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The Jerusalem Great Synagogue () is an Orthodox
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
congregation and synagogue, located at 56 King George Street,
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
. Different parts of the congregation worship in the
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
and Sephardic rites.


History

As early as 1923 the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Abraham Kook and Jacob Meir, mooted plans for a large central synagogue in Jerusalem. It was over 30 years later in 1958 when Heichal Shlomo, seat of the Israeli Rabbinate, was founded, that a small synagogue was established within the building. As time passed and the need for more space grew, services were moved and held in the foyer of Heichal Shlomo. Soon afterwards, when the premises could not hold the number of worshippers attending, it was decided that a new, much larger synagogue be built. The plot of land next to Heichal Shlomo was purchased with the efforts of Dr Moshe Avrohom Yaffe, chairman of the Board of Management of Heichal Shlomo. The main sponsor for construction of the new synagogue was Sir Isaac Wolfson, a Jewish philanthropist from Britain. The Wolfson family consecrated the synagogue in the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust and to the fallen soldiers of Israel Defense Forces. The style of the building was modeled on the Jewish Temple by German-born architect . The inauguration took place on Tu B'Av 1982. Rabbi Zalman Druck was the synagogue's first rabbi and he officiated until his death in 2009. Following that the Chief Rabbis of Israel and of Jerusalem, and Grand Rabbi Y. A. Korff (Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbe of Boston) officiate. Naftali Hershtik was appointed the chief cantor of the synagogue, a position he held until succeeded by Chief Cantor Chaim Adler on 31 December 2008. Today Cantors Avraham Kirshenbaum and Tzvi Weiss lead the prayers, either alone or together. The sanctuary seats 850 men and 550 women. A comprehensive private collection of '' mezuzah'' cases is on show inside the lobby.


Gallery

Central Synagogue02.jpg, Exterior Jerusalem Great Synagogue03.jpg, Main entrance


See also

* History of the Jews in Israel * List of synagogues in Israel * Synagogues of Jerusalem * Wolfson family


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Great Synagogue, Jerusalem 1982 establishments in Israel 20th-century synagogues in Israel Ashkenazi synagogues in Jerusalem Buildings and structures in Jerusalem Modernist architecture in Israel Modernist synagogues Orthodox synagogues in Israel Rehavia Sephardi Jewish culture in Jerusalem Sephardi synagogues Synagogues completed in 1982 Synagogues in Jerusalem