1 00:00:03,690 --> 00:00:12,300 [Auto-generated transcript. Edits may have been applied for clarity.] So a very special speaker today is Professor David David, David, Bhavik, 2 00:00:13,530 --> 00:00:24,390 who is our newly inaugurated postdoctoral fellow in Israel studies with the School of Area Studies. 3 00:00:25,650 --> 00:00:37,430 Uh, the it is. DPhil or PhD dissertation dealt with the construction of religion and nationality during the first decade of Israeli statehood, 4 00:00:37,430 --> 00:00:45,049 specifically with the Ministry of uh Religious Affairs uh, in which he tackled issues of nationalism, 5 00:00:45,050 --> 00:00:49,850 colonialism, ethnicity, and of course, religion and political theology. 6 00:00:50,930 --> 00:00:59,719 Uh, his postdoctoral fellowship has, uh, as a focus, at least for this formative stage, the, uh, 7 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:06,890 matter of the sacred in politics and specifically issues of sacred spaces or spaces and sanctity. 8 00:01:07,460 --> 00:01:17,690 And the title of his talk today is to ensure the Jewish character of the town through the establishment of a central synagogues, 9 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:24,170 synagogues in Israeli urban internal frontiers as symbols of sovereignty. 10 00:01:24,830 --> 00:01:28,970 David, thank you so much. Uh, okay. 11 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:36,650 Thank you, everyone, for being here. Um, I will not begin with a synagogue. 12 00:01:36,980 --> 00:01:42,260 Uh, begin with someone that excluded himself entirely from the synagogue. 13 00:01:43,380 --> 00:01:44,360 A very famous guy. 14 00:01:44,870 --> 00:01:53,960 In 1970, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, was invited to participate in the American Reform Rabbis Conference in Jerusalem. 15 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:59,540 Ben-Gurion replied that he would be happy to participate, but not as a lecturer. 16 00:02:00,020 --> 00:02:03,080 He explained his decision by writing. 17 00:02:04,230 --> 00:02:09,030 Obviously I'm a Jew. However, I am neither an Orthodox nor a reform. 18 00:02:09,570 --> 00:02:14,760 In Israel I do not attend synagogues. Only once did I step inside a synagogue. 19 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:20,280 When independence was declared, at the request of Rabbi Berlin of the Mizrachi party. 20 00:02:20,970 --> 00:02:25,290 When I'm abroad, however, I enjoy attending synagogues on Saturdays. 21 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:35,110 In fact, in fact, and for the sake of historical accuracy, this self testimony is an inaccurate. 22 00:02:36,020 --> 00:02:41,569 As Ben-Gurion attended the prayer of gratitude at the Assurance Synagogue of Jerusalem following 23 00:02:41,570 --> 00:02:46,940 the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly and not following the Declaration of Independence. 24 00:02:47,930 --> 00:02:54,229 This comment might seem anecdotal, but it hides a profound understanding of the change in Jewish self-determination 25 00:02:54,230 --> 00:02:58,470 following the emergence of Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel. 26 00:02:59,530 --> 00:03:08,319 To use William Kavanagh's terms and following Yaakov. If the modern state changes the identity of the individual from one associated with the 27 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:13,480 Christian Holy Communion to one associated with the National with the National Collective, 28 00:03:13,990 --> 00:03:22,780 the Jewish sovereign states shift the identity of the individual Jew from the local synagogue community to the sovereign national collective. 29 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:30,790 Ben-Gurion ignorance of the synagogue and the political insights that derive from it are indeed thought provoking. 30 00:03:31,150 --> 00:03:40,030 However, it ignores the increasing number and popularity of synagogues in the sovereign state of Israel since its establishment and until today. 31 00:03:40,750 --> 00:03:42,610 I want. In what follows, 32 00:03:42,610 --> 00:03:50,740 I wish to highlight one aspect of the synagogue's relationship with the sovereign states through an outline of one of its institutions, 33 00:03:51,130 --> 00:03:54,690 the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Once. 34 00:03:55,930 --> 00:04:01,490 Yeah. Established shortly after the Declaration of Independence. 35 00:04:01,530 --> 00:04:10,890 This state institution symbolises the ambivalence of the self perceived secular state and the community institution that it sought to replace. 36 00:04:11,610 --> 00:04:17,040 The ministry was responsible for providing state religious services for Jews and non-Jews alike. 37 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,169 However, ministry officials, 38 00:04:19,170 --> 00:04:27,570 most of whom religious Zionists sought to harness their authority to form a proper and national religion that would suit the Zionist agenda. 39 00:04:29,030 --> 00:04:33,170 In this regard, synagogues were no different from other religious institutions. 40 00:04:33,650 --> 00:04:39,350 The ministry was responsible for establishing, organising and managing synagogues throughout the country. 41 00:04:40,130 --> 00:04:47,210 With this responsibility, its officials wished to develop national synagogues, prayer text and prayer melodies. 42 00:04:47,570 --> 00:04:54,710 These synagogues hosted national services and ceremonies which shifted the synagogue institution from a communal to a national sphere. 43 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:01,970 Another significant aspect of this Recontextualized synagogue was their role as symbols of sovereignty. 44 00:05:02,690 --> 00:05:11,450 I argue that this role provides insights into some significant geopolitical shifts in Judaism following the emergence of Zionism and the state. 45 00:05:12,990 --> 00:05:17,760 To establish my argument, I will first distinguish between two main functions. 46 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,240 Synagogue played in Jewish history in a very rough way, 47 00:05:21,990 --> 00:05:28,380 as a place of worship and and gravity for the destroyed temple, and as a symbol of redemption and sovereignty. 48 00:05:28,860 --> 00:05:37,110 Later I will describe how this very contextualisation has had a significant impact on synagogue architecture and location in Israel. 49 00:05:37,590 --> 00:05:43,079 Finally, I will demonstrate this phenomenon through close analysis of archival documents in several 50 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:50,580 urban frontiers in Israel and point out the implication of this shift in various contexts. 51 00:05:51,850 --> 00:05:55,900 Before we start, I want to say something about methodology. 52 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:03,879 By using special history, bureaucratic history and laymen as they live for understanding thier political issues. 53 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:10,090 They would like to argue that severe theological and political questions should also be viewed from this perspective. 54 00:06:11,020 --> 00:06:16,630 Rather than merely from the standpoint of scholars, intellectuals and first class politicians. 