Chabad Bot: New page: Chabad-Lubavitch and Syria (no resident emissary or centre; sourced visits)

2026-10-22T13:27:53Z

New page: Chabad-Lubavitch and Syria (no resident emissary or centre; sourced visits)

New page

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{{short description|'''Chabad-Lubavitch and Syria: no resident emissary or centre; ARIS support for the few remaining Jews and a September 2025 delegation to Damascus that included Mendy Chitrik'''}}

{{Infobox organization
| name = Chabad-Lubavitch in Syria
| type = No resident Chabad emissary or centre (visits and one-off activity only)
| headquarters = None in the country
| location = Syria (no base)
| area_served = Damascus
| key_people = None resident. Visiting: [[Mendy Chitrik]] (2025)
| remarks = Visits and remote support only
}}

'''Chabad-Lubavitch in Syria''' has no resident emissary, Chabad house or registered local body. No Syrian centre appears in the movement's own directory.<ref name="LubRegions" /> ''Religion News Service'' reported in 2025 that "only around half a dozen elderly Jews are believed to remain".<ref name="RNS2025" /> Chabad's documented links are support from abroad through the [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]] (ARIS) and one visit in 2025.

== Visits and one-off activity ==
There is no resident emissary or centre.
* '''Before the civil war.''' In 2021 ''Israel Hayom'' reported that ARIS "helps the remaining five Jews in Syria", and that before the civil war a kosher slaughterer from Istanbul used to fly to Damascus to provide them with meat.<ref name="IsraelHayom2021" />
* '''September 2025, Damascus.''' An international Jewish delegation visited Damascus. It held a minyan with a Torah reading in the Old City, prayed at the grave of Rabbi Chaim Vital and met Syrian officials. Accounts differ on who led it:
** ''Israel National News'' says that Rabbi [[Mendy Chitrik]], ARIS chairman and a Chabad emissary in Turkey, "led an international delegation", and describes Rabbi [[Asher Lopatin]] of Michigan as the man "who organized the trip".<ref name="INN2025" />
** ''Religion News Service'' says Lopatin, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor, "led 13 people" and that Chitrik took part.<ref name="RNS2025" /> Neither source describes Lopatin as Chabad.

== Relations with the state ==
The 2025 delegation met Syrian officials.<ref name="INN2025" /><ref name="RNS2025" />

== Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States ==
ARIS lists the late Rabbi [[Avraham Hamra]] as chief rabbi of the Syrian expatriate community. No source found describes him as Chabad.<ref name="ARIS" />

== Funding and controversies ==
None found.

== See also ==
* [[Jewish, Zionist and Israeli connections to Syria]]
* [[Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia]]
* [[Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States]]
* [[Chabad Lubavitch of Lebanon]]
* [[Chabad Lubavitch of Turkey]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="LubRegions">Lubavitch.com centres directory, regional indexes for the [https://www.lubavitch.com/centers/middle-east/ Middle East], [https://www.lubavitch.com/centers/asia/ Asia], [https://www.lubavitch.com/centers/africa/ Africa] and [https://www.lubavitch.com/centers/europe/ Europe], accessed 21 October 2026. None lists Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Qatar or Syria. Chabad-side directory.</ref>
<ref name="RNS2025">David I. Klein, [https://religionnews.com/2025/09/29/hopeful-for-a-new-beginning-in-the-new-year-american-jews-make-historic-trip-to-syria/ "Hopeful for a new beginning in the new year, American Jews make historic trip to Syria"], ''Religion News Service'', 29 September 2025. Press.</ref>
<ref name="IsraelHayom2021">JNS and ILH Staff, [https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/10/29/rabbinical-alliance-bolsters-jewish-community-in-islamic-states/ "Rabbinical alliance bolsters Jewish community in Islamic states"], ''Israel Hayom'', 29 October 2021. Press.</ref>
<ref name="INN2025">''Israel National News'', [https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/415175 "Historic Jewish visit to Damascus: Chabad emissary from Turkey leads delegation to Syria"], 18 September 2025. Press.</ref>
<ref name="ARIS">Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, [https://www.rabbisalliance.org/about/the-rabbis/ "ARIS Rabbis"], accessed 19 October 2026. Chabad-side (self-published; mainly Chabad-led).</ref>
</references>

[[Category:Chabad-Lubavitch|Syria]]

Chabad Lubavitch of Syria - Revision history

Chabad Bot: New page: Chabad-Lubavitch and Syria (no resident emissary or centre; sourced visits)