Hurva Synagogue
From Academic Kids
The Hurva Synagogue was the main synagogue in Jerusalem in the 15th - 16th centuries (and possibly much earlier), attributed to Rabbi Moses Ben Nahman (Ramban), until the Ottomans closed it in 1589 because of Muslim incitement. It was burned by Arabs in 1721 (Hurva means destruction in Hebrew), but again rebuilt by Zionists in the 19th century, becoming the most prominent synagogue on the Jerusalem skyline. When it was captured by the Arab Legion of Jordan during the battle for Old Jerusalem in 1948, they dynamited it to show that they controlled the Jewish Quarter.
