Isaac Tarrab

Life and remembrance

Isaac Tarrab was a retired professor of mathematics. Archival appeals described an admired teacher whose professional life connected patient instruction, scholarship, and the civic world of Beirut.

He disappeared in the spring of 1985. His death was reported around the turn of 1986 and his body was returned to the community. Sources vary on the date of his abduction and, in some reports, on whether he was a professor or merchant.

Memorial record

Community role

A teacher remembered for a life of learning

Kidnapped

Spring 1985

Reported fate

Killed around 1 January 1986; his body was recovered

Record status

Body recovered

Also recorded as

Isaac Tarab, Isaac Tarrah, Isaac Terrab

Research note: Schulze gives 18 April 1985. Other contemporary records place the abduction later in April, early May, or June.

Sources and research notes

Primary source: Kirsten E. Schulze, The Jews of Lebanon: Between Coexistence and Conflict, 2nd revised and expanded edition (2009), printed pages 170–175; PDF pages 103–106.

Kirsten E. Schulze attributes the campaign to the Organization of the Oppressed of the Earth, a group that claimed links with Hizb'allah. Contemporary accounts differ on some dates, occupations, spellings, and the fate of individual victims; those differences are preserved rather than silently resolved.

• Jewish Telegraphic Agency — background report (1986)
• American Jewish Committee archival report (1985)
• L'Orient-Le Jour — the Jamous family appeal (2025, French)