ALEPPO — Decades after most Syrian Jews left, Henry Hamra of Brooklyn stands at the metal door of a small Aleppo synagogue holding keys that could mark the start of restoring Jewish property rights in Syria.
Hamra was 15 when his family left Damascus in the early 1990s after the Assad regime permitted Jewish citizens to travel abroad. Many who departed could not sell their homes; synagogues and schools were taken under government control and some private residences were occupied by others.
In December, Syrian authorities issued a license to a Jewish heritage foundation led by Hamra, transferring control of Jewish religious sites from the state to the organization and promising help in returning private property appropriated when Jews left. Hamra, now 48, says the foundation’s first tasks are to inspect synagogues and other properties, identify rightful owners and work to restore them.
Hamra’s return was arranged over the past year with help from Syrian-American activist Mouaz Moustafa and the Syrian Emergency Task Force, which coordinated visits and advocacy with Syrian officials. On Hamra’s first visit with his father, officials pledged assistance in restoring properties.
In a twist of recent history, Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa — described by authorities as a former al-Qaida commander who renounced the group’s ideology — has sought to reassure Western governments that minorities will be protected under the new government. Syrian officials have framed the handover of Jewish religious sites as evidence that all minorities are welcome.
Aleppo once hosted one of Syria’s largest Jewish communities with roots stretching at least 2,000 years. Before the creation of Israel in 1948, roughly 30,000 Jews lived in Syria. Under the closed regimes that followed, Jews could practice their faith but faced many restrictions. When President Hafez al-Assad lifted travel limits for Jewish citizens beginning in 1992, most emigrated. Yusuf Hamra, Henry’s father, was the last rabbi to leave; without clergy, Jewish religious life dwindled.
Today only a handful of elderly Jews remain in the country — Hamra says about six. On a visit to Damascus last year there were too few people to hold regular prayers.
On this trip to Aleppo, Henry brought his 21-year-old son, Joseph. They unlocked a small neighborhood synagogue layered in dust, with velvety curtains and an adjoining school whose desks were stacked on scuffed tables. The building sits in a district heavily damaged during Syria’s 14-year civil war, which ended when opposition fighters toppled President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Neighbors expressed hope at the prospect of Jewish return. Shop owner Abu Alaa al-Muhandis recalled coexistence, saying, “They were our friends. We hope they will come back; they will bring life back to the city.” Maissa Kabbani, founder of a Syrian justice organization, noted that churches, synagogues and mosques historically stood together and pointed to a nearby damaged mosque as evidence of that shared past.
Hamra was also shown Aleppo’s Central Synagogue, known as the al-Bandara Synagogue. The ancient structure — with stone arches, Roman columns, marble floors and an ornate women’s section behind decorative iron screens — testifies to a once-vibrant community in a historic trade center. For centuries the synagogue housed the Aleppo Codex, a roughly 1,000-year-old Hebrew manuscript that is the oldest known surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible; the codex was smuggled to Israel in the 1950s, though only partly intact.
In Washington, D.C., the Hamras and the Syrian Emergency Task Force lobbied for the U.S. to lift the last of its trade sanctions on Syria in December — a decision that has proved controversial among some Syrian-American Jews who distrust the new government and doubt its ability to protect minorities.
Hamra acknowledges the hurdles to resettlement: damaged infrastructure, intermittent electricity and water, and security concerns in parts of the country. During the delegation’s visits they were accompanied by young Syrian government fighters carrying rifles; some asked to take selfies with Hamra.
Raised speaking Arabic, Hamra refers to Syria as “the old country.” He says mass return is unlikely now, but many Syrian Jews would welcome visiting ancestral towns and reclaiming ties to family sites and graves. His son Joseph, moved by the experience, plans to bring friends to see family sites and imagines younger Syrian Jews possibly considering life there.
“What we’re trying to do is come see the properties, come see the synagogues and see what’s the condition,” Hamra said. “I’m calling on all the people who have properties to come and we’ll help them find them and give them back.”