(JTA) — 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.

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.

Thousands of Jews left Syria in 1992, when they were allowed to emigrate. The visit by a small delegation of U.S.-based Syrian Jewish religious figures last week was their first time back since then.

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.

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,