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“I saw the museum and the exhibits, but I couldn’t find a trace of the tradition that brought the Jews back to Israel. I was heartbroken,” says Rabbi Raanan. “Knowing that sixty thousand school children visit the museum annually, I was immediately drawn to the opportunity to give them the chance to connect to their heritage. I put up a mezuzah on the door to Avner’s office and we began to move forward.” It was decided to dismantle the shul on Kibbutz Gvat and rebuild it Kibbutz Yifat as part of the Museum of Pioneer Settlement. The conditions for the reconstruction were that the building be used only as a shul, that Shabbat be observed here, and that it would be used as a venue for Jewish ceremonies, such as prayer services, bar mitzvahs and weddings.

Where the Past And The Future Merge

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Lewis-080814-Shul-3Officially opened in October 2013, the large, wide windows of the shul overlook the Yizrael Valley at one of the most picturesque viewpoints in the country. The Museum Synagogue, reconstructed in conjunction with architects and historians to look like an authentic simple kibbutz house of meeting, includes an ark with Torah scrolls which visitors are allowed to view. The traditional services that take place here transport visitors back in time, enabling them to smell and feel the authentic historical experience. However, in contrast to many renovated buildings around the world that stand in useless testimony to times gone by, Kibbutz Yifat intends to bring this building back to life. Says Professor Efrayim Tabori, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the Bar Ilan University, “Jewish people throughout the ages, who walked into a synagogue in any part of the world, heard the language and saw the traditions of their people and were reminded of their origins. [The Jewish people] have maintained their national identity and continue to do so. The purpose, therefore, of the Museum Synagogue is not only to pay homage to the past, but to recreate the future.”

Plans are being made to offer study sessions on the history of the Jewish people, the history of resettlement in Israel and the place of the shul in the Jewish community. Biblical texts will be studied and discussion groups on how Jewish ethics continue to influence world society for the good will be held. “We recently held a lecture that discussed how traditional Jewish sources influenced the songs of the pioneers,” says Galil. His final comment before our conversation ends is particularly warming because it mirrors the driving force behind Ayelet Hashachar: “This synagogue will be a place where secular and religious people can meet each other.” This is a shul where the past becomes the present and the future.

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Kurt Rothschild on Ayelet HashacharLewis-080814-Shul-4

In October 2013, Kurt Rothschild, chairman of World Mizrachi, traveled extensively through the south of Israel to witness the gentle resurgence of tradition that is coming about through the work of Ayelet Hashachar. He notes the warm, developing friendships between Ayelet Hashachar and the families living in the south of Israel. He writes, “I think it very much worthwhile to share this experience with audiences in Israel and abroad who are fed daily with reports of the confrontation between the secular population and charedim and the fear of the religious and social battles within Israeli society.”

A Sefer Torah or a Shul

One of the secrets of Jewish continuity is the synagogue, a pivotal place in the life of every Jewish community. “Rav Ovadia Yosef, zt”l, directed me to encourage potential donors who are wavering between donating a sefer Torah and sponsoring the building of a shul, to choose the shul,” says Rabbi Raanan. “Since we are usually able to renovate an existing building instead of building a new structure, the cost of either is similar.”

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Rhona Lewis made aliyah more than 20 years ago from Kenya and is now living in Beit Shemesh. A writer and journalist who contributes frequently to The Jewish Press’s Olam Yehudi magazine, she divides her time between her family and her work.