Jordanian army blew up the Hurva synagogue in 1948

During British rule in Jerusalem the Hurva Synagogue was the most important in Israel. In 1948, the invading Jordanian army blew it up.

Jordan destroyed sites of Judaism when the Muslims occupied the city from 1948 to 1967

The Hurva, whose name means «ruin» was initially built by disciples of Rabbi Judah Hahasid in the early 18th century. It was destroyed shortly thereafter by Muslims demanding the return of loans given to build the synagogue.

After it was rebuilt in the mid-19th century, it became the most important synagogue in the country, but it was blown up in 1948 by the Jordan Legion a few days before the fall of the Jewish Quarter in the War of Independence.

In 2001, after years of debate, the government decided to restore the building.

Now Orthodox Jews and Ultra-Orthodox Jews have a debate on what kind of services should be offered in the restored synagogue. Should it be come a closes place of worship, or should it also be open to women and tourists.

Those who wants an open house of prayers, say the reconstructed synagogue should present the historical saga of the Jewish Quarter, display archaeological finds unearthed there, and be fully accessible to tourists, men and women together. The group wants to prevent a round-the-clock kollel (yeshiva for married men) from opening there, which would preclude any other activity.

However, for the ultra-Orthodox, the matter is unequivocal: “The question is whether this will be a synagogue and a house of study, or a display of all sorts of foolishness,” the Jewish Quarter’s rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl said on an ultra-Orthodox Web site.

Source: Israeli Daily Haaretz.

My comment:

The Jordanian Kingdom of Islam showed its true colors in 1948. In a bid to delete the Jewish heritage in East Jerusalem, the invaders from the East blew up and destroyed 55 Synagogues and Jewish religious schools.

During the seize and Islamic occupation from 1948 to 1967, the Jewish people were not given access to this Apartheid state in East Jerusalem, and the so-called West Bank. It had become a closed Muslim zone, and a model for the racist state a new promoted Arab Palestinian statehood would look like.

In 1967 East Jerusalem was liberated by the Zionist state, and the city was again open to people of all faiths.

The Hurva Synagogue must be kept open to all lovers of israel and the Jewish people, tourists like me. The Government of Israel must display the evil of the Jordanian army. Let this place of worship forever be a testimony of how Islam tried and still tries to delete the Jewish heritage of East Jerusalem.

First published in 2009

Written by Ivar

Rabban Yokhanan Ben Zakai Synagogues

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Rabban Yokhanan Ben Zakai Synagogues information

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Jerusalem , Israel

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+972 54 665 5487

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adult/child 10/7NIS

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9am-4pm Sun-Thu, to 1pm Fri

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Named after a renowned 1st century CE tanna (scholar-judge), the four Sephardi synagogues in this complex have very different histories and decoration. The two oldest date from the late 16th century and all four were in ruins before being restored between 1967 and 1972. With their associated study houses and charitable institutions, the synagogues were at the centre of the local Sephardi community's spiritual and cultural life until the late 19th century.

In accordance with a law of the time stating that synagogues could not be taller than neighbouring buildings, the grouping was sunk deep into the ground – a measure that certainly saved the buildings from destruction during the bombardment of the quarter in 1948. Instead, the synagogues were looted by the Jordanians and then used as sheep pens. Restored using the remains of Italian synagogues damaged during WWII, all four are physically linked and can be visited on one ticket.

The first synagogue in the grouping (closest to the ticket desk) is the Eliahu Hanavi Talmud Torah Congregation , the oldest of the four. Its arches and dome reference Byzantine buildings. Two of the other synagogues are accessed from its northern side: the Qahal Qadosh Gadol (Great Congregation), built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries and featuring distinctive Spanish-Moorish windows, and the elongated Emtza'i (Middle) Synagogue , the smallest of the four. This was created when a roof was built over a courtyard between two of the synagogues in the mid-18th century, thus creating a ‘middle’ synagogue.

Doors in the Emtza'i lead to a small exhibit about the history of the synagogues, and to the Istanbuli Synagogue , which is the largest of the four and was the last to be built. It was constructed in the 1760s by immigrants from the Turkish city of the same name.

Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/israel-and-the-palestinian-territories/jerusalem/sights/religious/rabban-yokhanan-ben-zakai-synagogues#ixzz3ixrOzt9Z

File:Ruins of Tiferes Yisrael synagogue, Jerusalem 1967.jpg

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