Hurva Synagogue

The Hurva Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת החורבה, romanized: Beit ha-Knesset ha-Hurva, lit. 'The Ruin Synagogue'), also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid (Hebrew: חורבת רבי יהודה החסיד, lit. 'Ruin of Rabbi Judah the Pious'), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

It was originally founded in the early 18th century by followers of Judah HeHasid on the ruins of a 15th century synagogue and adjacent to the 14th century Sidna Omar mosque, but it was destroyed in 1721 by local lenders over a debt dispute. The plot became known as "The Ruin", or Hurva, where it lay desolate for 116 years until it was resettled in 1837 by members of the Ashkenazi Jewish community, known as the Perushim. In 1856, the Ottoman Sultan Abdelmecid issued a firman authorizing the construction of a synagogue at the site, and the sultan's chief architect, Assad Bey, designed it and oversaw its construction. Construction began in 1864, and although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva. It became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue, until it was destroyed on May 27, during the fighting of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Israel claims Arabs deliberately destroyed it, while Jordanian and Palestinian sources state the Jordanian army was forced to shell the synagogue after the Zionist forces used its high rooftops for military purposes.

After Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, a number of plans were submitted for the design of a new building. After years of deliberation and indecision, a commemorative arch was erected instead at the site in 1977, itself becoming a prominent landmark of the Jewish Quarter. The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its 19th-century style received approval by the Israeli Government in 2000, and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010.