Avraham Avinu Synagogue
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{{Short description|Orthodox synagogue in Hebron, West Bank, Palestine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Avraham Avinu Synagogue
| native_name = {{ubl|{{langx|ar|كنيس أفراهام أفينو}}|{{langx|he|בית הכנסת על שם אברהם אבינו}}}}
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| image = Hébron Synagogue Avraham Avinou.jpg
| image_upright = 1.4
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| caption = The synagogue interior, in 2008
| religious_affiliation = Orthodox Judaism
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| rite = Nusach Sefard
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| organisational_status = {{ubl|Synagogue {{small|(1540–1929)}}|Profane use {{small|(1929–1971)}}|Synagogue {{small|(since 1977)}}}}
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| functional_status = Active
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| locale = Old City, Hebron, West Bank
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| country = Palestine
| map_type = West Bank
| map_size = 250
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| map_caption = Location of the synagogue in the West Bank
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| coordinates = {{Coord|31|31|26.24|N|35|6|27.60|E|type:landmark_region:PS|display=it}}
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| architecture_type = {{nowrap|Synagogue architecture}}
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| founded_by = Hakham Malkiel Ashkenazi
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| funded_by = {{nowrap|Ben Zion Tavger {{small|(1970s)}}}}
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| year_completed = 1540; 1977 {{small|(rebuilt)}}
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| date_demolished = 1948 {{small|(partial)}}
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| dome_quantity = One
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| website = {{url|aashul.org}}{{dead-link|date=October 2024}}
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The Abraham Avinu Synagogue ({{langx|ar|كنيس أفراهام أفينو}}; {{langx|he|בית הכנסת על שם אברהם אבינו}}) is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Jewish Quarter of Avraham Avinu in the Old City of Hebron, West Bank, Palestine.{{cite book |last1=Auerbach |first1=Jerold S. |author-link=Jerold Auerbach |title=Are we one? : Jewish identity in the United States and Israel |date=2001 |publisher=Rutgers Univ. Press |location=New Brunswick, USA |isbn=978-0813529172 |page=153 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BgweU18N3VoC&pg=PA153 |via=Google Books }}
Built by Sephardic Jews led by Hakham Malkiel Ashkenazi in 1540,{{cite book |last1=Auerbach |first1=Jerold S. |author-link=Jerold Auerbach |title=Hebron Jews: Memory and conflict in the land of Israel |date=2009 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, USA |isbn=9780742566170 }}{{rp|[https://books.google.com/books?id=ooUqc8snyZUC&pg=PA39 39]–41}} its domed structure represented the physical center of the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Hebron. The synagogue became the spiritual hub of the Jewish community there and a major center for the study of Kabbalah.{{rp|39-41}} It was restored in 1738 and enlarged in 1864; the synagogue stood empty since the 1929 Hebron massacre, was destroyed after 1948,{{cite book |last1=Fischbach |first1=Michael R.| title=Jewish property claims against Arab countries |date=2008 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780231517812 |pages=86–7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38xyBIqKgkwC&pg=PA86 |via=Google Books }} was rebuilt in 1977 and has been open ever since.{{Cite web |title=ויצמן - לביקור בחברון ובשכם — דבר 27 יוני 1977 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1977/06/27/01/article/40 |date=27 June 1977 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}
History
The synagogue is mentioned by Rabbi Naftali Hertz Bachrach in his 1648 book Emek HaMelech.{{Cite book |title=Mystic Tales from the Emek HaMelech |url=https://www.amazon.com/Mystic-Tales-HaMelech-DovBer-Pinson-ebook/dp/B00ZGTXOHG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452775595&sr=8-1&keywords=emek+hamelech |publisher=Iyyun Publishing |date=2015-06-10 |author1=Pinson, R. DovBer |author2=Hertz, R. Naftali}} The book deals with the kabbalah, but in the introduction, he mentions a dramatic story about the Avraham Avinu synagogue.{{rp|39-41}}{{Cite web |title=The Cave of Machpela - Legends |url=http://www.machpela.com/english/essays.asp?catId=8&PageId=166&Id=111 |website=www.machpela.com |access-date=2016-01-14 }}{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
The synagogue once housed the wooden doors of the Old Synagogue of Gaza, crafted from sycamore. They were lost during the 1929 Hebron massacre. Photographs of the doors still exist.{{Cite book |last=רובינשטיין |first=שמעון |title=חוברת המאה של אריאל: מאמרים ומחקרים בידיעת ארץ ישראל |publisher=הוצאת אריאל |year=1994 |volume=2 |pages=258 |chapter=לקורות הקהילה היהודית בעזה: מכתבו של אליהו אבן טוב אל יצחק בן צבי ב-20.8.1942}}{{Cite web |last=שפירא |first=ישראל |date=2023-11-09 |title=מסע היסטורי מרתק: כך התגלה בית הכנסת העתיק בעזה |url=https://www.kikar.co.il/haredim-news/s3qyh9 |access-date=2024-06-06 |website=כיכר השבת |language=he}}
