settling in a rented apartment where they met American businessman Moti Kahana. "I rescued Aleppo's last Jewish women, it moves me," he said. The family wanted to join relatives who had immigrated to the USA, but Kahana tried to persuade them that they would be better off in Israel. "I told them it would be easier for them to come to Israel. I am also Israeli, and I believe that if you are Jewish, you should make Aliyah." At this point, Kahana involved the Jewish Agency.

Kahana continued helping the family, and representatives of the Jewish Agency conducted an inquiry about the identity of the 'Halabi' family for about a month and approved the immigration of the elderly mother and her two unmarried daughters, who reside in Ashkelon.

Tens of Thousands of Jews, Righteous and Kabbalists: Syrian Jewry in Its Prime

The Syrian Jewish community once numbered tens of thousands, led by Torah scholars and prominent halachic authorities and many synagogues housing hundreds of Torah scrolls across the country. Today, the little that remains among the Jewish communities is in the two major cities, Damascus and Aleppo, with no Jews left in Aleppo at all.

In the month of Tammuz 5774, a foreign communication agency reported that only about 40 Jews remained in Syria. The small community has significantly diminished in recent months. "We still observe Torah and commandments, strive to pray with a quorum at the central synagogue in Damascus, which is still standing," said 'A', a member of the Syrian Jewish community in the capital city, in a rare phone call. "We try to pray Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv with a minyan, and observe the holiday customs according to the Damascus tradition." The emotion in A's voice was palpable during the call. The constant fear is that Syrian authorities are eavesdropping on phone lines and aware of what is said in conversations. "We live alongside Muslims as we have for years, maintaining a low profile. Unlike in the past, the community is very small," he said.

A further shared that at the beginning of the year, there were about 140 Jews living in Syria, and today fewer than fifty. "In Damascus, the capital, we are forty Jews, and in Aleppo, no men remain," he noted. "There are seven women living in the Jewish neighborhood, and we are in contact with them, trying to help as much as possible." As of today, those women have left Aleppo.

A year and a half after the Syrian war broke out, "Yom Leyom" and media outlets published distressing images of the destruction and ruin of the 'Eliyahu Hanavi' synagogue in the Jobar neighborhood in northeast Damascus. The photos showed the ruins of the ancient synagogue, built over 400 years ago, destroyed by shelling from Syrian army forces.

Official Israeli sources noted that over the years, Israel has supplied the Jewish minority in Syria with holiday needs through a third party.

The Jewish cemetery in Damascus is in very problematic condition, according to A. "Great Torah scholars and kabbalists were buried in the cemeteries in Damascus and Aleppo, and now, because of the war and the small community, there is no one to care for the gravestones," he said.

State of War: Communication Severed with Jews

Rabbi Nathan Hadid, head of the 'Shaar Binyamin' Institute, which studies Damascene Jewry, noted in "Yom Leyom" that most Jews in Syria are elderly, the situation in Damascus is dire, there is no reliable and accurate information on their condition and how many remain. There is definitely no longer a minyan, but the concern among communities worldwide for those remaining there is great. Those who left Damascus in the last wave of aliyah and even a few who left afterward immigrated to the USA and South American countries, with some ultimately making Aliyah to the Holy Land.

Is it possible to talk to the remaining Jews?

"Today, there is no communication with the Jews who remain there, despite the use of electronic communications, the Jews there are afraid to speak and express themselves for fear of eavesdropping by government officials."

Is there a cohesive community for Jews from Damascus?

"We established, with Hashem's help, an organization called 'Shaar Binyamin Institute' founded for all those from Damascus in Israel and worldwide, to glorify the great heritage and revive it for the younger generation that is interested and wants to know more about a rich Jewish culture that vanished as if it never existed. The Shaar Binyamin Institute receives many inquiries regarding community customs, familial matters, and birth dates of those born in Damascus over the last 150 years, to trace family origins.

"So far, the institute has produced prayer books, High Holiday liturgies, a Passover Haggadah with hundreds of interpretations from Damascus scholars, whose names were unfamiliar. Recently, we released a rare commodity 'Shabbat Requests' of Damascus Jews with utmost precision and significant investment of top musical experts, to restore the glory of the Judeo-Damascene communities."