Jews began to settle in Aleppo at the time of the Babylonian Diaspora in 536–538 BCE and continued to do so until the creation of the modern State of Israel. The trade opportunities that Aleppo’s location offered made it possible for Jews to establish themselves there over a 2,000-year period and to become one of the oldest, continuous Jewish communities outside of Israel.
[This article was first published in the Summer 2016 edition of AVOTAYNU, The International Review of Jewish Genealogy. To obtain a subscription to AVOTAYNU, please visit https://www.avotaynu.com/journal.htm – Ed.]
The Aleppo Jewish community succeeded in establishing and sustaining a successful spiritual-religious heritage combined with a life of trade. When it was part of the Ottoman Empire, from the 16th century onward, Aleppo became a magnet for Jews migrating from other places, absorbing Jews expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century and attracting Jews from Middle Europe (the so-called Francos) at the beginning of the 18th century.
In the middle of the 16th century, the city of Safed in northern Israel suffered an economic crisis. England aggressively invaded its wool industry, purchasing almost all available raw materials, thus bringing almost the entire Safed textile industry to a halt. Following that crisis, 8 to 12 Jewish families left Safed for Aleppo (and Damascus). Upon arrival in Aleppo they were nicknamed Safdie (people who came from Safed in Palestine). That became my ancestors’ family name, which they kept until the family returned to Israel where it was transformed into Sfadia.
Why Did Jews Leave Aleppo?
From the end of the 17th century to the 19th century, several factors led Jews to leave Aleppo and to immigrate to other countries. In chronological order, from the 17th century to the 20th century, they were:
• The progressive disintegration of the Ottoman Empire starting at the end of the 17th century. Economic stagnation in the 20th century affected not only Jews but the entire Syrian population. In the 19th century, approximately 50,000 Syrians immigrated to Egypt, while another 90,000 went to the United States. Most were young emigrants who sought their future outside Syria.
• A severe earthquake in 1822 claimed approximately 3,000 victims, one-third of them Jews. The disaster caused about 1,000 victims; many families lost their homes but received no help from the authorities. Some of the families moved to Damascus and villages close to the Turkish border; poor families built tents outside Aleppo, in what later was called “Tent City.”
• A blood libel in Damascus in 1840 and similar events in other cities, such as Hamma and Aleppo, weakened the Jews’ feelings of security vis-à-vis their neighbors. As had happened in Europe, Christians accused the Jews of using Christian blood to make matzohs for Passover.
• Following the blood libels, a group of Jews in France established the Alliance Universelle Israelite to help the Syrian Jews. At the same time, the French Jews brought European culture to Aleppo, which found favor among a portion of the community, but which clashed with the religion and the tradition. In traditional Jewish schools, boys only learned to pray, study the Bible and learned about Jewish holidays and traditions. The French, on the other hand, started to teach literature, history, mathematics, and the French language. The rabbis were against teaching this new curriculum, but the new teaching opened the minds of the students who liked that.
• The big steamships that plied the Mediterranean beginning in the mid-19th century had difficulty anchoring in Syrian harbors and, therefore, chose other destinations. This limited export of Syrian goods to nearby countries such as Greece, Italy, and the Balkans.
• The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 altered trade routes and removed Aleppo’s role in trade with the Far East.
• The 19th-century European industrial revolution led to severe competition in the prices of goods, especially in textiles, and slowed trade and local industry.
• Jewish traders availed themselves of the economic opportunities coming from the West and reduced their local activity.
• The arrival of the “Francos” (Jews from Italy and Central Europe) at the beginning of the 18th century enlarged the contact of the Aleppo Jews with western culture, involving Aleppo traders in their business and leading to the westernization of a portion of the Jewish community.
The cumulative effect of the events described above led to a cultural crisis for the Jews of Aleppo. Some were the conservative, traditional religious Jews who opposed innovation and feared the erosion of their way of life. Others were the Jews who were exposed to the growing influence of modern Western culture.
Aleppo Jews began to search for alternative ways to conduct commerce, including trade with overseas markets. They knew about the opportunities in some destinations because of earlier commercial ties. In other cases, they were drawn to localities by assessing the inherent trade potential.
The Jews did not migrate en mass, nor in panic; the movement extended over a period of about four generations. The destinations chosen depended upon a family’s economic situation. Wealthier families could afford to migrate far away—to the Western world; others chose closer, less costly destinations––Europe and Israel.
