A building permit for the construction and restoration of the
Beis Yaakov shul in the R' Yehuda Hechossid Court was
signed recently by Rabbi Yehoshua Pollak, chairman of the
Local Planning and Construction Committee in Jerusalem's Old
City.
The request was submitted by the Society for the Restoration
and Development of the Jewish Quarter, which is in charge of
implementing the approved building plan modeled after the
original beis medrash, including an ezras
noshim, a large stone dome and various details of
construction. The plans also call for an interior and
exterior balcony surrounding the building and affording a
panoramic view of Har Habayis and the entire city to the
east. The building will also contain a mikveh.
Construction will incorporate the parts of the original
building that remained intact.
Immediately after conquering the Jewish Quarter in 5708
(1948) Jordanian Legion soldiers took the remaining residents
prisoner and destroyed the building as a symbolic uprooting
of the Jewish community living in the Old City for
generations.
The Churvah shul and the surrounding courtyard, which housed
the Eitz HaChaim yeshiva and talmud Torah as well as
the office of HaRav S. Salant, served as the center of
spiritual life for Jerusalem's Ashkenazi kehilloh.
The original Beis Yaakov shul was inaugurated on Erev
Rosh Hashana 5625 (1865) after long years of failed attempts
to redeem the site from the Arabs, who had taken over years
earlier after burning down the previous building based on
claims the Jewish owners of the courtyard had not paid their
debt, as agreed.
The "courtyard" was purchased in 5459 (1699) by R' Yehuda
Hechossid and his talmidim, who had immigrated to
Jerusalem from Poland. They chose the site partly for its
size and location, but no less for the historic tie to the
parcel of land that had served Jewish residents over a
hundred years earlier during the period of R' Ovadiah
Bartenura, who the Turkish rulers drove out along with the
other Jews.
From 5625 (1865) to 5708 (1948) the Churvah served not only
as a spiritual center but also as a place to hold gatherings
of the general Jewish population and a place to receive
visiting officials from the ruling order.
Since the Jewish Quarter became accessible after the war in
5727 (1967) various plans to restore the site were raised.
After the war the piles of rubble were cleared away and the
parts that remained standing, including the stone arch, were
reinforced. Now that the building permit has been signed, the
obstacles standing in the way of these reconstruction plans
for decades have finally been removed and hopefully
construction work will begin in the near future.
