The tomb of Rabbi Chaim Vital, which was desecrated in Damascus, Syria in April, has been renovated by local officials, according to Israel's public broadcaster KAN on Sunday.
Footage filmed by a Syrian Jew showed that the pit was filled with sand and covered with cement.
Jewish leaders around the world expressed outrage following the incident in April.
The Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS), an umbrella group representing rabbis from Jewish communities across Muslim-majority nations, condemned the vandalism.
“This act of desecration is not just an offense against Jewish heritage,” the Alliance said, “but an affront to the broader principle of protecting religious and cultural diversity in the Middle East.”
Who was Rabbi Chaim Vital?
Rabbi Chaim Vital (1542–1620) was a leading Jewish scholar and mystic during the 16th century, in what was then the Ottoman Empire. Born in Safed, in today’s northern Israel, Vital became one of the foremost disciples of Rabbi Isaac Luria, one of the founders of modern Kabbalah – Jewish mystical thought.
Vital played a crucial role in preserving and transmitting Luria’s teachings after his death, compiling works that profoundly shaped Jewish spirituality. His major writings, including Etz Chaim (“Tree of Life”) and Shaar HaGilgulim (“The Gate of Reincarnations”), continue to be central texts in the study of Kabbalah to this day.
In his later years, Vital settled in Damascus, where he served as a religious leader and teacher until his death, in 1620. He was buried in the city’s Jewish cemetery, which for centuries has remained a site of reverence for Jews in the region.