[3] Though much cited as one of the earliest sources mentioning the existence of a synagogue at Jobar is from the Talmud, there is no incontrovertible evidence to support the reading that states that Rabbi Rafram bar Pappa prayed there.

[7] The challenge to this interpretation has also led to discord and controversy (although according to the anthropologist and researcher Dr. Adam Blitz, from the content and comparison with the traditional explanations it is clear that the town of Abi Gobar was in Babylonia and not near Damascus.

"[3] In 1210 a French Jew, Samuel ben Samson, while visiting Damascus, recounted the "beautiful synagogue situated outside the city", (in Jobar).

"[6] The Chronicle of Joseph Sambari (1672) says that the Jewish community of Damascus lived chiefly in Jobar, and he knows of the synagogue of Elisha and the cave of Elijah the Tishbite.

According to the Jews, the Prophet Elisha is said to have found in this grotto a place of refuge.... At the entrance of the synagogue, toward the middle of the wall to the right, is an irregularly formed stone, on which can be observed the traces of several steps.

[12] During the rioting following accusation of ritual murder against the Jews of Damascus in 1840, the mob fell upon the synagogue, pillaged it and destroyed the scrolls of the Law.

[3] In the past, sick people were brought into the caveren below the synagogue and left there alone at night in the hope that Elisha's spirit would exercise a healing influence over them.

[18][full citation needed] In March 2013, reports surfaced that the synagogue had been burned to the ground during the Syrian civil war, with both government and rebel forces trading blame over which party looted and destroyed the building.

[19][20][21][22] However, later during the year photographs were published and a video emerged showing that the synagogue was still standing but had suffered from mortar fire with damage to the ceiling and the bimah.