{"id":287743,"date":"2026-02-12T15:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287743\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T15:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:35:08","slug":"damascus-hotel-introduces-kosher-menu-as-jewish-visitors-return-to-post-assad-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/287743\/","title":{"rendered":"Damascus hotel introduces kosher menu as Jewish visitors return to post-Assad Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

It all began when a Jewish American family visiting Syria found themselves eating only fruit for dinner. The food at the hotel was not kosher, and the hotel owner quickly realized there was a problem. Against the backdrop of Jewish tourists returning to Syria under the country\u2019s new regime<\/a>, he decided, according to a report in The New York Times, to offer a kosher menu for Jewish guests.The Royal Semiramis, a five-star hotel in Damascus, reopened only in April 2025. Recently, following the introduction of its kosher menu, it has become a central hub for Jews arriving in the city. According to reports, it is the only place in Syria that serves kosher food. Although Syria\u2019s Jewish community now consists of only a handful of individuals<\/a>, the number of Jews visiting Damascus has been rising since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad\u2019s regime \u2014 along with the demand for kosher meals.<\/p>\n

2 View gallery <\/p>\n

\"\u05d9\u05d2\u05d9\u05e9<\/a>\"\u05d9\u05d2\u05d9\u05e9<\/p>\n

The Royal Semiramis, a five-star hotel in Damascus, reopened in April 2025<\/p>\n

(Photo: Syrian News Agency)<\/p>\n

Bachor Simantov, one of the last remaining members of Damascus\u2019s Jewish community, said that the hotel opened a kosher section in its kitchen. \u201cThe plates, the utensils \u2014 everything is new and kosher. Jews bring meat from America and eat kosher, but with God\u2019s help, in April, after Passover, a ritual slaughterer will come and slaughter meat for the restaurant in Damascus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simantov said he frequently visits the restaurant. He explained that the kosher section is intended to encourage Jews to come to Syria. \u201cWe are encouraging Syrians to return to the country for investment, to open businesses, to pray at the synagogue. If someone wants to return to their old home, there is no problem with that \u2014 the government has no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

American travel influencer Nick Maddock, who has more than 190,000 followers on Instagram, wrote on January 11: \u201cOne of the things that surprised me most and that I now appreciate about Syria is how diverse it is. It\u2019s truly a mosaic of cultures, religions and ethnic groups. And Damascus is the center of it all. Although not many remain, Syrian Jews are an integral part of that mosaic \u2014 which is why I greatly appreciated that this restaurant has a fully available kosher kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the video, Maddock films the kitchen and explains that there are completely separate utensils for kosher food, as well as different preparation methods. A sign in English can be seen reading, \u201cFor kosher food only, do not touch.\u201d Maddock emphasizes that it is likely the cleanest kitchen he saw in all of Damascus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It all began when a Jewish American family visiting Syria found themselves eating only fruit for dinner. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-287743","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}