Porat Yosef Yeshiva

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The pre-1948 facade of the Porat Yosef Yeshiva overlooking the Temple Mount. To the right is the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue.

The Arab Legion attacking the Porat Yosef Yeshiva, May 1948.

The Porat Yosef Yeshiva is a Sephardic yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem. The cornerstone was laid in 1914, but due to the First World War construction was delayed until much later. A man named Joseph Shalom, of Calcutta, India, paid for the building after consulting with the Ben Ish Hai of Baghdad: his original intention was to build a hospital, but the Ben Ish Hai persuaded him to endow a yeshiva instead. ^[1] The yeshiva, catering for the Sephardic community, was inaugurated in 1923 and consisted of a large bet medrash (study hall), two other smaller halls where married men learnt, plus fifty other rooms including dormitories, offices and a library.

During the 1948 Israel War of Independence, the building was destroyed and a new yeshiva was opened in the Geulah neighborhood, still in existence today. After the Six Day War architect Moshe Safdie rebuilt the Old City complex on the original site. The new building, based on the original design, evinces a present-day look, blending "traditional" with "modern". In both texture and colour, the stone walls echo the dominant building material of Jerusalem. The synagogue itself is a substantial structure of six stories, seating 450 worshippers. The edifice is covered by a large semitransparent dome that permits light to enter by day, while at night it glows with interior illumination.

Alumni of the yeshiva include: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbi Benzion Abba Shaul, Rabbi Yehuda Tzadkah and Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri.