REDEDICATION OF HURVA SYNAGOGUE

HURVA SYNAGOGUE
When Menachim Begin described Jewish survival as” the stubborn, tenacious refusal to recognize the distinction between imagination and reality”, he may have been thinking of the Hurva synagogue as a symbol of that refusal to give up on a Jewish determination to turn imagination to reality.
The Hurva Synagogue, rededicated in March of this year, has to be considered a “recent” building, even though a synagogue has stood on today’s site since the 2nd century CE. In the 13th century many European Jews began returning to their homeland and the demand for synagogues grew. The current Hurva synagogue was built in 1701 (modern in the Jewish timeline), after the old building collapsed from neglect and old age. Rabbi Judah the Pious, convinced of the imminent appearance of the Messiah, gathered about 1500 followers from Moravia and Germany and went to Jerusalem to erect a house of prayer, after his death his followers became demoralized-- without a leader to inspire them they fell behind in their debts. This so their angered creditors they set fire to the Synagogue in 1720 and expelled the congregants, forbidding their return.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel was the next savior of this important expression of the Jewishness of Jerusalem. He saw the rebuilding of the HURVA of Kabbalistic significance. The name Hurva meaning ruin is perhaps symbolic of the idea of permanence; even a ruin is not deserted. Rabbi Mendel raised funds from the Montefiores and the Rothschilds as well as communities in St Petersburg, Baghdad, Cairo and India with the extraordinary determination of a true believer. His next obstacle was to gain the approval of the Ottoman Sultan, after convincing the British and Austrians to use their diplomatic connections, the permission was received and they began building in 1855. This was an amazing achievement in an atmosphere in which the Muslim anti-Jewish decrees were strictly enforced, because Jerusalem was known to have special significance to Jews. The Ottoman’s did not want Jerusalem rebuilt by Jews.
The Hurva was completed in 1864, by this time Jews were again a majority in Jerusalem. The Hurva was the most impressive synagogue in Jerusalem until 1948, when the Jordanians conquered Jerusalem and blew up the Hurva in their determination to rid Jerusalem of any Jewish presence of either people or place.
Even after the Six Day war when Israel finally regained control, assuring freedom of religion for all, the Hurva was not rebuilt for fear of upsetting the precarious balance between the various residents. Finally a compromise was reached to rebuild the Hurva based on the edifice being designed and built by the Effendi.
The two story high Torah ark is a faithful copy of the original that was carved in the Ukraine.
Under the barrel dome Jerusalem is symbolized by the Tower of David; Bethlehem by Rachel’s Tomb; Tiberias by Lake Kinneret; Hebron by the Cave of the Patriarchs.
This building is more than a building; it is a clear demonstration of the Jewish refusal to be deterred by setbacks, this unfailing hope for redemption—whether physical or spiritual—is the secret of the miracle that is the Jewish state. This is a building that should be on everyone’s list to visit when in Jerusalem. I suggest taking a minute to open the attached very short video, you won’t be sorry.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/136397 (video)
Psalm 137:1 “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion”