Beit El Synagogue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See Beit El Yeshiva, for the Religious Zionist Yeshiva.
The Beit El Synagogue (house of G-d synagogue), [also known as Midrash Hasidim (school of the devout) and Yeshivat ha’Mekubalim (yeshiva of the kabbalists)] was the centre of kabbalistic study in Jerusalem for over 200 years.
The yeshiva was founded in the 1730s by Rabbi Gedalia Hayun, originally from Turkey, for the study of kabbalah in the Holy City. In the 1740s a gifted young man named Shalom Sharabi arrived in Jerusalem from Yemen. He studied at Beit El and over time became an outstanding scholar and kabbalist. At the behest of Rabbi Hayun, he was appointed head of the yeshiva. [1]
Under Sharabi’s leadership the yeshiva grew and became one of the main yeshivas in Jerusalem. Catering for roughly forty scholars, who were from both the Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities, these sages' only interest was to strive for higher levels of holiness and purity through the service of G-d. Rabbi Sharabi initiated the saying of the daily prayers according to the Nahar Shalom prayer book which he authored, based on the writings of the famed Arizal, which incorporated profound kabbalistic symbolism and entreaties.
The scholars were divided into four groups. The first awoke at midnight to say tikkun hatzot and learn the kabbalah of the Arizal until dawn. The second delved into the works of the Arizal from after shacharit (morning prayers) until midday. The third group learnt the Mishna with Rabbi Ovadia mi’Bartenura’s commentary from midday till nightfall. After ma’ariv (evening prayers) the fourth set of scholars would arrive and learn the Talmud and the Shulchan Aruch. [2]
As the yeshiva's reputation spread throughout the land of Israel and the Diaspora it attracted many prominent rabbis. Among them were rabbis Chaim Joseph David Azulai, Avraham Gershon of Kitov, Menachem Mendel of Shklov and Yom Tov Algazi.
In 1757 Rabbi Sharabi chose twelve select disciples who were to form a special group called Ahavat Shalom (love of peace). They signed a pledge of eternal friendship which hung on the door of the Holy Ark in the synagogue. Part of the document reads: “..all twelve of us shall be as one glorious soul…that if G-d forbid one of us encounters misfortune, we will all assist him..” Among one of the stipulations was that if a son was born to one of the group, three members would go to learn Torah by the newborn’s side every night until its circumcision to act as a safeguard for the child. On the night before the brit milah the whole group was instructed to visit and study there.
The synagogue premises remained in the hands of the leading kabbalists of each generation who inherited the apartment on the top floor.
In the late 1800s, the writings of Dr Eliezer Levy, who escorted Sir Moses Montefiore around Jerusalem, describe of how they visited the place where “they pray all year round according to the mystical meanings of the Arizal from midnight till the afternoon, and from then till the evening they study Talmud and Zohar”.
In July 1927 an earthquake damaged the building and the British Municipality ordered the building be demolished. No sooner had the order been received, plans got underway to rebuild and eight months later in March 1928 the new extended premises were completed.
In the 1930s when the illustrious Chazon Ish was on his way to the Western Wall, he made a point of stopping by the synagogue to study there, stating “I have great merit to see the place where such great and holy people learnt and prayed”.[3]
During the Israel War of Independence the contents of the building were looted and the building was desecrated. In 1958 Rabbi Ovadya Hedaya took on the task of rebuilding the yeshiva on Rashi Street in the new section of the city. In 1974, six years after the liberation of the Jewish quarter, the Beit El Synagogue was re-established in the Old City under the aegis of Rabbi Yehuda Meir Getz, a noted kabbalist, who until his death was the official rabbi of the Western Wall area.
On 13 September 1995 a special ceremony took place celebrating the completion of refurbishment to the synagogue. It was originally scheduled to take place in early 1996. but Rabbi Getz asked that it be brought forward. Five days after the celebration, Rabbi Getz died.
One of the most famous alumni of the yeshiva was Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri who died in January 2006.
The current Rosh Yeshiva is Yisrael Avichai.
