 The museum interior, in 2021 | |
 Interactive fullscreen map | |
| Established | 1967 (1967) |
|---|---|
| Location | 6 Or HaChaim Street,Jewish Quarter,Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′31.1″N35°13′49.0″E / 31.775306°N 35.230278°E /31.775306; 35.230278 |
| Type | Ethnographic museum |
| Website | www |
TheOld Yishuv Court Museum is anethnographicmuseum on Or HaHaim Street in theJewish Quarter of theOld City of Jerusalem. It showcases the traditional lifestyle of the JewishOld Yishuv community during thelate Ottoman andMandatory periods, leading up to the fall of the Jewish Quarter to theJordanian army in the1948 Palestine war.[1]
The museum complex includes theAri Synagogue, an oldSephardicsynagogue associated with and named after 16th centurykabbalist, RabbiIsaac Luria. Another part of the complex, on the second floor, houses theOhr ha-Chaim Synagogue, which was formerly used by the Italian and Sephardic communities and now follows Ashkenazinusach, though it is not part of the museum and has a separate entrance.[1]
TheOld Yishuv Court Museum showcases the history of the Jewish community in Jerusalem from the mid-19th century to theMandatory period. Located in one of the oldest and most well-known courtyards in the Jewish Quarter, it was home to the families of F"h and Rosental, early pupils ofVilna Gaon, for five generations after their arrival in the 19th century. During the Mandatory period, Rabbi A.Mordechai Weingarten's family lived there until the fall of the Jewish Quarter to the Arab Legion in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. After Jerusalem's reunification, the Weingarten family returned.[1]
Rebuilt and adapted into a museum after theSix-Day War, the museum depicts daily life, customs, and typical works of the Old Yishuv, with many items collected from veteran Jerusalemite families or purchased from collectors and shops.[1]
The house is built in the typical style of past generations in the Jewish Quarter. Exhibits include two rooms displaying different hosting styles, Sephardic and Ashkenazi. In the bedroom, there is a birthing bed that was passed from house to house for women about to give birth. The kitchen features baking and cooking areas with many items, and the courtyards display water holes, a manual pump, gutters, ornamental plants, a laundry corner, and a warehouse. The craft room presents professions and trades from the past, such as a goldsmith, shoemaker, tailor, peddler, wool breaker, knife sharpener, and shoe shiner.[1]
| Ari Synagogue | |
|---|---|
Hebrew:בית הכנסת הארי | |
 Interior of the synagogue, in 2002 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Judaism |
| Ecclesiastical or organisational status | Synagogue |
| Status | Active[clarification needed] |
| Location | |
| Location | Above the Old Yishuv Court Museum |
  Location of the synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem | |
| Geographic coordinates | 31°46′31.1″N35°13′49.0″E / 31.775306°N 35.230278°E /31.775306; 35.230278 |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Synagogue architecture |
| Style | Ottoman architecture |
TheAri Synagogue (Hebrew:בית הכנסת הארי) is aJewish congregation andsynagogue, located on the ground floor of a building which also houses theOhr ha-Chaim Synagogue and Old Yishuv Court Museum.[2] It is named after RabbiIsaac Luria, (1534–1572), who was known as theAri.[a] Luria was a greatkabbalist who founded a new school in Kabbalistic thought, known as the "System of the Ari" or "Lurianic kabbalah".
According to tradition, it was in this building where Rabbi Isaac Luria was born and where he lived for 20 years. It is told thatprophetElijah was thesandek at hisBrit milah. At some stage, the room of his traditional birthplace became aSephardic synagogue. The Jews of theyishuv were forbidden byOttoman Law to establish any new synagogues. This led to inconspicuous prayer houses which, like the Ari Synagogue, were located in residential homes. During theriots of 1936 the synagogue was looted and burned.
Media related toOld Yishuv Court Museum at Wikimedia Commons
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