The Shfaram synagogue ( he, בית הכנסת בשפרעם) ( ar, شفا عمرو كنيس) is an ancient synagogue located in the

Israeli-Arab The Arab citizens of Israel are the largest ethnic minority in the country. They comprise a hybrid community of Israeli citizens with a heritage of Palestinian citizenship, mixed religions (Muslim, Christian or Druze), bilingual in Arabic an ...

city of

Shfaram Shefa-Amr, also Shfar'am ( ar, شفاعمرو, Šafāʻamr, he, שְׁפַרְעָם, Šəfarʻam) is an Arab city in the Northern District of Israel. In it had a population of , with a Sunni Muslim majority and large Christian Arab and Druze m ...

Northern Israel The Northern District ( he, מחוז הצפון, ''Mekhoz HaTzafon''; ar, منطقة الشمال, ''Minṭaqat ash-Shamāl'') is one of Israel's six administrative districts. The Northern District has a land area of 4,478 km2, which incre ...

. The synagogue was built in the 17th century, atop the ruins of an ancient synagogue that had been built on a site where, according to tradition, the

Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...

had once sat. The synagogue fell into ruin, but during the mid-18th century, Bedouin chieftain

Zahir al-Umar Zahir al-Umar al-Zaydani, alternatively spelled Daher al-Omar or Dahir al-Umar ( ar, ظاهر العمر الزيداني, translit=Ẓāhir al-ʿUmar az-Zaydānī, 1689/90 – 21 or 22 August 1775) was the autonomous Arab ruler of northern Ottom ...

gave permission to the Jews to return and renovate the synagogue there. The synagogue was renovated by Rabbi Chaim Abulafia and his students. Shfaram was noted in 1845 by Rabbi Joseph Schwarz in his book ''Descriptive Geography and Brief Historical Sketch of Palestine'' as having "about thirty Jewish families who have an old synagogue". Jews lived in Shfaram until the 1970s when the community disbanded. Subsequently, the building fell into disrepair and was only recently renovated. Although being abandoned, the keys to the former house of worship are held by a local Muslim and the synagogue is treated with respect by the local Arabs. In November 2006 the building was rededicated after works to renovate the synagogue were carried out voluntarily by a group of newly qualified police officers. At the ceremony, Shfaram mayor Ursan Yassin retold how that during the

October riots The October 2000 protests, also known as October 2000 events, were a series of protests in Arab villages in northern Israel in October 2000 that turned violent, escalating into rioting by Israeli Arabs, which led to counter-rioting by Israeli Je ...

he had been forced to physically protect the location and had told local youngsters who wanted to burn it down that they could set him alight, but he would not allow them to harm the synagogue. There were however reports of damage to religious artifacts in the ancient synagogue on October 9, 2000.

References

18th-century synagogues Ancient synagogues in the Land of Israel Buildings and structures in Northern District (Israel) Synagogues in the Ottoman Empire {{Israel-synagogue-stub