Tadef

 ( Historic Jewish Communities In Asia ) 

Tadef (; also spelled Tedef or Tadif) is a town southeast of Al-Bab, about east of Aleppo, Syria and less than south of Al Bab. The town, which is the site of a shrine to the Jewish prophet Ezra (c. 400 BCE), was a popular summer resort for the Jews of Aleppo.

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History The village was inhabited during the 19th century by Arabs belonging to the Aneyzeh tribe. During the late 1800s, the village came under repeated attack by tribes who wished to steal sheep and cattle from the surrounding plains. Casualties were reported as the villagers were able to muster over 400 armed men to defend their flocks and herds. At the time, about 20 Jewish families lived in the village, which was described as a "Jewish town". Before the festival of Shavuot, Jews from Aleppo made an annual pilgrimage to the village.

In 1931, there were 15 Jewish families living in the town.

Aron Rodrigue (2025). 9780295983141, University of Washington Press. . ISBN 9780295983141

On 30 November 2024, SNA forces captured the town.

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Association with Ezra Local tradition maintains that Ezra (c. 400 BCE) paused in the town on his way from Babylon to Jerusalem and built the synagogue which still stands today.

(1992). 9781857790368, Carnell. . ISBN 9781857790368

In 1899, Max Freiherr von Oppenheim discovered 14th-century Hebrew inscriptions at the synagogue.

(2025). 9780826466907, Continuum International Publishing Group. . ISBN 9780826466907

There is a spring near the town called Ein el-Uzir, where it is said Ezra regularly immersed himself during his sojourn there.

David Sutton (2005). 9781578190560, Mesorah. . ISBN 9781578190560

(2025). 9781592640515, Toby Press. . ISBN 9781592640515

A tomb ascribed to Ezra is also located in the town and has been intact for many centuries.

Walter P. Zenner (2025). 9780814327913, Wayne State University Press. . ISBN 9780814327913

On a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1414, Issac Elfarra of Málaga was informed:

At a distance of two (sic) miles from Aleppo is the tomb of Ezra the Scribe. There Ezra recorded the Torah... This village is called Taduf and a synagogue... They also say that every night year round a cloud ascends from the tomb of Ezra never departing.

Josef W. Meri (2025). 9780199250783, Oxford University Press US. . ISBN 9780199250783

There is also another tomb attributed to Ezra near Basra, Iraq.

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