News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Veteran Israeli military affairs correspondent Ron Ben-Yishai visited what he claims is Damascus' last functioning synagogue on Yom Kippur, and he reports on the visit in today's Yediot Aharonot. Ben-Yishai describes the way he approached the shul through a narrow alleyway that "suddenly widened into a large courtyard, a fountain placed in the middle of it. Five women stood by it and were praying determinedly from their books."

"On the courtyard's southern side lay a large structure made of stone. Its door was wide open and through it I could see into the decorated hall of the synagogue; its ceiling high, the walls plated with dark wood adorned with biblical phrases carved into brass plates," Ben-Yishai wrote.

"'This is the French synagogue for Spanish Jews in Damascus, the last one in Syria where people still pray,' Ben-Yishai's host told him. "He introduced himself as the head of the Jewish community in the city and invited me to enter. The Holy Ark was wide open, inside where eight ancient Torah books, kept safe in silver cases marked with intricate designs."