Friday, November 1, 1968
JEWISH WESTERN BULLETIN
Page Eleven
Israel attache burled
By JACOB EDELSTEIN
THERE WERE 62 SYNAGOGUES in the Old City of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Jewish Quarter in 1948. Some of them were very old and dated back 700 years when the first Ashkenazi and Sephardi settlers returned to Jerusalem, and the first synagogue was founded by Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides. , All these synagogues were destroyed by the Arabs when the Old City fell and the more outstanding among, them, which served as spiritual centres and seats of learning for the Jewish community in the Holy City, were razed to the ground. The smaller and less conspicuous shrines which were situated in courtyards and among the Jewish houses in the Quarter were turned into workshops, stables or living quarters.
When the Old City was liberated by the Israel Defence Army in the Six-Day War, steps were taken immediately to evacuate the Arab residents from all places that had previously served as Jewish houses of worship, and to transfer them to houses that had become vacant as a result of the hostilities, when many Arab residents fled the city.
Most of the synagogues, however, had been destroyed to their foundations. This is particularly true of the "Hurva" which had served as the Cathedral Synagogue for Jerusalem Jewry, and the "Tiferet Yisrael" or "Nissan Bak" synagogue, which was the spiritual centre for Hassidim in the Old City.
The Porat Yosef Yeshiva which was a comparatively recent structure facing the Temple Mount, and which had served as the spiritual centre of the Sephardi Community in Jerusalem, had also been razed to the ground.
OF THE SYNAGOGUES whose external structures have remained, although demolished inside, mention might be made of the Chabad synagogue, centre for adherents of the Rabbi of Luba-vitch, and Rabbi Yohanan Ben Zakkai synagogue, one of the oldest shrines in Jerusalem.
Authorities entrusted with plans for reconstruction of the Old City are considering also rebuilding some of the synagogues in the city. However, several groups have begun independently to rebuild some of these places of worship and to re-establish some of the yeshivot in the Jewish Quarter.
Moshe Segal, secretary of Kfar Chabad, had in Mandatory times on several occasions blown the Shofar at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) service at the Western Wall, thus flouting the ban imposed by the British Authorities on the rite, Segal took the initiative of reconstructing the Chabad synagogue in the Old City and settled with his own family in one of the buildings in the synagogue courtyard.
The Chabad synagogue had originally been constructed with assistance of the Sassoon Family of Bombay, and was opened in the year 1879. Again daily prayers and study meetings are being conducted there.
AT THE SAME TIME members of B'nei Akiva Movement decided to open a yeshiva in proximity to the Western Wall. The yeshiva has been housed in what is known as "Batei Mahaseh", a housing quarter established at the end of the last century by charitable funds of the Jews of Holland and Germany for scholarly Jews in Jerusalem, and which at one time accommodated some of the most prominent families in the city. In antiquity, the site of the "Batei Mahaseh" had been the place where palaces of the Kings
of Judah had stood.
Archaeologists will doubtlessly evince interest in this locality. The houses here, which have in part survived the Arab vandalism following the fall of the Old City, served as last stronghold of the defenders of the Jewish Quarter in 1948. Many synagogues, including the house of worship of the Breslav Hassidim, were to be found there. The "Hayei Olam" Yeshiva, one of the oldest institutions of Jewish learning in Jerusalem, also re-opened a branch in its old building close to the Western Wall, where regular study sessions are held.
In addition to these Torah institutions, the Rabbinical Court of Appeal, originally housed in "Hechal Shlomo", has been transferred to the Old City to the building of a former girls' school adjoining the Temple Mount.
THE KALISH SYNAGOGUE in the courtyard of the Warsaw Kollel is also one of the few structures that have survived destruction. Although the interior of the building had been converted into living quarters by the Arabs, it can be reconstructed at no great expense. It is planned to transform the building into a hostel for pilgrims to Jerusalem.
The Sephardi Seminary for Rabbis and Dayanim has also opened a branch in the Old City, and students come daily for regular study sessions in premises belonging to the Sephardi Community.
P r e 1 i m i n ary reconstruction work has also commenced at the ancient Ramban synagogue in Jerusalem. In a letter to his son '
written from Jerusalem 700 yeai ago, Nachmanides wrote: "All I can say about the situation in the Holy Land concerns the great destruction and ruin that one sees all around. This is particularly true of Jerusalem. There are about 2,000 inhabitants in the city, including about 300 Christians, refugees from Moslem persecution. No Jews have remained in the city because they all fled or were killed during the Tartar invasion. There are only two brothers there who have purchased the right to engage in the dyeing trade from the governor. About a minyan of Jews gather in their house for prayer on the Sabbath. Immediately on arrival we began searching for suitable premises for a synagogue and found a ruin with marble pillars and a splendid Cupola, which we appointed for our synagogue. Everyone is free to come and take possession of any of the ruins in the city."
In his first epistle from Jerusalem in the year 1488, Rabbi Ovadia of Bertinoro mentions a synagogue in Jerusalem erected on marble pillars. Doubtlessly he referred to the Roman synagogue.
In the last century, Jews were driven out and disposed of the place by the Arabs who converted it into a cheese factory, and all efforts to regain possession of the synagogue were unavailing. When the Old City was liberated in the Six-Day War, the site was identified and the marble pillars were found. The cheese factory
(Continued on Page 12) See JERUSALEM
LONDON—^Diplomatic immunity was invoked by the Israel Embassy to avoid an inquest into the death of its press attache, Major Mattityahu Sharon, 42, who was found dead of a pistol wound in his apartment only a week after his marriage.
! An Embassy spokesman called it a clear case of suicide and police said there was no evidence of foul play. The Embassy emphasized there was no point in causing further distress to the widow.
The body was flown to Israel for burial.
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