55 00:06:17,260 --> 00:06:25,209 Considering these materials, which may seem banal and not intellectually challenging, provides, from my point of view, 56 00:06:25,210 --> 00:06:32,740 provides insights into the implementation of their politics as well as the conflict between the different agents in the field. 57 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:38,080 Back to the synagogues in general terms, and in very rough. 58 00:06:38,380 --> 00:06:44,170 Explanation. Since antiquity and up until the rise of the centralised state in Europe. 59 00:06:44,500 --> 00:06:53,980 Synagogues served as a communal sphere that combined rituals such as praying and reading the Torah, rituals that we would say call them religious, 60 00:06:54,520 --> 00:07:03,430 with communal practices that we would call secular community gathering, charity hospitality, conflict resolution sanctioning, and so on. 61 00:07:04,450 --> 00:07:09,970 These practices were meant to form the Jewish collective as a minority among a non-Jewish majority. 62 00:07:10,540 --> 00:07:17,470 Furthermore, synagogues represented an attitude toward the destroyed temple since its destruction in 1780. 63 00:07:18,250 --> 00:07:29,530 In one sense, synagogues serve served as a little sanctuary or as a communal temple that replaced the temple during exile on another. 64 00:07:29,980 --> 00:07:38,170 However, completing level synagogues presented the absence of the temple and the Jewish the political situation of exile. 65 00:07:38,860 --> 00:07:47,590 This dual attitude was evident since antiquity in the synagogues architecture and visual elements, as well as in the ritual itself. 66 00:07:49,150 --> 00:07:56,890 A significant watershed in the synagogues role in Jewish society is the emergence of a centralised state in Western and Central Europe. 67 00:07:57,490 --> 00:08:04,990 The emancipation and the cancellation of the anonymous Jewish community raised the question of whether the Jews from a religion or a nation. 68 00:08:05,500 --> 00:08:11,320 This debate was one of the main sites where this definition between these two categories was articulated. 69 00:08:11,740 --> 00:08:19,210 The definition of the Jews as a religious, apolitical, international community enabled their integration in the European nationalism. 70 00:08:19,510 --> 00:08:25,389 However, defining them as a national collective negated their fidelity to the European nation 71 00:08:25,390 --> 00:08:29,950 and therefore invalidated their participation in the modern national collective. 72 00:08:30,700 --> 00:08:39,580 Indeed, the main Jewish discourse since the 19th century focussed on various attempts to adapt Judaism to the new definitions of religion, 73 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:46,940 nationalism and culture. This historical moment marks a double transformation in the synagogues rule. 74 00:08:47,510 --> 00:08:52,100 On the one hand, its sensuality as a communal space was emphasised. 75 00:08:52,460 --> 00:08:57,350 On the other hand, this role was reduced to merrily what we can call today. 76 00:08:57,350 --> 00:09:08,270 Religious practices. One of the most significant transformations in Western and Central European Synagogue was their architectural design. 77 00:09:09,510 --> 00:09:13,620 In that sense, synagogue architecture were tools for negotiating political, 78 00:09:13,620 --> 00:09:18,060 social and cultural identities of the communities with the surrounding world. 79 00:09:18,750 --> 00:09:20,700 Up until the middle of the 19th century, 80 00:09:21,270 --> 00:09:29,610 dozens of monumental and cathedral like synagogues were designed and constructed in central and Western Europe, as well as in North America. 81 00:09:30,860 --> 00:09:32,210 May seem paradoxical, 82 00:09:32,780 --> 00:09:42,350 but these monumental synagogues were part of European architecture trend of monumental cathedrals built as symbols of sovereignty in the 19th century. 83 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,020 Or, if we want to put it, other, other ways, 84 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:53,180 synagogue's architecture embodied the desire of European Jews to integrate into the centralised state and culture of Europe. 85 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:59,079 Now, if the Jewish negotiation with the surrounding through the location and architecture of 86 00:09:59,080 --> 00:10:04,990 synagogues was essential when Jews formed a minority in the centralised European state, 87 00:10:05,410 --> 00:10:12,100 it becomes critical when Jews form their own sovereign collective in their own sovereign state. 88 00:10:12,970 --> 00:10:19,750 With the emergence of the only settlements some synagogues in Palestine have taken have taken a new character. 89 00:10:19,870 --> 00:10:25,449 Several national religious congregations wished to adapt the synagogue to Zionist narrative, 90 00:10:25,450 --> 00:10:28,990 to make synagogues a centre of national culture, and claims. 91 00:10:29,650 --> 00:10:37,450 These synagogues hosted national ceremonies, demonstrations and rallies, and various political movements supported their funding. 92 00:10:38,170 --> 00:10:42,190 This change included the design of synagogues that express the Zionist political 93 00:10:42,190 --> 00:10:47,020 narrative and the inclusion of national symbols in their decorative plan, 94 00:10:47,770 --> 00:10:50,050 as opposed to community communal synagogues. 95 00:10:50,560 --> 00:10:59,620 These national synagogues were not intended to serve a particular community, but rather intended to serve the nation as a whole. 96 00:11:00,490 --> 00:11:06,580 As such, they signify the change in the synagogue's character from one of assimilation into European 97 00:11:06,850 --> 00:11:12,850 culture and state to representation of Jewish Zionist culture and self-determination. 98 00:11:15,190 --> 00:11:18,430 As a result of the establishment of the state in 1948, 99 00:11:18,460 --> 00:11:24,700 national religious initiatives were no longer carried only by local agents or Zionist institutions, 100 00:11:24,970 --> 00:11:30,190 but by Israeli bureaucratic management, most notably the Ministry of Religious Affairs. 101 00:11:30,910 --> 00:11:37,690 The synagogues department of the ministry was responsible for supporting new and existing congregations. 102 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:46,120 This activity was held in conjunction with other Israeli managements such as the Ministry of Labour, the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund. 103 00:11:46,810 --> 00:11:52,710 In addition, the ministry and the ministry cooperated and negotiated with two Israeli institutions, 104 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:59,530 Israeli institutions that were responsible for the real estate left behind the Palestinian refugees, 105 00:11:59,890 --> 00:12:03,910 the Custodian of Absentee Property and the Development Authority. 106 00:12:07,270 --> 00:12:11,620 Special attention was given to synagogues established in the internal frontier. 107 00:12:11,890 --> 00:12:19,420 And when I say internal frontier, I mean what we commonly call in Israel a or vote or mixed cities. 108 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:29,319 Following the establishment of the state, its sovereignty had to be demonstrated both along its borders and within its internal frontier regions. 