Inside the Hurva Synagogue at last!

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A graceful stairway to heaven for the SkyWatch Friday folks.

Shadow Shot meme friends--see how strange the shadow came out on the wall!

Last week I drehed and drehed on that spiral staircase to get to the very top and capture the shadow of the railing.
Where were we?

At the newly rebuilt (dedicated in 2010) Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City!

Photo: Israel Government Press Office

"Hurva" is the Hebrew word for "ruins" and this is how the synagogue looked in 1967, right after the Six Day War, when we could again enter Jerusalem's Old City.
Jordan's Arab Legion had purposely blown up the famous synagogue in 1948.

The courses of stones that remained standing were incorporated into the rebuilt walls and were left unplastered, for all to see (and to remember).
You can see how the white plaster above marks the line where 21st century masonry begins.

The stained glass and the wall paintings were copied from the originals.
The neo-Byzantine style synagogue was first built in 1864.

Actually it was destroyed twice. Its whole incredible history, international intrigues and all, can be learned at Wikipedia.

The aron kodesh, the holy ark for the Torah scrolls, is two storeys high!

Women are not allowed to pray on the ground floor, which is the men's territory.
But boy, it's a long way down.

Here is the bimah from which the Torah scroll is read during prayer services.

Enlarge the picture and find two men studying together.
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May the Hurva never be in ruins again.

See also my post of the new Hurva under construction .
For more details try the articles here and here.
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Shabbat shalom.
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(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)
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