In ancient times, Syria was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the diaspora; most of its Jews departed during the 20th century, leaving historic synagogues behind them. Many of these have now been destroyed in the ongoing civil war.
More synagogues have been destroyed in Syria this year than at any other point since the time of the Roman Emperor Titus. Tragic as the loss of the site of the Dura synagogue was, most of the items from it are safely elsewhere. The same cannot be said for the Jobar synagogue, whose foundations are older but whose library and cult objects are unaccounted for.
Read more on PhDiva: http://phdiva.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/rip-jobar-synagogue-syria.html