109 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:35,140 Within the states States boundaries in which Jewish expansion and expansion was sought. 110 00:12:35,890 --> 00:12:37,450 Like other settler societies, 111 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:45,820 the Israeli Jewish Hegemony Collective wished to replace the indigenous groups within its boundaries and thus related to them as a threat. 112 00:12:46,300 --> 00:12:54,850 Therefore, the Israeli administration was seeking to increase its dominance and control over peripheral regions where the Palestinian survivors, 113 00:12:54,850 --> 00:13:01,480 and I'll explain later, were called the survivors, or constituting or constituting a significant minority. 114 00:13:03,170 --> 00:13:08,640 An important thing of this settler activity. Was the urban sphere. 115 00:13:09,330 --> 00:13:13,979 Several Palestinian cities, including Jaffa, Haifa, Akko, Lod and Ramla, 116 00:13:13,980 --> 00:13:21,060 became mixed cities or urban internal frontiers, with a vast Jewish majority and a tiny Arab minority. 117 00:13:21,840 --> 00:13:29,400 Jewish immigrants were in abandoned houses, while the remaining Palestinians were forced to move into smaller enclaves in the urban sphere. 118 00:13:29,970 --> 00:13:35,340 These urban internal frontiers served as sites where Israeli sovereignty had to be demonstrated, 119 00:13:35,610 --> 00:13:43,320 both in front of the Palestinian who remained in the in the city and in front of the memory of the Palestinian past. 120 00:13:44,190 --> 00:13:53,430 Among the administrative initiative used by the authorities to demonstrate sovereignty in the internal frontier were the construction of synagogues. 121 00:13:54,000 --> 00:14:02,010 This aspiration was reflected in both the architectural design of the synagogues and their location within the urban space. 122 00:14:03,430 --> 00:14:06,640 In 1955, the Ministry of Religious Affairs. 123 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:12,340 Published a collection of essays titled The Synagogue Papers and Masses. 124 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:20,630 In his contribution to the collection may have been Ori, an architectural consultant to the Ministry of Religious Affairs in its early years. 125 00:14:21,170 --> 00:14:29,450 Proposed that the synagogue definition should be amended in light of the establishment of the state, and he writes the following. 126 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:35,969 We should make every effort to build a synagogue by strict design in order to deepen them in the state, 127 00:14:35,970 --> 00:14:42,060 in regions that emphasise our affinity for the authenticity of the land and of the sanctity of the Jewish people. 128 00:14:42,690 --> 00:14:48,389 Synagogues in the State of Israel require architects to renew architectural elements in light of 129 00:14:48,390 --> 00:14:54,510 the significant changes occurring in the traditional synagogues after the horrific Holocaust. 130 00:14:54,780 --> 00:15:00,390 The establishment of the state's sovereign symbols, earthly roles and historical incitements, 131 00:15:00,930 --> 00:15:05,460 and the beginning of the redemption and the longing of the generation. 132 00:15:06,890 --> 00:15:15,480 One of these architectural elements was the menorah. That is described in the Bible as having been used in the tabernacle and later in the temple. 133 00:15:16,080 --> 00:15:23,550 Regarding the roof design of the synagogues, the newly requested that the menorah would be placed on the roof along with the national flag. 134 00:15:24,420 --> 00:15:28,860 In addition, when it will be requested that synagogues build before the establishment of the state, 135 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:37,020 will and encoding renew their existing symbols and include at least the state's emblem, the menorah and of quote. 136 00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:43,230 A similar tone was reflected in the piece of the ministry's general manager, smaller than Will Kahana, 137 00:15:43,440 --> 00:15:49,920 who declared that the menorah represents the spirit of the era and serves as the emblem of the state. 138 00:15:51,350 --> 00:15:58,820 Vice ministers of plastic, also noted that a unique style is taking shape in the synagogues. 139 00:15:59,390 --> 00:16:04,640 One of its symbol is the menorah, for a mitzvah is a candle into light illumination. 140 00:16:04,910 --> 00:16:10,730 Naomi survived the wall. This symbol became the emblem of the state. 141 00:16:11,950 --> 00:16:19,540 The temple minority. Recurring theme in Jewish visual culture that appears in many contexts throughout Jewish history, including in synagogues. 142 00:16:20,140 --> 00:16:24,790 However, the manoeuvre proposed by an Oak Island building has been transformed. 143 00:16:25,420 --> 00:16:33,910 The menorah on the state emblem is a visual reference to the Ark of Peoples in Rome, and differs from the menorah on formal Jewish visual elements. 144 00:16:34,690 --> 00:16:43,180 This menorah does not remind temple rituals, but rather the temple as a symbol of Jewish sovereignty lost with its destruction. 145 00:16:44,340 --> 00:16:52,590 Thus, as Ron itself argues, the menorah was transformed from a symbolic representation of of an acrylic longing for 146 00:16:52,590 --> 00:16:58,320 the temple service into a symbol of renewing the ancient sovereign past in the present. 147 00:16:59,230 --> 00:17:05,230 In this manner, the Minerva is shifted from its select dimensions and placed within Jewish sovereignty. 148 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:13,720 Therefore, placing the Recontextualized menorah on synagogue's roof, an institution that embodies. 149 00:17:14,860 --> 00:17:21,460 Symbolises the longing for the temple as a place of worship, as well as applying them as an emblem of the state, 150 00:17:21,820 --> 00:17:26,530 clearly represents not only the detachment of the menorah from its ritual context, 151 00:17:26,980 --> 00:17:33,580 but also that of the synagogue itself, shape shifting it from a symbol of longing to one of sovereignty. 152 00:17:35,170 --> 00:17:42,430 The 70 contextualisation of the menorah. Not only differs from its ritual context, it also suspended. 153 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:52,070 In the piece cited above. Below, he compares the newly constructed Israeli synagogue to the ancient synagogues of Miron Alma in causing. 154 00:17:53,190 --> 00:17:58,440 Which I am quoting, demonstrated the strong Jewish affinity to the Temple in Jerusalem. 155 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:06,330 And of, quote, clearly the newly aims to conjoin the State of Israel with the historical Jewish presence in Israel first time. 156 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:16,140 However, unlike the ancient synagogues, when he does not refer to the synagogues direction back to its location within the region. 157 00:18:16,830 --> 00:18:22,620 To put it another way, the shift offered by the newly highlights the change in synagogues orientation. 158 00:18:23,010 --> 00:18:32,400 It is no longer the destructed temple that serves as the organising factor, but rather the sovereign state, both physically and metaphorically. 159 00:18:32,700 --> 00:18:36,270 Synagogues turn to the state rather than to the temple. 