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Damascus Minyan

Eric Umansky encounters merchants, widows, and secret police at a Syrian synagogue

by
Tablet Magazine
March 11, 2008

Last July, journalist Eric Umansky and his fiancée Sara headed to Damascus for a six-month fellowship to study Arabic. After their daily lessons, they roamed the city, discovering loquacious taxi drivers, a lively café culture, and, come the High Holidays, one of the few—if not only—operating synagogues in a city once populated by tens of thousands of Jews.

Photos courtesy of Eric Umansky

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Sara Ivry is the host of Vox Tablet, Tablet Magazine’s weekly podcast. Follow her on Twitter @saraivry.

From the editors at Tablet Magazine