Thousands of Syria’s Jews left in recent decades. But after Assad’s ouster and easing of sanctions, they can now reconnect ...

Henry Hamra left Damascus as a teenager more than 30 years ago and never stopped pining for home. “It was my dream to go back,” he told lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday.

Rabbi Yusuf Hamra, left, and his son Henry take pictures as they visit the Al-Raqi synagogue in the old city of Damascus Feb. 18, 2025. The Syrian-American Jewish family returned for the first ...

FILE - Syrian-American Henry Hamra takes pictures at a synagogue destroyed during the war at the Jobar district in the outskirts of Damascus, Feb. 18, 2025.

For Henry Hamra, who fled Damascus as a teenager with his family in the 1990s, the 30 years since have been shadowed by worry for what they left behind.

For Henry Hamra, who fled Damascus as a teenager with his family in the 1990s, the 30 years since have been shadowed by worry for what they left behind. “I was just on the lookout the whole time.

For Henry Hamra, who fled Damascus as a teenager with his family in the 1990s, the 30 years since have been shadowed by worry for what they left behind. “I was just on the lookout the whole time.