160 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:43,170 Contextualising the synagogue at a sovereign symbol like the 19th century European 161 00:18:43,170 --> 00:18:48,030 cathedrals and unlike the European monumental synagogue of this century, 162 00:18:48,420 --> 00:18:53,159 expressed again what Yaakov Younger argues to be the Zionist contextualisation of 163 00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:57,900 the sovereign state of the fulfilment of Jewish traditional longing in exile. 164 00:18:58,500 --> 00:19:06,210 This framework emphasises the relationship between sovereignty, territory and Jewish identity in such Israeli synagogues, 165 00:19:06,990 --> 00:19:13,649 or at least some of them serve as religious spheres that express the secularisation of Jewish 166 00:19:13,650 --> 00:19:20,310 longing in their recontextualized nation as political and sovereign national motivations. 167 00:19:23,500 --> 00:19:35,280 Okay. This transformation, of course, is significant in every Israeli Zionist synagogue, not only in those of the urban intensive frontier. 168 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:41,600 However, in these cases that try to argue, its sovereign role is essential. 169 00:19:42,350 --> 00:19:51,050 Now, I'm proceeding to illustrate some examples of this phenomenon through four synagogues in Haifa, Ramla, and Jaffa. 170 00:19:52,860 --> 00:19:57,240 Haifa, which hosts two of my synagogues, 171 00:19:57,990 --> 00:20:01,950 is one of the most significant examples of urban internal frontiers in Israel 172 00:20:02,370 --> 00:20:07,200 from the 19th century until the 1948 war in the ethnic cleansing that followed. 173 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:17,270 Haifa had a coexisting character. There was close proximity between Palestinians and North African Jews, mostly during the Ottoman period, 174 00:20:17,510 --> 00:20:21,710 where established associations established their neighbourhoods on Mount Carmel. 175 00:20:23,010 --> 00:20:28,830 Which was segregated from the Palestinian area on the day, especially during the mandate period. 176 00:20:29,370 --> 00:20:38,400 The North African Jews had two neighbourhoods called HEARtrillionATE and Altitude, and they were part of Palestine, Haifa or Haifa. 177 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:48,930 That what we call today the lower town of Haifa, almost until 1936, or something like that, when they were evacuated to them, to the government. 178 00:20:49,530 --> 00:20:56,640 Even so, even with the segregation of the Zionist associations and neighbourhoods. 179 00:20:56,950 --> 00:21:02,310 Haifa was indeed a mixed urban community on a social, commercial and municipal level. 180 00:21:03,210 --> 00:21:11,150 During the fight over Haifa in April 1948. Palestinian residents flee, flee out of the city. 181 00:21:11,150 --> 00:21:16,250 Most of the Palestinian residents were evacuated to the port and from there to Echo and Lebanon. 182 00:21:16,610 --> 00:21:21,800 Others were expelled to Nazareth and Jenin after the 1948 war. 183 00:21:22,340 --> 00:21:28,760 Only 3005 hundred Palestinians were living in Haifa, out of a population of over 70,000, 184 00:21:29,390 --> 00:21:35,780 though those who remained were confined to the snap neighbourhood, which was placed under military control. 185 00:21:37,450 --> 00:21:40,960 One of the finest neighbourhoods in the Carmen was Del Carmen. 186 00:21:41,410 --> 00:21:51,650 You can see here. Established in 1922 on the edge of the mountain, del Carmen separated the Jewish Carmen from the bay and Palestinian Haifa. 187 00:21:51,810 --> 00:21:55,970 Judy, the new Haifa. Later known as the Lower City. 188 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,000 The central synagogue of Adela Carmen. 189 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:09,740 Was first designed in the 1920s by Alexander Belmont, who was responsible for another significant 30s building in the home in the Technion. 190 00:22:11,020 --> 00:22:16,650 Even though this plan never materialised, the synagogue is still attributed to Melville, 191 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:21,700 the first Zionist architect who imprinted his his signature style on the city. 192 00:22:22,150 --> 00:22:28,750 Hence, even before it was built, the synagogue was associated with the creation of the Zionist landscape on the Carmel. 193 00:22:29,690 --> 00:22:39,530 The synagogue was inaugurated in 1938. However, financial difficulties stopped the construction and only in the mid 1950s it was completed. 194 00:22:40,490 --> 00:22:48,260 The synagogue was erected on the side of the mountain between the reversal connecting street, which is interesting itself and its facade. 195 00:22:48,260 --> 00:22:56,390 Facing half a street, is 23m tall and covered with stone, and the synagogue has a great dome on its roof. 196 00:22:58,310 --> 00:23:01,430 The synagogue role as a symbol of sovereignty is well-articulated. 197 00:23:01,430 --> 00:23:06,380 In a report written by Pan Castelli in The Companion that we discussed earlier. 198 00:23:06,980 --> 00:23:13,130 Following an extensive description of the synagogue's construction, he concluded as follows. 199 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:20,810 As long as the golden dome of a particular church dominates the city and overshadows the central synagogue. 200 00:23:21,290 --> 00:23:30,440 And as long as Haifa lacks a magnificent synagogue whose roof rises above the buildings of the city, the city is still lacking its genuine crown. 201 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:35,140 It's important to note during its planning and construction, 202 00:23:35,590 --> 00:23:42,580 I couldn't find any mentioning of juxtaposition between the synagogue and other religious buildings in the city. 203 00:23:43,150 --> 00:23:52,150 It seems like it emerged only after the establishment of the state, and the need to demonstrate sovereignty in the urban internal frontier. 204 00:23:52,870 --> 00:23:59,230 An explicit statement of the role of the synagogue can be found in the actual declaration. 205 00:24:00,890 --> 00:24:07,250 Its monumental dimensions were complemented by a unique relief sculpted on its giant facade. 206 00:24:08,210 --> 00:24:15,950 At the end of 1956, the Municipality of Haifa announced the competition for the design of stone relief 207 00:24:15,950 --> 00:24:21,500 to be sculpted on the facade of the synagogue according to the call of proposals. 208 00:24:22,650 --> 00:24:25,960 The roof should express. The relief. 209 00:24:26,020 --> 00:24:30,670 Sorry. The relief should express the changes in the Jewish people in our generation. 210 00:24:31,180 --> 00:24:38,140 The generation of the War of Independence, the establishment of the State of Israel, and the gathering of the exiles. 211 00:24:39,670 --> 00:24:43,240 The winning proposals was submitted by fellow Rubinstein. 212 00:24:44,650 --> 00:24:50,830 The secular sculptor, painter and mosaic artist from the artist colony of Inwood. 213 00:24:51,870 --> 00:24:59,190 According to Rubinstein, the work of art named occurred at the beginning of redemption illustrates. 214 00:25:00,710 --> 00:25:04,340 Elijah on Mount Carmel, the precursor of redemption, 215 00:25:04,580 --> 00:25:10,190 is illustrated on a carriage bearing the symbols of the tribes as they are found in many synagogues. 