Stunning Old City Renovations Masks Jordan's Destruction

Yesterday when I was wandering around Jerusalem's Old City, there was more than music on Mount Zion. I found myself walking into the very old Ramban Synagogue, which is in the center of what today is called the Jewish Quarter. I don't think I had been there for almost half a century.

My memories of the Ramban Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem is of a ruin, walking down and although there was no artificial light, still seeing the old pillars. There was just dirt on the floor. If it had been paved in stones, I didn't notice or remember. Those are my memories of the place.

As you can see from the above photos, the synagogue has been reconstructed, and those pillars are in use. The floor now has well-kept tiles. There's furniture, and the Ramban Synagogue is in use for prayer. That's rather bittersweet for me. I'm glad that there's a Jewish community using that ancient location/building for what it was constructed, but it's one of the buildings, holy sites, the Jordanians had defiled and destructed during their nineteen 19 year illegal occupation of the Old City, from 1948 until the miraculous 1967 Six Days War.

When it was announced that the "Churba "Hurva" Synagogue" would be reconstructed, many people protested the decision. The reason was that it was/is important not to hide the immoral actions of the Jordanians during their illegal occupation. 

During yesterday's walk, everything looked "too pretty." There are museums depicting very ancient Jerusalem and Jewish History, but I didn't see anything to remind us of the cruelty of the Jordanians.