On the eve of World War I, Aleppo had about 12,000 Jews. Between the two World Wars, about 2,000 Aleppo Jews migrated to Jerusalem. The largest migration was to the Western Hemisphere, to the United States and Latin America. In the years 1908–14, about 11,000 Aleppo Jews left. Most (46 percent) moved to Argentina, 32 percent went to Brazil, 14 percent to Cuba, 4 percent to Uruguay, 3 percent to Mexico and 1 percent to Chile.
Emigrant Destinations
Manchester, England. Migration to Manchester began in 1874 when textile traders joined the textile industry with which they had enjoyed business ties for a long time. The immigrants established a permanent community that continues to this day. Among the early Jewish families were Ades, Betesh, Dayan, Duwek, Esses, Halak, Hamui, Menaged, Nehmad and Safdie.
Paris. Having established connections with Alliance leaders, some families that already spoke French preferred to emigrate to Paris.
Egypt. After the opening of the Suez Canal, some Aleppo Jews moved to Egypt with the aim and hope of close proximity to the trade routes. The results were not as they had expected, however, and after about 50 years most left for Argentina, Brazil, Israel and Europe.
United States. Aleppo Jews started to settle on Manhattan’s Lower East Side at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. Families typically sent their eldest sons first to assess the area, with other family members following later. Some families or family members were refused entry either because of disease or because a quota was full. In such cases, the individuals returned to Syria or chose to go to another country.
Mexico. Most of the emigrants who were refused entry by the American authorities went to Mexico. Some waited for the U.S. quota to be opened; others decided to settle in Mexico. In Mexico they met Jews who had lived in the country since the Spanish occupation; among them were families such as the Charabati, Hamui, Hanono, Hayat, and Shabot.
Brazil. Upon arrival in Sao Paolo, the Aleppo immigrants found other Jews, descendants of the secret Jews who had left Portugal in the 16th century. The new families arrived with business vision and courage and quickly integrated with the local community. Among the immigrants were such families as the Betesh, Hayat, Safra and Safdie.
Argentina. Like Brazil, Argentina, which had gained its independence from Spain in the second half of the 19th century, badly needed manpower to establish investments and create a modern country. Today, Buenos Aires has South America’s largest Jewish community, about 250,000 individuals with ancestors from various countries. The Aleppo community, including the Bahuabe, Daye, Duwek and Safdie families, settled in the Once and Flores quarters of the city. They continue to maintain their Aleppo religious traditions today.
Columbia. Aleppo Jews arrived in Columbia immediately after World War I, settling in Bogota, Brankila, and Cali. Others arrived following World War II. These were Jews from Greece, Morocco, Syria, Damascus, (a town 200 kilometers south of Aleppo) and Kamishly, (a town 80 kilometers northeast of Aleppo) and Turkey, with a small number from Israel. They established trade in various industries and businesses, including ranches for a special variety of small bananas (the Chiquita banana).
Venezuela and Panama. Venezuela and Panama were secondary destinations for some who had initially settled elsewhere in the West. Most of these families made their living in textiles, jewels and as goldsmiths.
India. In the days when the British Empire ruled India, a few Aleppo families, such as the family of Abraham Duwek Hacohen, arrived as representatives of commercial companies. As temporary residents, they did not build a separate community but instead became involved with the local Jews.
Australia. As is the case with India, Aleppo Jews also arrived in Australia as commercial representatives, positions they still hold today. Families included the Antebi, Boshi (from Manchester) Harrari, Setton and Safdeah (Safdie).
Japan. Today, approximately 30 to 50 Jewish families originally from Aleppo live south of Tokyo in Kobe, making a living in the textile and electronics businesses. Included are the Chaber, Charabani, Dabach, Hamui and Matoka families.
Israel. Those Aleppo Jews who settled in Jerusalem were primarily rabbis, students of learned scholars and families of the middle class and lower. Hundreds of other families went to Haifa and Tel Aviv.
The Quiet Migration
Shortly before the establishment of the State of Israel, Syria closed its borders forbidding its Jews to leave the country. As a result, a secret department of the Israeli intelligence smuggled Jews out of Syria (and sometimes from certain European countries as well). During the period 1932–36 and 1938, single individuals and groups left Aleppo for Israel, sometimes with no notice to their families.
My cousin’s family was smuggled out of Aleppo in 1979 (and my father in 1933). The family was tired of the fact that Arab boys had been harassing their four daughters for a long time. One day they simply closed their house and left with two other families with the assistance of smugglers who helped them to cross the border in the night by foot into Turkey. It took them a month to prepare certificates before they arrived in Israel.
The last Jew of Aleppo, age 76, arrived in Israel in 1996. Thus the curtain descended upon one of the oldest and most glorious communities of the Jewish people of their time.