216 00:25:11,310 --> 00:25:18,150 As you can see, following him are the Jews returning from the exile who carry the menorah carved in the Ark of Titus, 217 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,870 which was built in Rome after the destruction of the temple. 218 00:25:22,650 --> 00:25:25,950 The Jews who were exiled to Rome as prisoners of war. 219 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:31,360 Retorno. Upright as freemen. 220 00:25:31,930 --> 00:25:40,630 The menorah, a symbol of Jewish hope and faith through the generations, now returns to the land as an emblem of the renewed state. 221 00:25:42,060 --> 00:25:48,480 Robinson's description seems to encompass all the decorative main themes of the synagogue, discover and agent. 222 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,410 This monumental relief, measuring ten by four metres, 223 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:59,820 illustrates the transition from sovereignty to exile and back to sovereignty with the establishment of the State of Israel. 224 00:26:00,900 --> 00:26:08,430 Elijah, the most significant symbol of Jewish longing for redemption, leads the way for the returning Jews to their sovereign homeland, 225 00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:16,140 and the menorah is explicitly the menorah of status, resembling the lost sovereignty with the destruction of the temple. 226 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,319 In this framework, the sovereign state is significant. 227 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:24,390 They are not the sole political entity that realises Jewish redemption. 228 00:26:25,290 --> 00:26:28,550 Moreover. And as you can see on the map. 229 00:26:29,710 --> 00:26:36,430 This relief is positioned on the very synagogue that faces the Palestinian neighbourhood of Virginia Smith, 230 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:45,040 thereby symbolising Israeli sovereignty over the Palestinians and other religious buildings in the area. 231 00:26:46,570 --> 00:26:50,530 Now one this central synagogue for dark. 232 00:26:50,530 --> 00:26:57,749 Amen. Is an official establishment. The concept of synagogues as symbols of sovereignty is reflected also in places where 233 00:26:57,750 --> 00:27:03,690 a local congregation requested support for funding a synagogue for traditional or, 234 00:27:03,690 --> 00:27:07,410 let's say, better say, non-national reasons. 235 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:14,519 In these cases. The local congregation's efforts were recontextualized if. 236 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:23,919 Aspiration of sovereign power. Following the war, some Palestinian neighbourhoods in Haifa, New Haifa had been destroyed, 237 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,820 while others had been resettled by Jewish immigrants or by the military. 238 00:27:28,330 --> 00:27:33,280 The entire area, now referred to as the Lower Town, was marginalised, 239 00:27:33,300 --> 00:27:41,500 neglected and therefore pledged with crime, gambling, brothels and stench, as illustrated by Adobe. 240 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:47,500 After the demolition, mosques, mosques and churches were still standing, surrounded by ruins. 241 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:56,290 By doing so. Israeli officials wished to reduce the Palestinian presence in the new Israeli city to that of religious minority, 242 00:27:56,620 --> 00:27:59,830 and to negate any sense of national Palestinian identity. 243 00:28:01,180 --> 00:28:08,440 Naturally, the Jewish immigrants in Haifa expected some religious services, including assistance in establishing new synagogues. 244 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:16,910 In July 1955, the Minister of Religious Affairs, Mr. Shapira, received a letter from the letter. 245 00:28:17,980 --> 00:28:22,090 Congregation and charity in Hebrew. Surviving remnants. 246 00:28:22,090 --> 00:28:24,250 The phrase related to Holocaust survivors, 247 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:32,200 so they ask for support to purchase a plot provided by the Development Development Authority in Haifa's Lower Town. 248 00:28:33,550 --> 00:28:40,090 Additionally, the congregation requested that the ministry would stop their evacuation from the Palestinian building, 249 00:28:40,210 --> 00:28:44,440 which they had been using as a temporary synagogue since 1948. 250 00:28:45,370 --> 00:28:51,430 The margins of the letter. The executive committee addressed that hundreds and thousands of immigrants. 251 00:28:52,390 --> 00:28:56,260 Deserve at least a plot of land for a synagogue from the state. 252 00:28:56,710 --> 00:29:01,230 Why is there no synagogue in a city in Israel where most of its residents are poor? 253 00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:06,700 No immigrants? In the prior letter to Haifa's mayor of Kushi. 254 00:29:07,330 --> 00:29:16,570 The synagogue was described as a central synagogue in the lower town, and due to its limited space, some of the visitors must pray on the street. 255 00:29:17,740 --> 00:29:20,020 According to the description of the congregation, 256 00:29:20,410 --> 00:29:28,600 they were quoting Jews from the surviving remnants of the terrible exiled shadows from the European infernal fire. 257 00:29:31,230 --> 00:29:34,570 About a year later, and following several more. 258 00:29:34,590 --> 00:29:35,310 More letters, 259 00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:43,980 the vice Ministers Authority contacted the Custodian of Absentee Property and asked him to assist the congregation in purchasing the plot. 260 00:29:44,810 --> 00:29:48,830 Interestingly, although that uptick echoed the congregation's concerns, 261 00:29:49,220 --> 00:29:57,920 he added that by establishing a splendid synagogue, this part of Haifa will acquire a significant Jewish identity. 262 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:05,750 In other words. While the congregation addressed their need for a place to pray, 263 00:30:06,170 --> 00:30:14,090 the vice minister converted the facility into a symbol of Jewish presence and sovereignty in the urban internal frontier of Haifa. 264 00:30:14,660 --> 00:30:22,640 Moreover, as if advice demonstrates, the neighbouring neighbourhoods of Valley Celeb hosted about 60 synagogues. 265 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,910 In this respect, the synagogue was not such a vital need for the congregation, 266 00:30:28,240 --> 00:30:32,650 even though they might prefer to pray by their own Eastern European costume. 267 00:30:34,400 --> 00:30:43,640 However, one might argue that in that hefty perspective, the Moroccan synagogues of Salim do not contribute to the nation of the region, 268 00:30:44,150 --> 00:30:50,180 since for him due diversion must be achieved through a proper and splendour. 269 00:30:50,190 --> 00:30:58,870 Synagogues. In his view, of course. It is important to note, and interesting to note that the former Palestinian neighbourhood is very slim, 270 00:30:59,470 --> 00:31:03,880 with one of the most vulnerable neighbourhoods of North African immigrants in Haifa. 