The Old Yemenite Synagogue, known to its congregation as Beit Knesset Ohel Shlomo (lit. "Solomon's Tent Synagogue"), is a

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 restored

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in the

Silwan Silwan or Siloam (; ; ) is a predominantly Palestinian district in East Jerusalem, on the southeastern outskirts of the current Old City of Jerusalem.East Jerusalem East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the portion of Jerusalem that was Jordanian annexation of the West Bank, held by Jordan after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel. Captured and occupied in 1967, th ...

. The synagogue was constructed in the nineteenth century in the

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

ite Village (Harat al-Yaman in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

), in the ''Kfar Hashiloach'' () neighborhood.

History

Jewish community in Silwan (1884-1938)

Between 1885 and 1891, 45 stone houses were built for the

Yemenite Jews Yemenite Jews, also known as Yemeni Jews or Teimanim (from ; ), are a Jewish diaspora group who live, or once lived, in Yemen, and their descendants maintaining their customs. After several waves of antisemitism, persecution, the vast majority ...

which had arrived in Jerusalem in 1882. In 1936, during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, the Yemenite-Jewish community was removed from Silwan by the Welfare Bureau of the Jerusalem Community Council (''Va'ad ha-Kehillah''), the local counterpart of the

Jewish National Council The Jewish National Council (JNC; , ''Va'ad Le'umi''), also known as the Jewish People's Council and the General Council of the Jewish Community of Palestine was the main national executive organ of the Assembly of Representatives of the Jewis ...

(''Va'ad Leumi''), into the

Jewish Quarter Jewish Quarter may refer to: *Jewish quarter (diaspora), areas of many cities and towns traditionally inhabited by Jews *Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem), one of the four traditional quarters of the Old City of Jerusalem *Jewish Quarter (), a popular name ...

as security conditions for Jews worsened. and in 1938, the remaining Yemenite Jews in Silwan were evacuated by the Jewish Community Council on the advice of the police.

Jewish reclaim (2015)

In May 2015

Ateret Cohanim Ateret Cohanim (), also Ateret Yerushalayim, is an Israeli Jewish organization with a yeshiva located in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. It supports the creation of a Jewish majority in the Old City and in Arab neighborhoods in ...

, a Jewish group that had established legal ownership of the old synagogue, moved into the building. Local residents threw rocks at the activists as they moved in.

References

1890 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 19th-century synagogues in the Middle East 21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions Synagogues in Jerusalem Synagogues in the West Bank Synagogues completed in 1890 Silwan Yemeni-Jewish diaspora {{Asia-synagogue-stub

History

Jewish community in Silwan (1884-1938)

Jewish reclaim (2015)

See also

References