The Tzuf Dvash 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

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, located at 15 Plugat ha-Kotel Street in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of

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. The congregation was founded in 1860 under

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rule and worships in the Sephardic

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History

The synagogue is named after Rabbi David ben Shimon, (

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

D-b-Sh, ), who arrived in the

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from

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in 1854 and founded Machane Yisrael, one of the first neighborhoods outside of the Old City walls. During the 19th century, a greater number of Jews arrived in Jerusalem from the

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n countries. Through Ben Shimon's influence, the group broke off from the greater Sephardic community of Jerusalem and established the ''Westerners' Synagogue'' (as opposed to the Eastern

Mizrahi Jews Mizrahi Jews (), also known as ''Mizrahim'' () in plural and ''Mizrahi'' () in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or ''Edot HaMizrach'' (, ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jews, Jewish c ...

) in 1860. The building also contained the community's Talmud Torah and an old age home. The community's property register, which was written after Ben Shimon's death in 1879, listed a yard with two synagogues, with the Ben Tzuf synagogue described as the "large and special one." The register adds that people would rise each midnight to study at the synagogue. The upper floor contained the Talmud Torah, which consisted of three rooms. The lower floor housed the meeting room of the community council, as well as two small rooms in which lived the widows who cleaned the yard. After the 1948 war, the building was under

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ian rule, along with the entire Old City of Jerusalem. Though the building was looted, it remained standing. After the

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, the building was refurbished and in 1980 it was restored as a house of prayer. The domed rooms were rededicated in 1988 by the French community. The building also serves as a

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

References

*Shalev, Nirit
MiSfarad LeYerushalayim: HaKehila HaSefaradit BaRova HaYehudi
. Rachel Yanait Ben Zvi Center. *Ben Yaakov, Michal
Hityashvutam shel haYehudim haMaaraviim beYerushalaim

External links

{{Synagogues in Israel 1860 establishments in Ottoman Syria 19th-century synagogues in Asia Jewish Quarter (Jerusalem) Orthodox synagogues in Asia Sephardi Jewish culture in Jerusalem Sephardi synagogues Synagogues completed in 1860 Synagogues in Jerusalem

History

See also

References

External links