271 00:31:05,430 --> 00:31:14,640 Shortly after the sherry. Affairs. In 1959, protests in this neighbourhood served as the platform for Iran's first organised struggle. 272 00:31:16,220 --> 00:31:21,709 Fascinating aspect of this protest was the fact that North African immigrants climbed from 273 00:31:21,710 --> 00:31:29,000 valleys to the Ashkenazi neighbourhood of calm and smashed shop windows and set cars ablaze. 274 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:36,890 Therefore, in this case, it is many others. The ethnic and the inter-ethnic are intertwined. 275 00:31:39,060 --> 00:31:42,810 The existing synagogue is. What is the plot proposed for this new synagogue? 276 00:31:43,170 --> 00:31:51,960 We're both located, as you can see in the map on the outskirts of the north and on the outskirts of the valley, 277 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,850 thus complementing the central synagogue of the Amen. 278 00:31:57,180 --> 00:32:01,830 The synagogue symbolically monitored the remaining Palestinians in Haifa. 279 00:32:02,740 --> 00:32:09,670 To put it another way, the lefty Greek recontextualized the synagogue as well as the community of immigrants. 280 00:32:09,910 --> 00:32:14,470 Together they rounded into the Zionist colonial policy in the urban sphere, 281 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:20,560 inform them of national sovereign agents juxtaposed to the mosques and churches 282 00:32:20,860 --> 00:32:25,390 of the city that were left to symbolise the Palestinian urban destruction. 283 00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:33,580 As a result, both the structure and the population constitute what Wendy Pullen calls frontier urbanism, 284 00:32:33,730 --> 00:32:39,160 which refers to the settlement of civilians as frontier populations and the use of urban 285 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:45,160 constructions in order to promote Israeli sovereignty and prevent Palestinian resistance. 286 00:32:50,430 --> 00:32:57,790 Another example. A bit more to the south of an attempt to establish a central synagogue. 287 00:32:59,220 --> 00:33:03,150 Is the one in the harmony. Before 1948. 288 00:33:03,150 --> 00:33:11,480 The hamlet in its neighbouring town of a leader lord, were two of the most important commercial and administrative centres in Palestine. 289 00:33:11,930 --> 00:33:12,710 During the war, 290 00:33:13,070 --> 00:33:21,080 Ramadi was a national importance because the headquarters of the Palestinian guerrilla commander Hassan Salameh was located in its surroundings. 291 00:33:21,710 --> 00:33:27,920 Ramla and I lead were taken by Israeli forces during operation done in July 1948. 292 00:33:28,280 --> 00:33:34,220 Most of these towns residents were forcibly expelled during the fighting and after the towns were seized. 293 00:33:35,510 --> 00:33:43,580 As a result of the war, only a few hundred residents remained in these towns out of an estimated 60,000. 294 00:33:44,150 --> 00:33:51,950 Ramla. Like other Palestinian cities, became a mixed city, a mixed city, or an urban internal frontier. 295 00:33:52,520 --> 00:34:00,260 Moreover, due to its proximity to the Jordanian border, the Garment District serves as an external border as well as an internal frontier. 296 00:34:00,830 --> 00:34:08,780 In addition, Harmony is located in the centre of the country and the main road that connects or connected Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. 297 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:11,490 As demonstrated by an event, 298 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:20,820 the Ramla area was a site of intense Jewish immigrant housing policy by the Israeli government in the first years of a state. 299 00:34:21,570 --> 00:34:26,460 Its population increased from about 3000 to about 66,000. 300 00:34:28,740 --> 00:34:40,800 Between 1948 and 1955, a growth rate of more than 2000 and 100%, 12 times that of Israel district and 25 times that of Tel Aviv area. 301 00:34:41,430 --> 00:34:45,540 Most of these immigrants were resettled in Palestinian abandoned houses, 302 00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:51,960 while the remaining Palestinians were restricted to the neighbourhood now called the ghetto neighbourhood. 303 00:34:54,190 --> 00:34:59,500 The location of the Central Synagogue in Ramallah is consistent with this settling policy. 304 00:35:00,250 --> 00:35:02,440 On June 25th, 1956, 305 00:35:02,740 --> 00:35:12,550 the Religious Bulletin had the effect and the right wing party bulletin reported on the cornerstone ceremony of the Central Synagogue of Harmony. 306 00:35:13,150 --> 00:35:17,560 According to the Root report, the plot was for donors in size, 307 00:35:18,010 --> 00:35:25,990 and the synagogue was intended to accommodate a thousand seats for men and women, according to its official correspondence. 308 00:35:26,530 --> 00:35:31,390 The cornerstone ceremony was opened by waving flag and blowing a trumpet. 309 00:35:32,100 --> 00:35:41,670 Thousands of residents gathered to celebrate the construction of a synagogue along the Jerusalem Tel Aviv main road in the heart of Harmony. 310 00:35:41,910 --> 00:35:42,560 End of quote. 311 00:35:43,290 --> 00:35:54,780 First the deputy mayor, head of local religious council and most importantly a member of the executive committee of the Religious Zionist Party. 312 00:35:55,020 --> 00:35:58,830 Menachem Franken addressed the audience. In his speech. 313 00:36:00,030 --> 00:36:08,520 In his speech. In his speech, Frankel pointed out that 35 synagogues already function in Ramallah. 314 00:36:09,450 --> 00:36:15,990 Nevertheless, none of them, in his view, were built specifically for the purpose of serving as a synagogue. 315 00:36:16,620 --> 00:36:26,430 Furthermore, he stated that the construction of the central synagogue illustrate the residents roots in the land and their maturity as citizens. 316 00:36:28,470 --> 00:36:32,459 But just ask another rabbi. It's quite Catholic affiliated. 317 00:36:32,460 --> 00:36:40,560 The Central Synagogue, with what he called the Jewish Centre, normally existed 800 years ago, 318 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:47,700 stating that now Ramla has become a Jewish centre once again. 319 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:57,840 By the way, it is interesting to note and important to note that Herzog's determination is, well, exaggerated, even if Ben-Zvi, 320 00:36:58,440 --> 00:37:05,069 the president who sought to find Jewish continuity through historical studies of Jewish communities in Israel Palestine, 321 00:37:05,070 --> 00:37:12,300 argued that Ramla was never a Jewish centre, despite the existence of Jewish community there since the eighth century. 322 00:37:13,310 --> 00:37:16,310 If you're going back to the ceremony. The of family. 323 00:37:17,450 --> 00:37:18,240 Mega Mega mega. 324 00:37:18,710 --> 00:37:26,900 I explained that the City Council wish to build a synagogue on the same site as the synagogue that served the Jewish community in the past. 325 00:37:27,470 --> 00:37:33,110 However, since it could not be located, a central plot was allocated for the purpose. 326 00:37:33,620 --> 00:37:40,760 In addition, Melamed pointed out that Ramla is well known for its churches with their high steeples. 