The Committee for the Rescue of Syrian Jewry said it has received reports from Syria that the 2350-year-old synagogue of Ezra the Scribe in Todef near Aleppo has been taken over by unidentified individuals who are using it and the adjacent shrine as animal stables. The Jewish cemetery in Todef has also been taken over by the same individuals who are using it as a pasture for animals.
In telegrams to President Carter and United Nations Secretary General Kurt Woldheim, Committee president, Abraham Dwek called their attention to these outrages and urged them to protest the “desecration of the holy places and cemetery and to call upon the Syrian government to take appropriate measures for the immediate eviction of these individuals, the preservation of the sanctity of those places and their restoration to the Jewish community.”
Dwek noted that it was in Todef, “on the river Ahava,” according to the Bible, that Ezra the Scribe proclaimed a fast when he stopped there for three days during his perilous journey from Babylon with the returning Jewish exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
