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A statement by Architect Nahum Meltzer
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The Hurva synagogue as we know it was built in the mid nineteenth century alongside other buildings in the Jewish Quarter. The silhouettes of the Hurva and Tifereth Yisrael synagogues rose above the surrounding buildings and integrated perfectly with the Old City skyline, its stone walls and passageways.
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| These were the well-known characteristics of the Jewish Quarter. Densely built houses, above them the domes of Tifereth Yisrael and the Hurva. The Hurva synagogue was destroyed just over half a century ago, and many details of the building have been preserved. These details are based on precise, constant measurements of the building, the surviving remnants, the large number of interior and exterior photographs that exist, and eyewitness reports both oral and written. These extensive details enable us to conceive a complete architectural restoration of the building and return it to its former state without making any assumptions. We know, with a great deal of certainty, the formation of the walls, the character of the portals, the dimensions of the dome and the technique used to lay it on the walls of the synagogue. |
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All these make the restoration concept legitimate, both scientifically and within the parameters of accepted ethical code used for restoration work, as expressed in the ninth paragraph of the Venice Convention. "The object of restoration is the preservation revelation of the monument's historical and aesthetic values, and is based on respect to the existent and correct, un-manipulated documentation which must end at the point where all conjecture begins".
Two main alternatives to the restoration of the synagogue to its previous state and worthy of discussion were presented to the board: The preservation of the area and ruins as a memorial site, or building a completely new, modern synagogue.
It is customary to preserve archeological sites in their ruined state. Primarily, from an approach that negates restoration without conclusive evidence of the character of the building, and secondly from a desire to reach different levels relating to different periods of the site. Neither of these approaches are relevant to the Hurva synagogue. Out of several designs, that of Architect Louis Kahn, presented at the end of the 60s, was the most appropriate. The architectural design, which was presented extensively in design plan format, as an architectural model and later even a computerized simulation before many forums, proposed the building of a large, impressive synagogue.
While this proposal was praised continuously, it was not tested conceptually in light of reality, and may even have proved more problematical than was imagined. |
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But that is not the main issue. One must question whether the construction of a building that speaks in a completely new architectural language is a suitable replacement for the Hurva. Is it not more acceptable from am architectural point of view to preserve the original, organic language of the Jewish Quarter and the Old City? Is it not more acceptable to preserve the simple, living memory of the building as it was in its historical surroundings?
One can dispute the architectural value of the Hurva, as many superior buildings of this type exist in the world. But this argument reeks of self-deprecating provincialism, as no building of this type existed in Eretz Yisrael. The building was massive, decorated with arched windows through which direct light was able to penetrate and topped with a stone dome carried on four sails. At its peak, the dome stood twenty-four meters above the floor of the hall – comparative to eight floors of a residential building. |
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Beyond all considerations of the quality of the building, the shape of the Hurva synagogue is connected to the historic memory of the Jewish People.
And from here we arrive at the main point: For the last generations, the Hurva symbolized an eternal synagogue. It was the first great synagogue in Eretz Yisrael built with a stone dome in its center, and this model served as a source of inspiration for many synagogues built later on. If you ask any common Jew how he sees a synagogue in his mind, he will, in all probability, answer "a building with a dome".
Synagogues from the time of the Mishna in Eretz Yisrael, synagogues in Spain before the Inquisition, synagogues in Poland, all of unique character, were unable to create a hold on conceptual architecture impression as did the Hurva.
Out of respect to the collective historic memory of our People, as well as respect for the urban surroundings of the Old City, it is appropriate that we rebuild the Hurva as it was in the past and restore it to its previous glory.
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Nahum Meltzer |
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