Ramban Synagogue
History
History
-------

### 13th/14th century synagogue

#### Tradition

Tradition has it that Nachmanides was the one who founded the synagogue.

After the [Disputation of Barcelona](/wiki/Disputation_of_Barcelona "Disputation of Barcelona"), Nachmanides was exiled from [Aragon](/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon "Crown of Aragon"), and in 1267 he made [aliyah](/wiki/Aliyah "Aliyah") to the [Land of Israel](/wiki/Land_of_Israel "Land of Israel"). In an alleged letter to his son, he described the [Jewish community](/wiki/Yishuv "Yishuv") of Jerusalem devastated by the [Khwarezmian](/wiki/Khwarazmian_army_between_1231_and_1246 "Khwarazmian army between 1231 and 1246") "[Tatars](/wiki/Tatars "Tatars")":

Seventy two years old, he undertook the effort to rebuild the Jewish community and chose a ruined house on Mount Zion to reconstruct it as a synagogue. A number of Jews moved to Jerusalem after hearing of Nachmanides' arrival. The [Torah scrolls](/wiki/Torah_scroll "Torah scroll") that were evacuated to [Nablus](/wiki/Nablus "Nablus") (near biblical [Shechem](/wiki/Shechem "Shechem")) before the [Mongol invasion](/wiki/Mongol_raids_into_Palestine "Mongol raids into Palestine") were returned. In three weeks, for [Rosh Hashanah](/wiki/Rosh_Hashanah "Rosh Hashanah"), the synagogue was ready for use.

#### Scholarly view

Norman Roth, a scholar specialised in medieval Jewish history, dates the establishment of the synagogue *as an institution* to the 13th century or "somewhat later", with Avraham David dating its establishment firmly at the beginning of the 15th century, but possibly referring to the *building* as such in its final location. Both agree that the tradition is at least problematic. The authenticity of Nachmanides' letter to his son, along with several other letters attributed to him, is contested. Many details in it are doubtful, starting with the questions on Nachmanides ever reaching Jerusalem, and continuing with doubts on the small number of Jews (just two) after [Saladin](/wiki/Saladin "Saladin")'s [1188](/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281187%29 "Siege of Jerusalem (1187)") call to them to resettle [Palestine](/wiki/Palestine_region "Palestine region"), and on why a scholar of Nachmanides' rank would need to bring Torah scrolls from Nablus, the capital of the [Samaritans](/wiki/Samaritan "Samaritan"), which Jews considered to be [heretics](/wiki/Heretic "Heretic"). [Obadiah Bertinoro](/wiki/Obadiah_Bertinoro "Obadiah Bertinoro"), the next source on the synagogue, writes in 1488 about it without ever mentioning the name Ramban/Nachmanides in his description In the first half of the 16th century there are already signs of the fictitious connection with the Ramban being circulated.

### 15th\-16th century synagogue

According to Jewish educator Larry Domnitch, after a period of steady growth of the Jewish community, which was centered on the synagogue and [yeshiva](/wiki/Yeshiva "Yeshiva") established by Nachmanides, around the year 1400 the synagogue was relocated further north, away from its initial location on Mount Zion.

A. David and others write that the synagogue established soon after 1400 was destroyed in 1474, then rebuilt in 1475\. [Ovadiah of Bertinoro](/wiki/Ovadiah_of_Bertinoro "Ovadiah of Bertinoro"), who arrives in Jerusalem in 1488, leaves a description of the synagogue, followed by one by [Moses Bassola](/wiki/Moses_Bassola "Moses Bassola") who visits in the early 1520s.

Traces of an erroneous attribution of the synagogue to Nachmanides can be already found in 1537\.

In 1523, the synagogue was described as "the only Jewish place of worship in Jerusalem". In 1586 it was still used commonly by both the [Sephardic](/wiki/Sephardic "Sephardic") and [Ashkenazi](/wiki/Ashkenazi "Ashkenazi") communities.

### Late 16th century: closure

[thumb\|200px\|Shown in the *Casale Pilgrim* (16th\-century)](/wiki/File:Casale_Pilgrim_Ramban_synagogue%2C_Jerusalem.jpg "Casale Pilgrim Ramban synagogue, Jerusalem.jpg")

In 1586, the synagogue was closed under the order of the Turkish governor of Jerusalem. Subsequently, the Sephardic community established their center in the adjacent place, where the academy belonging to the [tanna](/wiki/Tannaim "Tannaim") [Yochanan ben Zakai](/wiki/Yochanan_ben_Zakai "Yochanan ben Zakai") was said to have stood during the [Second Temple](/wiki/Second_Temple "Second Temple") period. Today the [Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue](/wiki/Four_Sephardic_Synagogues%23Yochanan_ben_Zakai_Synagogue "Four Sephardic Synagogues#Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue") stands there.

