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Syrian Jews derive their origin from two groups: those who inhabited Syria from early times and those Sephardim who fled to Syria after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain (1492 A.D). There were large communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Beirut for centuries. 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.

History

Second Temple Period

The tradition of the community ascribes its founding to the time of King David (1000 B.C.), whose general Joab occupied the area of Syria described in the Bible as Aram Zoba: this name is taken by later tradition as referring to Aleppo. Whether or not this tradition has a basis in fact, both Aleppo and Damascus certainly had Jewish communities early in the Christian era.

Post Second Temple

After the Islamic conquest

Arrival of Spanish Jews to Syria

Under the Ottoman Empire

World War I

Leaving Syria

The Syrian Community of New York City

The Syrian Community of Mexico

The Syrian Community in Israel

Traditions and Customs

Pizmonim

Baqashot

It was a custom in Syrian Jewish communities 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 Bet Ades synagogue in Jerusalem. In other communities such as New York it is less widespread, though the hymns are still in use for other purposes.

Liturgy

Aleppo Codex

Cookery

References

• Sutton, Joseph, Aleppo in Flatbush
• Sutton, Joseph, Magic Carpet
• Harel, Yaron, Bi-Sefinot Shel Esh la-Ma'arab (By Ships of Fire to the West: Changes in Syrian Jewry during the Period of the Ottoman Reform 1840-1880)
• Harel, Yaron: Sifre Ere"tz (The Books of Aleppo)
• Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, Let Jasmine Rain Down, Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology: 1998. Hardback: , Paperback: .
• Abadi, J.F., A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen: Harvard 2002. Hardback:

See also:
Sephardi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Baqashot
Pizmonim
Syrian Cantors
Aleppo Codex

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