The Hurva Synagogue

The Hurva Synagogue. . In the mid-19th century, the waves of Jewish immigration increased, and the Ashkenazi community grew rapidly. On September 25, 1864, the great Hurva synagogue was inaugurated in an inspiring ceremony Just in time for the High Holidays. Ceremony participants admired the beauty and splendor of the synagogue and its magnificent 24-meter-high dome. The event was also a bitter reminder of the earlier destruction of the Ashkenazi Courtyard on this site, back in the days of Rabbi Yehuda the Hassid. , This grand synagogue became a central symbol of the Jewish Quarter. On May 27, 1948, the Jordanian Legion razed the synagogue to the ground, just one day before the entire Jewish Quarter fell. , It was originally named Beit Yaakov, after the philanthropist Baron Jacob de Rothschild and it was crowned the central non-Hasidic Ashkenazi synagogue in Jerusalem. however, the synagogue was known to all as the Hurva (ruins), in commemoration of the destruction of the Ashkenazi Courtyard of Rabbi Yehuda the Hassid 150 years ealier. , After the unification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War (1967), the remnants of the Hurva synagogue walls were discovered. The Eastern wall and its niche for Torah Scrolls was uncovered, as well as the remains of the central stage "the bima". , In 2002, the Israeli government decided to restore the building, and the construction was entrusted to TheCompany for the Reconstruction and Development of the Jewish Quarter. The architects took much care in preserving the original appearance of the synagogue based on photographs, historical descriptions and remains found at the site. , The dome of the synagogue was fully restored and the Hurva synagogue was re-inaugurated in a moving ceremony on March 15, 2010. You are invited to visit the synagogue in all its splendor and enjoy the majestic view of the Old City.