327 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:48,170 Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the Jewish character of the town through the establishment of a central synagogue. 328 00:37:49,050 --> 00:37:55,100 A similar tone was reflected in its founder, Chief Rabbi Hockney's theme, 329 00:37:55,910 --> 00:38:02,870 that stated that every new synagogue is both a religious and a security fortress. 330 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:10,260 This remarks illustrate the shift in the synagogue rule in a similar manner to Haifa's lower town. 331 00:38:10,620 --> 00:38:18,600 35 synagogues were already operating in the former Palestinian town, a firmly which indicates that the Jewish community there flourished. 332 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:26,150 Therefore, the central synagogue was not intended just to serve the religious needs of their residents. 333 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:31,620 It was intended to address the shift in the town's character from Palestinian to Jewish. 334 00:38:32,930 --> 00:38:34,460 Or from Palestinian to Israeli. 335 00:38:35,090 --> 00:38:42,640 More specifically, the synagogue was intended to demonstrate the Jewish continuity in Ramallah, thus articulating victory fence, 336 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:49,700 the call, the Israeli sense of place and belonging vis a vis the Palestinian negated sense of belonging. 337 00:38:50,330 --> 00:38:55,400 Thus, the synagogue serves both religious and security purposes. 338 00:38:56,030 --> 00:39:01,300 Furthermore. In a similar way to the Great Synagogue in Haifa. 339 00:39:01,660 --> 00:39:09,160 The one in Harmony functions as a symbol of sovereignty over other religious buildings and collective affinities to calmly, 340 00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:13,450 thereby defining the town as solely Jewish Israeli. 341 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:20,580 About ten months after the cornerstone ceremony in April 1957. 342 00:39:21,540 --> 00:39:26,490 Thank you. Requested support for the establishment of the synagogue from the Minister of Religious Affairs. 343 00:39:26,730 --> 00:39:27,170 Shapiro. 344 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:36,510 In his request, Michael detailed the efforts of the municipality to locate a plot for a central synagogue and purchased it from its Palestinian owner. 345 00:39:37,260 --> 00:39:46,160 And I'm quoting at a reasonable price. And even so, after regulating ownership, placing a shake and celebrating the cornerstone ceremony, 346 00:39:46,580 --> 00:39:51,860 the development Authority began to heap difficulties on the construction of the synagogue. 347 00:39:53,180 --> 00:39:59,870 Among the consideration mentioned by Frankel was the importance of establishing a synagogue on the main road. 348 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:01,660 This is what he writes. 349 00:40:02,580 --> 00:40:10,140 There are several look through youth churches of different religions in Ramallah, located along the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. 350 00:40:10,710 --> 00:40:14,460 Why should the House of God be located on a side street? 351 00:40:16,860 --> 00:40:23,730 I'm sorry for the disappointment, but unfortunately the synagogue was never constructed in the proposed location. 352 00:40:24,710 --> 00:40:29,240 The committee to the Development Authority authorised to handle Palestinian property. 353 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:36,500 Objected to placing the synagogue on the main road, according to the head of the Department of Properties. 354 00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:42,140 The committee decided that the main street of Ramla should be converted into mixed commercial buildings. 355 00:40:42,830 --> 00:40:46,670 However, according to drafting. Unofficial testimony. 356 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:51,900 This objection relates more to its location on the main road, 357 00:40:52,140 --> 00:40:58,080 and the fear of clashes between the religious members of the synagogue and motorcade drivers on weekends. 358 00:40:59,010 --> 00:41:05,249 To put it another way, the city officials desire to build a synagogue along the main road was the same 359 00:41:05,250 --> 00:41:10,230 reason for the need for the development authority's objection to placing their. 360 00:41:11,080 --> 00:41:18,310 Eventually, in October 1958, the zoning plan number 35 six, if you're really interested, 361 00:41:18,700 --> 00:41:23,380 was adopted by the district committee that reserved the area for services, 362 00:41:23,710 --> 00:41:31,400 centres for vehicles and trains, as well as for residential area, commercial area and industrial workshops. 363 00:41:35,130 --> 00:41:40,250 And that's example for a central synagogue. Is the one in Jeff. 364 00:41:42,740 --> 00:41:47,660 At the eve of the 1948 war, Jaffa was the largest Palestinian city in Palestine. 365 00:41:48,230 --> 00:41:57,020 It served as a major political, social and cultural centre, as well as a major commercial and industrial hub for the entire Palestinian population. 366 00:41:58,110 --> 00:42:04,530 A total of 71,000 Palestinians lived in the city, while another 40,000 lived in rural villages. 367 00:42:04,530 --> 00:42:10,350 Surrounding Jaffa. Has a history dating back, of course, almost 10,000 years. 368 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:18,690 Its port is mentioned both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, and throughout history it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. 369 00:42:18,930 --> 00:42:25,950 But for our discussion, it is essential to know that during the late Ottoman period, the city underwent rapid development, 370 00:42:26,190 --> 00:42:36,270 especially during the period between the short Napoleonic occupation in the late 18th century and the end of the Ottoman Empire in the 19 tens. 371 00:42:37,020 --> 00:42:46,290 It was during this period sorry that immigrants, including North Africa and other Jews, settled in, settled in the city permanently, 372 00:42:46,710 --> 00:42:52,680 and economic growth was achieved with the assistance of both Arab and Jewish commercial initiatives. 373 00:42:53,160 --> 00:43:00,360 However. Is eloquent demonstrates where the Zionist Jewish immigrants from the late 19th century 374 00:43:00,570 --> 00:43:05,550 brought about tensions with Palestinian communities in the existing Jewish communities, 375 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:14,130 especially after the emergence of Zionist colonisation efforts and the separation between Jewish and Palestinian in the urban sphere. 376 00:43:15,300 --> 00:43:19,980 With the establishment of Tel Aviv as a separate Jewish city in 1909, 377 00:43:20,340 --> 00:43:25,139 this separation reached its peak and the separation between the Jewish town of Tel 378 00:43:25,140 --> 00:43:30,570 Aviv and the Palestinian town of Jaffa formed the area as a partitioned urban zone. 379 00:43:33,500 --> 00:43:39,920 On May 13th, 1948, Jaffa fell almost without resistance to the Jewish military force. 380 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:45,200 Following a period of social collapse and the migration of noble families. 