| The Hurva Synagogue |
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A group of European immigrants, followers of Rabbi Yehuda Hasid, settled in the Jewish Quarter on the 27th of October 1700, and began building a synagogue. On the 27th of October 1721, marauding Arabs burnt the synagogue and courtyard, destroying both.
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In 1816, almost 100 years after the synagogue was first destroyed, followers of the GRA managed to obtain a license from the Turkish authorities in Kushta, annulling previous debts and permitting the rebuilding of the synagogue. It was inaugurated a second time in 1864. The renewal of the synagogue and the restoration of the ruin were perceived as the initial phase of redemption.
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Since its establishment, the Hurva, or by its full name “The Beit Ya’akov Synagogue in the Courtyard of the Ruin of Rabbi Yehuda Hassid”, became the largest, most magnificent and most important synagogue in the entire Land of Israel and the center of life in the Jewish Quarter.
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In this hall, the Ashkenazi rabbis of Jerusalem and the Land of Israel were appointed. Here, in a festive prayer ceremony, the flag of the Jewish Regiments that fought in the Second World War was placed in safekeeping. From this "Lesser Temple", at a praying assembly held by the Chief Rabi Yitzhak Isaac Halevi Hertzog and the Hassidic leader Rabbi Mordehai Alter of Gur, emanated a scream to save the Jews of Europe.
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Two days after the Jewish Quarter fell in May 1948, the Jordanians blew the synagogue up, a symbolic deed to express their victory. Thus, the synagogue was turned into a pile of rubble for the second time in its history. From this moment, the continuity of Jewish life in the Jewish Quarter was curtailed for 19 years.
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After the Six-Day War, visitors to the Quarter saw the destruction - the Quarter itself, and the Hurva as well, was a pile of ruins.
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When the Quarter was restored, it was decided not to contend with the historic monuments that were symbols of the Quarter and of its destruction. Accumulated rubble was cleared out of the synagogues, and the remnants were restored as archeological sites. The arch of the northern wall was restored, a silent outcry protesting past atrocities.
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The Hurva was a part of the fabric of Jerusalem’s architecture. The Hurva’s dome became the symbol and manifestation of the synagogue. It is engraved on the collective memory of the Jewish People, and its absence is sorely felt.
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JQDC decided to restore the synagogue’s grandeur, and to restore the Hurva to its former magnificence. The project is currently in the building stage.
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The Site List
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