Our Work, Documented
The latest from the Syrian Mosaic Foundation — dated updates from the field, each linked to independent press coverage.
July 2026
SMF has begun restoring the main Jewish cemetery of Damascus, in the Tabbaleh district along the airport road — hundreds of tombs across some 250,000 square meters. Crews have cleaned the grounds, repaired damaged graves, and repainted inscriptions, and work is underway on the outer wall, lighting, and security cameras. It is the first restoration of the cemetery since the fall of the Assad regime.
June 2026
A ceremonial Chair of Elijah, handcrafted by Jewish artisans in Damascus around 1946 and stolen from a synagogue in the Old City's Jewish Quarter, has been recovered. After receiving a tip that the chair had surfaced in the antiques market, SMF founder Joe Jajati worked with residents of the Jewish Quarter to track it down and return it to the synagogue.
June 2026
On June 13, 2026, SMF organized a visit to Damascus by a US delegation led by Rabbi David Saperstein, former US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. The delegation toured the Jobar and Al-Franj synagogues and the Jewish cemetery, and met with Syrian religious and civic leaders — including Christian patriarchs — to discuss coexistence and cultural preservation.
February 2026
Working with the Royal Semiramis Hotel, SMF founder Joe Jajati helped establish Syria's only kosher dining option — with dedicated equipment, kosher meat brought from New York, and classic Damascene dishes. The New York Times featured the kitchen in February 2026, as Jewish travelers begin returning to Damascus; formal kosher certification is being pursued.
April 2026
Together with local residents and authorities, SMF is upgrading everyday infrastructure in the historic Jewish Quarter of Old Damascus — modernizing street lighting, electricity, and security systems, and bringing light back to the quarter's old alleys.
December 2025
SMF organized an academic delegation to Damascus that included Dartmouth's Dr. Susannah Heschel, NYU's Dr. Jill Joshowitz, and Rabbi Asher Lopatin. The group met with officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the leadership of Damascus University, and visited the National Museum and the Al-Franj synagogue — with student exchanges, museum partnerships, and an international conference on Syrian Jewish heritage now under discussion.
November 2025
SMF proudly sponsored 'The Rose of Seville: The Bride's Crown', a musical theatre production at the Damascus Opera House blending Arab and Andalusian traditions in dance, drama, and live music — staged together with the Opera House and the Dance Theatre Company.
September 2025
During SMF's September 2025 delegation to Damascus, the Al-Franj synagogue hosted a minyan — a Jewish prayer quorum — for the first time in roughly thirty years. The same visit launched the kosher kitchen at the Royal Semiramis, brought a cultural evening to Old Damascus, and led to the recovery of stolen synagogue artifacts in the Shaghour district.
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