Old Yemenite Synagogue (Silwan)

(Redirected from Harat al-Yaman)

The Old Yemenite Synagogue, known to its congregation as Beit Knesset Ohel Shlomo (lit. "Solomon's Tent Synagogue"), is a Jewish congregation and restored synagogue,[1] located in the Silwan district of East Jerusalem. The synagogue was constructed in the nineteenth century[2]: 87–88  in the Yemenite Village (Harat al-Yaman in Arabic),[3] in the Kfar Hashiloach (Hebrew: כפר השילוח) neighborhood.

Old Yemenite Synagogue
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
StatusActive
Location
LocationSilwan, East Jerusalem
CountryState of Palestine
Old Yemenite Synagogue (Silwan) is located in Jerusalem
Old Yemenite Synagogue (Silwan)
Location of the synagogue in Jerusalem
Geographic coordinates31°46′07″N 35°14′13″E / 31.7685°N 35.2369°E / 31.7685; 35.2369
Architecture
Completed1890; 2015 (restored)
Yemenite-Jewish village south of Silwan, housing project built by a charity in the 1880s (1891)

History

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Jewish community in Silwan (1884-1938)

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Between 1885 and 1891, 45 stone houses were built for the Yemenite Jews which had arrived in Jerusalem in 1882.[4]

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 (Va'ad Leumi), into the Jewish Quarter as security conditions for Jews worsened.[2]: 56  and in 1938, the remaining Yemenite Jews in Silwan were evacuated by the Jewish Community Council on the advice of the police.[3][5]

Jewish reclaim (2015)

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In May 2015 Ateret Cohanim, a Jewish group that had established legal ownership of the old synagogue, moved into the building.[6][7][8] Local residents threw rocks at the activists as they moved in.[6]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "The Yemenite Village" (PDF). American Friends of Ateret Cohanim / Jerusalem Chai. September 2015. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Gelber, Sylva M. (1989). No balm in Gilead: a personal retrospective of Mandate days in Palestine. Carleton University Press/McGill-Queen's Press (MQUP). ISBN 0-88629-104-6. Retrieved August 22, 2020 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ a b Shraga i, Nadav (January 4, 2004). "11 Jewish families move into J'lem neighborhood of Silwan". Haaretz.
  4. ^ "Hekdesh Consecration Houses Village Shiloach". Yemenite Village Synagogue. n.d. Retrieved August 22, 2020.[self-published source?]
  5. ^ "No title available". Palestine Post. August 15, 1938. p. 2.
  6. ^ a b Jaskow, Rahel (May 6, 2015). "Jewish activists move into building in Arab Jerusalem neighborhood. Structure in Silwan was once the synagogue of a village built there for Yemenite immigrants in the 1880s, NGO claims". The Times of Israel. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  7. ^ Ben-Gedalyahu, Tzvi (May 7, 2015). "Jews Move into Former Yemenite Synagogue in Silwan Valley". The Jewish Press. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
  8. ^ "Joyus return to 130 Year Old Jerusalem Synagogue". Israel National News. May 26, 2015.