A Golan Heights Baker Finds Community and a Calling in Philadelphia

By Elissa Odeh    

May 28, 2025             

At Majdal Bakery in South Philly, the smell of warm dough escapes the oven as 29-year-old Kenan Rabah hums along to a song by Fairuz. As he kneads and folds flatbreads the way he learned as a boy, he tries to answer a question that has always had a complicated answer: Where are you from?

“This is an easy question for most people, but not for us in the Golan Heights,” said Rabah. “Our travel documents state that we have an ‘undefined’ nationality.”

Located in the southwestern part of Syria, the Golan Heights is a rocky plateau that was occupied by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed in 1981—an act widely condemned by the international community. The region’s population, primarily Arab Syrian Druze, has largely rejected Israeli citizenship in order to preserve their Arab identity. However, since Syria has no administrative control over the area, it cannot issue passports or other official documents. As a result, many residents lack a recognized nationality, leaving them with an ambiguous and unresolved legal status.

Kenan Rabah, owner of Majdal Bakery in South Philly, shapes dough at his work table. Photo courtesy of Kenan Rabah.

Rabah moved to the Philadelphia area in 2015. He enrolled at Walnut Hill College—a culinary school in West Philly—and went on to work as head baker at Lost Bread Co. in South Kensington until December 2023. Three months later, he started hosting independent pop-up events , where he served traditional dishes from the Golan Heights.

“No matter how much culinary experience I gained, I always found myself going back to what I learned from my mother when I was a child,” said Rabah. “This made me want to teach people about the Golan Heights and share our food.”

In November 2024, Rabah fulfilled this dream and opened Majdal Bakery in South Philly. He named it after his hometown, Majdal Shams, one of only five remaining Syrian villages in the Golan Heights following Israel’s expulsion of 95% of the region’s inhabitants.

Young Kenan Rabah (right) with his mother and brother in the fields during apple season in his hometown of Majdal Shams. Photo courtesy of Kenan Rabah

Located on the foothills of Mount Hermon near the border between Syria and Lebanon, Majdal Shams is known for its lush apple and cherry orchards. Rabah recalls the serenity of life there, especially when people in the village harvest apples and cherries together.

“Golan Heights’ beauty is in the simplicity of its people and its quiet, slow lifestyle,” says Rabah. “We all know each other, and everyone is closely knit together.”

His passion for cooking began the moment he could reach his mother’s countertops. As a child, he spent hours closely watching his grandmother and mother cooking. “We always gathered at my grandmother’s house and baked fatayer and ma’moul,” says Rabah. “Those were some of my favorite memories that nurtured my love for cooking.”

Rabah’s grandmother making saj bread at her home in Majdal Shams. Photo courtesy of Kenan Rabah

At his bakery, Rabah strives to serve Philly a taste of his heritage, helping him reshape his identity from one lost in political conflict to one rooted in history and tradition.

“I don’t know how to talk politics, sing or write poetry,” he says. “But I know how to bake, and that's how I tell people about where I’m from.”

Rabah specializes in flatbread, and his menu includes many of the traditional recipes he grew up eating. He makes his potato fatayer just as his mother used to—stuffed with potato, onion and spices imported from Majdal Shams. He also serves his mother’s recipe for talami, made with olive oil and flavored with anise and turmeric. Other flatbreads on the menu are topped with chicken shawarma, za’atar makdous (thyme and pickled eggplant), lahm baajin (minced meat spiced with sumac and onion) and his most popular, carrot and yogurt safeha.  

“With every flatbread, I share a flavor, a story and a memory of my childhood in Majdal Shams,” Rabah says.

The wall at Majdal Bakery where Rabah hangs pictures of his hometown and loved ones. Photo courtesy of Kenan Rabah

Majdal Bakery has become a regular stop for people in its South Philly neighborhood and further afield. Inside, customers are greeted by a wall of pictures: photographs from Rabah’s childhood, his parents, grandparents and favorite singer, Fairuz. “I love when people come in and tell me that this place reminds them of home,” he says.

Tony Sarkees, an area resident who frequents Majdal, had been looking for good Syrian food since moving to Philadelphia from Florida in 2021. He describes Rabah’s flavors as “next level.”

“Majdal is a taste of my past that I really cannot get anywhere else in the city,” he says. “When you eat the food, you truly feel cared for. You know the hands that prepared it want to nourish you, and it’s a very special and singular feeling.”

Through the bakery, Rabah has encountered many Arab nationalities for the first time. The Golan Heights’ political status means that most Arab countries, including Syria, do not allow the region’s Arab Syrian population to enter with their Israeli travel documents. As a result, Rabah had never met other Arabs until he came to Philadelphia. “I was surprised to see the cultural similarities we share.” says Rabah. “I’ve made so many friendships.”

Rabah also praises Philadelphia’s culinary community for its supportive spirit. “The success of one is the success of all,” he says of how local chefs and bakers have created a collaborative environment that helps him grow both personally and professionally.

And while Rabah hopes Majdal can continue to grow—with plans to host community events and expand his menu—he remains rooted to his primary mission: sharing the story of his hometown.

“I never want to grow to the point where I cannot be present in the bakery and bake with my own hands,” he says. “I always want to have the dough between my fingers and be able to tell people about Majdal Shams, because to exist, to share our stories, is an act of meaning in itself.”

May 29, 2025: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified the location of Lost Bread Co. It is located in South Kensington, not Fishtown.

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Elissa Odeh is a Palestinian journalist from Lansdale, PA. She graduated from West Chester University with a BA in media and culture and a minor in journalism. Her work has been published in Lehigh Daily, Daily Local, and the New Orleans Review.