381 00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:52,520 The majority of the town's residents were forcibly expelled and their return was prevented after the war. 382 00:43:53,390 --> 00:43:58,640 Approximately 3600 of the 71,000 residents of the city remain. 383 00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:04,170 The survivors were considered or concentrated in the larger neighbourhood. 384 00:44:04,470 --> 00:44:08,549 Why is it a serious neighbourhood? Where's the rest of the city? 385 00:44:08,550 --> 00:44:13,770 Was populated by Jewish immigrants or deliberately destroyed by Israeli authorities. 386 00:44:14,700 --> 00:44:23,160 The Jew division of Jaffa. Urban Palestinian space continues until her death through both official and unofficial means in some ways, 387 00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:27,240 and as some of us heard from a few weeks ago. 388 00:44:28,410 --> 00:44:33,720 It remains the site of Auburn clashes over heritage, performance and memory. 389 00:44:34,560 --> 00:44:42,690 As I will argue in my last example. This dude ization was also achieved by wishing to build new synagogues. 390 00:44:44,100 --> 00:44:52,770 In May 1955, Seymour Greenberg of the Tel Aviv Religious Council and the former general manager of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, 391 00:44:53,100 --> 00:44:54,960 requested the Minister of Hefting, 392 00:44:55,500 --> 00:45:02,880 Vice Minister of Health, to support the councillor's request for two blocks from the development authority in Jaffa, 393 00:45:02,970 --> 00:45:06,000 a plot for a synagogue and another for public baths. 394 00:45:06,980 --> 00:45:10,310 Greenberg did not give a rationale for his request, 395 00:45:10,610 --> 00:45:19,760 noting that there is no need to overstate the necessity of these vital institutions in Jaffa, which is populated with thousands of residents. 396 00:45:20,630 --> 00:45:30,510 Following this request, they'll have to ask his deputy mayor and more importantly, Religious-zionist party member of brother. 397 00:45:30,860 --> 00:45:38,680 The Ministry of Legal Counsel is out of bed, and the head of the ministry's synagogues department been asked that a billion be given for assistance. 398 00:45:38,690 --> 00:45:43,809 All of them. A program is asking members. Ministry. 399 00:45:43,810 --> 00:45:50,020 Efforts to support the religious council and party members in Jaffa began even before 1955. 400 00:45:50,500 --> 00:45:55,090 In a letter sent by David Ben on the gift of drafting in June 1954, 401 00:45:55,390 --> 00:46:02,590 he indicated that the department was working for funding two plots in the central, in a central place in Jaffa. 402 00:46:03,070 --> 00:46:09,549 In addition, he informed that he entered a negotiation with the development authority regarding 403 00:46:09,550 --> 00:46:13,150 and Dunham and a half plot near the town along that the journey hospital, 404 00:46:13,720 --> 00:46:19,540 which did not result any success. Additionally, the rebellion declared that. 405 00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:25,950 Establishing. A central synagogue for Jaffa is one of the most important things. 406 00:46:26,430 --> 00:46:32,040 There are dozens of places of prayer, most of forming abandoned houses nonetheless, 407 00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:39,900 none of which is suitable to be a central synagogue in a large city like Jaffa that is populated tens of thousands of Jews. 408 00:46:41,410 --> 00:46:49,810 Greenberg and Durbin, and again this time saying it is arguments deviate from the communal understanding of the synagogue. 409 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:59,620 Sorry if there have been bigger stakes. And in a similar manner to Haifa and Harmony, Jaffa is home for dozens of places of prayer. 410 00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:08,440 However, they seek a central plot for a synagogue that will address the fact that tens of thousands of Jews now populate the town. 411 00:47:09,190 --> 00:47:14,500 Therefore, their proposal of Central Synagogue in Jaffa serves as a symbol of the 412 00:47:14,510 --> 00:47:20,080 transformation of this urban space from Palestinian city to an Israeli Jewish one. 413 00:47:22,180 --> 00:47:25,210 Moreover, Jaffa doesn't stand on its own. 414 00:47:26,260 --> 00:47:31,660 In February 1950, the Jaffa municipality was retroactively dissolved. 415 00:47:32,110 --> 00:47:39,370 The majority of its length came under the jurisdiction of Japheth Oba, or by neighbour and rival city of Tel Aviv. 416 00:47:40,280 --> 00:47:43,700 Which was referred know as Tel Aviv. Geoff until today. 417 00:47:44,270 --> 00:47:50,950 Other parts were um were given to Basham and others accordingly, just fine. 418 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:55,730 If Jews were not separated from those of Tel Aviv and its Great Synagogue. 419 00:47:57,140 --> 00:48:04,760 Therefore, it would appear that the need for a central synagogue in Jaffa was not any greater than that of other quarters of Tel Aviv. 420 00:48:05,390 --> 00:48:09,970 It can therefore be argued that the Palestinian presence in a larger neighbourhood, 421 00:48:10,400 --> 00:48:14,150 and the will to demonstrate sovereignty in the former Palestinian city, 422 00:48:14,510 --> 00:48:19,310 or the driving forces behind the desire to establish a central synagogue in the city. 423 00:48:20,290 --> 00:48:25,450 To conclude. It is important to say this. 424 00:48:25,900 --> 00:48:31,060 Disappointing for some of us, but important to say that some of the synagogues were never built. 425 00:48:31,970 --> 00:48:34,790 They remain aspirations for local and state bureaucrats, 426 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:41,870 or as points of negotiation maps between municipal and or state authorities and local congregations. 427 00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:51,660 Nevertheless, and following Jacobi's call to explore to expose the discursive meaning of the of the professional sphere 428 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:58,350 is the key to understanding the special spatial dynamics of the city as well as its ideological agenda. 429 00:48:59,010 --> 00:49:05,790 I try to articulate how these aspirations are crucial to understand Israeli policy in their urban internal frontier, 430 00:49:06,450 --> 00:49:10,080 while demonstrating the relative weakness of ministries officials. 431 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:15,510 These ideas and aspirations can provide insight into one of the most exciting 432 00:49:15,510 --> 00:49:19,770 activities that state officials undertake to demonstrate its sovereignty. 433 00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:28,740 These different cases illustrate how Jewish religion was reconstructed and contextualised within the sovereign Jewish state, 434 00:49:29,010 --> 00:49:32,730 and the vital role of Religious Zionist agents in this process. 435 00:49:33,090 --> 00:49:33,780 Synagogues. 436 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:42,180 The most religious and communal Jewish institution throughout history, which commemorates the loss of the temple and the Jewish condition of exile, 437 00:49:43,020 --> 00:49:49,620 was transformed into state institution, demonstrating the state's sovereignty over the urban eternal frontier. 438 00:49:50,310 --> 00:49:50,970 Thank you so much.