Eulogies from Aleppo, Syria

Death · Vital Records · Aleppo, Syria · Sephardic

By Sarina Roffé

This database contains information about 217 deaths in Aleppo, Syria, covering 1716–1946.

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, as حَلَب “Haleb”). As is typical of other regions of the Ottoman Empire, Aleppo had no official birth, marriage, or death records. 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 National Library of Israel (NLI) in Jerusalem.

This Aleppo Eulogies Database includes 217 records of deaths in Aleppo, Syria, covering sporadic entries from periods as early as 1716 to 1946.

For more information about the Jewish community of Aleppo, see the The Jews of Aleppo page.

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 Aleppoan 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 mistakes were made. Original versions of these records can be accessed in the sources provided in Israel.

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.

This database is searchable via the JewishGen Syria Database.