Jordan took control of the area in 1948, and after this time a wholesale market, trash dump and public toilet were placed on the site of the Jewish Quarter. The ruins of the synagogue were turned into a goat and donkey pen. The adjacent, "Kabbalists' Courtyard" was turned into an abattoir.{{rp|[https://archive.org/details/hebronjewsmemory00auer/page/n87 79]}}
In 1971 the Israeli Government approved the rebuilding of the synagogue, courtyard and adjoining buildings.{{cite news |last1=Grose |first1=Peter |title=After 42 Years, Jews Are Part of Hebron |work=The New York Times |date=24 July 1976}} The synagogue was reopened in 1977.{{cite news |last1=Parks |first1=Michael |title=Claimed by both Israel and Arabs, once-calm Hebron grows tense |work=Baltimore Sun |date=4 November 1976 }}{{Cite web |title=ויצמן - לביקור בחברון ובשכם — דבר 27 יוני 1977 — הספרייה הלאומית של ישראל │ עיתונים |url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1977/06/27/01/article/40 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=he}}
The man instrumental in rebuilding the synagogue was local Hebron resident Ben Zion Tavger.{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3MJiwrzTp0 |title=Hebrew video of Prof. Tavger at the Avraham Avinu Synagogue |date= |access-date= |website=YouTube |publisher= |last= |first= }}{{Cite web |title=Avraham Avinu Synagogue |url=http://en.hebron.org.il/history/218 |website=Jewish Community of Hebron |access-date=2016-01-14}} He was a prominent physicist in the Soviet Union at Gorky University noted for his work in the Magnetic Symmetry phenomenon. He moved to Israel in 1972 and became a chair at Tel Aviv University.{{Cite web |title=My Hebron by Ben Zion Tavger |url=http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=581 |website=www.hebron.com |access-date=2016-01-14 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216162850/http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=581 |archivedate=2016-02-16}}{{Cite web |author=Arnon, Noam |title=The physicist who changed Hebron: The 30th Anniversary of the passing of Prof. Ben-Zion Tavger |url=http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=854 |website=www.hebron.com |access-date=2016-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303072314/http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=854 |archive-date=2016-03-03}}
The rebuilt synagogue is used by the Jewish residents on Shabbat to hold prayer services. The synagogue is also open to visitors each day of the week so they can learn about the history of the synagogue, and hold private services. A plaque with the cover of the book Emek HaMelech and the full text in the original printing hangs on a plaque on the wall of the rebuilt synagogue.{{Cite web |author=Wilder, David |title=The Avraham Avinu Synagogue: Miracle past and present |url=http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=590 |website=www.hebron.com |access-date=2016-01-14 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055238/http://www.hebron.com/english/article.php?id=590 |archive-date=2016-03-04}}
Gallery
1940s Survey of Palestine map of Hebron.png|The synagogue, marked "Syn" on a 1940s Survey of Palestine map of the Old City of Hebron.
Hebron-avraham-avinu-synagoge.jpg|Interior of the synagogue.
Desecrated synagogue, Hebron 1929.jpg|The synagogue in the aftermath of the 1929 riots. {{small|(Photo: US Library of Congress archives.)}}
Torah Scrolls in Avraham Avinu Synagogue, Hebron.jpg|Torah scrolls.
See also
{{stack|{{portal|Judaism|Palestine}}}}
References
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External links
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- {{cite web |url=http://aashul.org/ |title=Home page |work=Abraham Avinu Synagogue |date= |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802112725/http://aashul.org/ |archive-date=2009-08-02 }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.hebron.com/english/gallery.php?id=141 |title=Photo gallery of Avraham Avinu synagogue |work=hebron.com |date= |access-date= |format=includes vintage and modern pictures. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304081052/http://www.hebron.com/english/gallery.php?id=141 |archive-date=2016-03-04 }}
- {{cite web |url=http://en.hebron.org.il/history/218 |title=Avraham Avinu Synagogue |work=Hebron.com |date= |access-date= }}
- {{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3MJiwrzTp0 |title=Prof. Ben Zion Tavgar discussing his excavation of the Avraham Avinu Synagogue |lang=he |work=YouTube |date= |access-date= }}
- {{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdTtDY-ZWOg |title=Historical overview of Avraham Avinu neighborhood |work=YouTube |date= |access-date= }}
{{Synagogues in the State of Palestine}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:16th-century synagogues in the Middle East
Category:20th-century attacks on Jewish institutions
Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1948
Category:Buildings and structures in Hebron
Category:Jews and Judaism in Hebron
Category:Orthodox synagogues in the West Bank
Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in 1540