Jews have lived in Syria for over 3,000 years. Most lived in one of the two main centers along the caravan routes, Damascus or Aleppo
(Aleppo is also known as Aram Soba or, in Arabic, Haleb). As is typical of other regions of the Ottoman Empire, Aleppo had no
official birth, marriage, or death records. Deaths are often mentioned in manuscripts of Eulogies that have survived (see list below). Some records were kept by various rabbis and a few of these have survived and are located either in manuscript or on microfiche in the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem.
To examine these records, please contact:
These records have been translated and transliterated as part of the Sephardic Heritage Project, with donations from members of
Brooklyn's Syrian Community, under the supervision of Sarina Roffé (Brooklyn, NY). The original records were written in a Hebrew
Rashi special Aleppan script as well as Judeo-Arabic. They were translated to Modern Hebrew by Rabbi Abraham Ades of Bnei Brak,
Israel. Then under the supervision of Galit Mizrahi (Jerusalem, Israel), the records were translated into English and converted
into a database. Then they were edited by Sarina Roffé. Since the records have been through so many versions, it is possible that
we made mistakes.
The records that may be searched with the search engine below consist of deaths in Aleppo, Syria, covering sporadic entries from periods as early as 1716 -1946.
Original versions of these records can be accessed in the sources provided in Israel. The records are not inclusive of all deaths and are from the following sources:
- Eulogies from Hedaya's Collection.
- Manuscript 43766: notes from various Eulogies.
- National School Manuscript 72038: Sermons and Eulogies of Rabbi Yeshaya Dabbah from Aleppo.
- List of names from register of Hevra Kadisha [burial society] of Sephardim in Jerusalem (a copy is in Rabbi Efraim Laniado's collection)
- Manuscript 72024: Historical List from Haleb (in Arabic), Leaf 3-16.
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