Bet El Synagogue
Originally founded in 1757, the Beit-El Yeshiva and Synagogue, also known as Kahal Chassidim, is considered the center of kabalistic study in Jerusalem. Its entrance through a magnificent silver etched door on Beit El Street, a pledge of eternal friendship signed by twelve select disciples in 1757, hangs on the Holy Ark. During the Israel War of Independence, the contents of the building were looted and the building destroyed. Six years after the liberation of the Jewish quarter, the Beit El Yeshiva was re-established on the very site of the former Beit El Synagogue, and on September 13, 1995, a special ceremony took place celebrating the renovation of the synagogue, now re-named Yeshivat HaMekubalim Beit El.
Ramban
The Ramban synagogue was founded by the Ramban (Rav Moshe ben Nachman) upon his arrival to Jerusalem in 1267 and is the oldest active synagogue in the Old City. The building foundation is comprised of Romanesque vaults resting on Roman and Byzantine remains, and over the years, it has been used as a mosque, a flour mill, and a British police station during the Mandate period. In 1967, the synagogue was reopened.
Tiferet Yisrael
The Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue, begun by Nissan Bak in the 1850s for the city's Hassidic community stands east of the Hurva Square, next to Yeshivat HaKotel. Its dome donated by Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria, it was completed in 1872, a three-storey structure that was then the tallest building in the Jewish Quarter. It was destroyed by the Jordanians in 1948. Following the Six Day War the decision was made to leave the ruins of the synagogue as they were. Only its western wall remains alongside the remains of ritual baths; and some paintings are displayed along the bottom level of the remains.
