Even as tensions between Israel and Syria ramped up in recent days, a small group of Syrian Jews recently celebrated a milestone that once seemed unthinkable: a return visit to their home country. Under the auspices of the new Syrian government,

For the first time in nearly thirty years, a group of American Jews originally from Damascus returned to Syria last week. Thanks to the fall of the Assad regime, the group, led by Rabbi Yosef Hamra, was able to tour prominent historical Jewish sites in the Syrian capital and see family homes.

During the Assad regimes, Western nations placed crippling economic sanctions on the country. Some have been lifted, but most are still in place, so how does a country shattered by civil war rebuild?

Syria's tiny Jewish community and Syrian Jews abroad are trying to build bridges after Bashar al-Assad's ouster in the hope of reviving their ancient heritage before the community dies out.

As Rabbi Yusuf Hamra and his son Henry were visiting Damascus this week for the first time since emigrating from Syria to the United States more than three decades ago, they were met by former neighbors with embraces and and gossip .

For the first time in three decades, Rabbi Joseph Hamra and his son Henry returned to a synagogue in the heart of Syria's capital Damascus. Syrian's authorities have said all of Syria's communities will play a role in their country's future but some are wary. Sean Hogan has more.

After decades of exile, a group of American Jews with deep roots in Damascus has returned to Syria to rediscover their long-lost heritage. Organized by the Syrian Emergency Task Force, the four-day visit took participants on a moving tour of historic synagogues,