Shfaram Ancient Synagogue
Encyclopedia
The Shfaram synagogue is located in the Israeli-Arab city of Shfaram, Northern Israel.
Record of a synagogue in Shfaram dates to the mid-18th century when Bedouin chieftain Dhaher al-Omar gave permission to the Jews to return and renovate the ancient house of prayer there.
Shfaram was noted in 1845 by Rabbi Joseph Schwarz in his book Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine as having "about thirty Jewish families who have an old synagogue". Jews lived in Shfaram until the 1970s when the community disbanded. Subsequently the building fell into disrepair and was only recently renovated. Although being abandoned, the keys to the former house of worship are held by a local Muslim and the synagogue is treated with respect by the local Arabs.
In November 2006 the building was rededicated after works to renovate the synagogue were carried out voluntarily by a group of newly qualified police officers. At the ceremony, Shfaram mayor Ursan Yassin retold how that during the October riots
he had been forced to physically protect the location and had told local youngsters who wanted to burn it down that they could set him alight, but he would not allow them to harm the synagogue. There were however reports of damage to religious artifacts in the ancient synagogue on October 9, 2000.
Record of a synagogue in Shfaram dates to the mid-18th century when Bedouin chieftain Dhaher al-Omar gave permission to the Jews to return and renovate the ancient house of prayer there.
Shfaram was noted in 1845 by Rabbi Joseph Schwarz in his book Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine as having "about thirty Jewish families who have an old synagogue". Jews lived in Shfaram until the 1970s when the community disbanded. Subsequently the building fell into disrepair and was only recently renovated. Although being abandoned, the keys to the former house of worship are held by a local Muslim and the synagogue is treated with respect by the local Arabs.
In November 2006 the building was rededicated after works to renovate the synagogue were carried out voluntarily by a group of newly qualified police officers. At the ceremony, Shfaram mayor Ursan Yassin retold how that during the October riots
October 2000 events
The October 2000 events were a series of protests in Arab villages in northern Israel in October 2000 that turned violent, escalating into clashes between Israeli Arabs and the Israel Police and ending in the deaths of demonstrators.The Or Commission was established to investigate the police...
he had been forced to physically protect the location and had told local youngsters who wanted to burn it down that they could set him alight, but he would not allow them to harm the synagogue. There were however reports of damage to religious artifacts in the ancient synagogue on October 9, 2000.