The Nachmanides Synagogue shared a wall with the [Sidna Umar Mosque](/wiki/Sidna_Omar_Mosque "Sidna Omar Mosque") and was described as similar in design. Ottoman authorities issued a [firman](/wiki/Firman "Firman") to lock the synagogue door due to local complaints of 'noisy ceremonies' and further legal disputes were prohibited after the 1598 confiscation.

[Joseph Schwarz](/wiki/Joseph_Schwarz_%28geographer%29 "Joseph Schwarz (geographer)") wrote in 1845 how the medieval synagogue building and its later additions constituted the Jewish "court", a complex of buildings "constructed after the style of a monastery" and aligned from both sides along an inner space, a "large court, which forms as it were a whole street", the "Synagogue of the Ashkenazim" mentioned in the quote here\-below. Schwarz further cites a 1628 document stating that the main building, the synagogue proper, was confiscated in 1588 by a particularly Jewish\-hating [mufti](/wiki/Mufti "Mufti") who dedicated it to "profane" purposes, and as such the building became known in Arabic as the "Al Maraga".

### 17th to 19th century: industrial use

In 1845, Joseph Schwarz, considered by the [Jewish Encyclopedia](/wiki/Jewish_Encyclopedia "Jewish Encyclopedia") (1901\-1906\) as "the greatest Jewish authority on Palestinian matters since [Estori Farḥi](/wiki/Ishtori_Haparchi "Ishtori Haparchi")" proposed the identification of the modern synagogue – then known as "Al Maraga" in Arabic and previously at the centre of the "Synagogue of the Ashkenazim" compound – with the traditional Ramban Synagogue:

The 1628 text quoted by Schwarz also mentions a [qadi](/wiki/Qadi "Qadi") who, during that very year, extorted a large amount of money, 1000 [grosh](/wiki/Kuru%C5%9F "Kuruş"), from the Jewish community in order to recognise their property rights and stop the transformation of "Al Maraga" into a raisin mill, and the construction of several shops "out of the hall and front of the Synagogue". In spite of the retroactive and valid property [deed](/wiki/Deed "Deed") issued by the corrupt qadi, in Schwarz's own time were Al Maraga was indeed used as a raisin mill and the shops had been built "in the outer hall", "although they happen to be at present the property of the Jews."

In 1835, the community leaders managed to obtain permission from [Ibrahim Pasha](/wiki/Ibrahim_Pasha_of_Egypt "Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt"), the Egyptian conqueror and governor of the [region of Syria](/wiki/Syria_%28region%29 "Syria (region)"), for the renovation of the synagogues, of which the Sephardic ones were unified into a single unit, known today as the [Four Sephardic Synagogues](/wiki/Four_Sephardic_Synagogues "Four Sephardic Synagogues"). With the permission of his father, [Muhammad Ali Pasha](/wiki/Muhammad_Ali_of_Egypt "Muhammad Ali of Egypt") the ruler of Egypt, the complex known as the "Synagogue of the Ashkenazim" was returned to the Ashkenazi community in 1836, but without the actual main building, "Al Maraga", a goal seen by Schwarz as certain to attain, had it been not for the [Ottomans](/wiki/Ottoman_dynasty "Ottoman dynasty") regaining power over the territory from Muhammad Ali by 1841\.

### 20th century: destruction and reconsecration

The building was used as a [cheese](/wiki/Cheese "Cheese") factory at an unspecified time.

N. Roth wrote in 2014 that the building was completely destroyed by the [Jordanian](/wiki/Jordan "Jordan") [Arab Legion in 1948](/wiki/Arab_Legion%231948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_War "Arab Legion#1948 Arab–Israeli War"), with nothing remaining except for plans and photos produced before the May–July 1948 [Siege of Jerusalem](/wiki/Siege_of_Jerusalem_%281948%29 "Siege of Jerusalem (1948)").

The synagogue we see today has been built on the ruins of the one seen by Bertinoro and Bassola.

As a result of the 1967 Six\-Day War, Jews regained access to the property, and a synagogue with a *beit midrash*, or [Torah study](/wiki/Torah_study "Torah study") hall, was opened there. Today it is used by the Ashkenazi community.


What happens to Jews after the 1967 Six-Day War?