Or Zaruaa Synagogue

The Or Zaruaa Synagogue, Nachlaot, Jerusalem (בית כנסת אור זרוע, נחלאות, ירושלים) was founded in 1926 (5687 in the Jewish calendar) by Rabbi Amram Aburbeh for Maghrebi (North African) Jews in Jerusalem. It is located at 3 Shmuel Refaeli Street in the Nachalat Ahim neighbourhood.

The synagogue was named Or Zaruaa after the Beth Midrash (study hall) Aburbeh's father Rabbi Shlomo Aburbeh held in his home in Avraham Azriel's court in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Site
The Or Zaruaa Synagogue is listed among the sites for historic preservation by the Jerusalem municipality. The preservation site number of the synagogue is 2638. On 19 February 1997, Judge V. Ziler, President of the Jerusalem District Court, ruled the synagogue was permanently hekdesh, (הקדש), a Hebrew term for a property held by a public institute, religious or non—religious, that serves a public use.

Description
The Or Zaruaa Synagogue is a 10 meter high, two-story on a hill, 799 meters above sea level, with an area of 258 square meters, in the Nachlaot neighborhood in central Jerusalem. The exterior walls are covered with Jerusalem stone, as mandated for all buildings in Jerusalem. The first floor, originally built as a home for the rabbi, is a kindergarten. The synagogue itself, on the second floor, is designed in a Spanish North-African style, where the men's seata surround the Bimah (stage). The hall has a very high ceiling, and includes a women's section (ezrat nashim). Tall windows are accentuated by massive stone frames, curved at the top.

History
To build a new synagogue for the growing number of Maghrebi Jews that were leaving the Old City of Jerusalem for newer neighborhoods, Aburbeh approached Don Yamin Ben Harroch, a philanthropist who led the Jewish community in Melilla, Spain, who contributed funds for its construction. On Tuesday, October 26, 1926, (18 Cheshvan 5687 Jewish calendar) the cornerstone laying ceremony for the building took place. Aburbeh said that only Jewish workers would be permitted to work on the building.

Aburbeh led the synagogue from 1926 until 1951, when he was elected Chief Rabbi in Petah Tikva, Israel.

Activities
The synagogue was inaugurated in 1927 with Aburbeh as its rabbi. For a few years he lived in an apartment built for his family on the first floor of the building until he built a house nearby. The apartment then became the residence of Haim Kobi, the Gabai of the Synagogue, and his family for the next 40 years. Or Zaruaa was a Beit Midrash (study house), where lessons were taught, as well as a synagogue.