Israel-©-MEA-20171206-(577)-Historical-Landmarks-Hessed Ve-Rahamim Sephardi Synagogue in Jerusalem
Mazkeret Moshe (Hebrew: מזכרת משה) is a former courtyard in Jerusalem. Today it is part of the Nachlaot neighborhood. Mazkeret Moshe was founded in 1882 from the ardent financial support of British Jewish financier and banker, Moses Montefiore. The name “Mazkeret Moshe” means “memorial to Moses.” This neighbourhood was intended for Ashkenazi Jews, while the adjacent neighbourhood Ohel Moshe, also funded by Montefiore’s foundation, was intended for Sephardi Jews.
Hessed Verahamim Synagogue is a Sephardi synagogue in Mazkeret Moshe that was once a PUB. In the late 1920’s, the neighborhood butcher convinced the pub owner to turn the building into a synagogue. The doors are covered with silver plates illustrating the Twelve Tribes.
Jerusalem is estimated to possess some 200 churches, 40 mosques, and well over 1,000 synagogues. Most Jewish places of worship in the city are small, easy to miss, and reflect the character of their immediate neighbourhoods. Most of the synagogues are also Sephardi.
Whereas centrally-located Ashkenazi synagogues tend to be large in size and doughty in presence, their Sephardi counterparts tend to be more restrained in decor, with a warm, relaxed intimacy, and a deep-seated pride in their cultural identity and traditions. They are also more ubiquitous: choose at random a Jerusalem synagogue and it is most likely to be Sephardi.
Their numbers rose exponentially during the Selichot period in the 40-day penitential period preceding Yom Kippur, and the rising inflows of visitors and tourists pack out their sanctuaries in the pre-dawn hours. These pilgrims happily trade a good night’s sleep for the unforgettable Sephardi prayer-fervor and traditional melodies. There is also the sense of being a latter-day hanger-on to the tradition of the beadles of yesteryears’ pre-dawn watch knocking on the doors to round up the locals to prayer
But if you’ve only one to choose from, consider the richly-decorated Hessed Ve-Rahamim (“kindness and mercy”) Synagogue on HaCarmel Street, in central Jerusalem.
Like most places of worship in the neighborhood, it follows the authentic Sephardi Jerusalem liturgy and full-throated singing. Its Iraqi-accented origin is best tasted on Simchat Torah – with the kubbeh metugan (fried cracked-wheat dish) stuffed with mincemeat, hard-boiled eggs, and pickled cucumbers, served after the morning service.
In the gathering dusk and from a little distance, its iron-hammered logos of the Twelve Tribes and the Eshet Chayil (Woman of Valour) prayer evoke the facade of the house of the Gingerbread Man – an impression that is not entirely misleading, as some 90 years ago the building was a pub.
According to local lore, Jewish butcher Isaac Emosa changed all that by buttonholing the owner with £10 sterling in exchange for an instant quit.
Like all Orthodox synagogues, Hessed Ve-Rachamim is gender-segregated, with the women upstairs in the gallery. They do, however, fully participate from above in the time-honored Sephardi tradition in calling out bids during the auctioning of aliyot and other mitzvot – though they pass these on to the men of their choosing.
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