Hurva Synagogue

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.

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.

Two days after the Jewish Quarter fell in May 1948, the Jordanians blew the synagogue up, a symbolic deed to express their victory.

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.