Hurva Synagogue

The Hurva Synagogue (whose name means "ruined synagogue") is located in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. Its name is not original, but rather comes from its history of being destroyed. The synagogue was first built in 1700 by a rabbi from Poland. However, after the rabbis death, the synagogue was destroyed when the rabbi's community could not pay his debts. The synagogue was rebuilt from 1836 until 1856, but was destroyed less than a hundred years later during the Arab-Israeli War of 1948. It remained in ruins until the mid-1970s. In 2005, the Israeli government announced plans to rebuild the synagogue, which should be completed in 2009. Hopefully it will not be ruined again.