On April 25, Bechor Simantov, head of the small Jewish community of Damascus, posted on Facebook that the tomb of Rabbi Chaim Vital, the proverbial student of the Ari z”l, had been desecrated by unknown individuals who broke into the grave’s compound and dug in it in search of antiquities.
ביום רביעי בלילה (שלשום) אלמונים פרצו לבית הקברות היהודי בדמשק, שברו את את השער הראשי של בית הקברות ונכנסו לחדר שבו נמצא קברו של הרב חיים ויטאל, מתלמידיו של האר”י שקבור בצפת. הם חפרו בור בקרבת הקבר כדי לחפש שרידים. גורם בקהילה היהודית בדמשק אומר לכאן חדשות כי הם עדכנו את השלטונות… pic.twitter.com/dfIo5MxsIP
— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) April 25, 2025
On Sunday morning, the Israeli government officially announced that the body of Sergeant Tzvi Feldman had been recovered and returned to Israel following a special operation conducted by the IDF and the Mossad deep inside Syrian territory.
Various sources within both the Jewish community and among security officials are now raising the possibility of a connection between recent publications and the return of Tzvi Feldman’s remains to Israel.
As some may recall, the grave believed to be Feldman’s was reportedly restored by local officials in Syria, an act that was widely interpreted at the time as a gesture of goodwill by the country’s new leadership. In light of recent events, however, speculation has grown: was this restoration in fact a calculated move to conceal the Israeli operation?
The remains were identified at the Genomic Identification Center of the Military Rabbinate, and Feldman’s family was formally notified by the IDF in the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu (Israel Recovers Body of Fallen Soldier Tzvi Feldman, Missing Since 1982 Lebanon War).
This extraordinary recovery was the result of a complex, covert operation, made possible by precise intelligence and exceptional operational capabilities, demonstrating both the strategic use of deception and the unwavering determination of Israel’s security forces.
The mission marks the culmination of over four decades of intensive intelligence and operational efforts, carried out in close coordination between the Prime Minister’s Office, the Mossad, Military Intelligence, the Shin Bet, and the IDF, working together shoulder to shoulder.
Rabbi Chaim ben Yosef Vital (1542 – 1620) was the leading disciple of the famed kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Luria, a.k.a. the Ari z”l. Vital meticulously documented much of Luria’s teachings, preserving them for future generations. Following his death, these writings began to circulate widely, leaving a profound and lasting influence on diverse Jewish communities around the world.
