The Beauty of Israel

Title: The Beauty of Israel

Location: Jerusalem

Document: Architectural Drawing of the Tiferes Yisrael (Nissan Bak) Shul

Time: May 1855

Born in 1882, as a young child Rav Mordechai David Brim-Klagsbrun felt drawn to the famous kloiz of the Tiferes Yisrael shul in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. There he’d bask in the presence of the elderly chassidim, lions of the chaburah, who merited to have been followers of the holy Ruzhiner himself, Rav Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin, his son Rav Avraham Yaakov of Sadigura, and his son Rav Yitzchak Friedman, the Pachad Yitzchak of Boyan.

Acquaintances of Rav Mordechai David told his father, Rav Yitzchak Meir, that his son was hanging around the Tiferes Yisrael shul and was being influenced by Boyan chassidim. Rav Yitzchak Meir was a staunch Sanz chassid from Galicia, and the flames of the Sanz-Sadigura dispute had not yet subsided. He viewed with concern his son’s affiliation with the Tiferes Yisrael shul and the followers of Sadigura, and went to check out the situation.

Upon encountering the great chassidim from the shul, he was mollified, and satisfied that his son was spending his time with lofty individuals. Rav Mordechai David remained in the Tiferes Yisrael shul, and ultimately the family became devoted followers of the Boyan dynasty.

—Shnos Chaim, biography of Rav Chaim Brim

The Tiferes Yisrael shul, also known as “the Nissan Bak shul,” dedicated in 1872, was one of the most significant landmarks in Jerusalem’s Jewish Quarter of its period. Its construction marked the culmination of the ambitious vision of the Ruzhiner Rebbe, Rav Yisrael Friedman (1796–1850).

In the early 1840s, the Ruzhiner asked Nissan Bak, a devoted follower, to purchase a plot of land in Jerusalem for building a shul. Nissan Bak served as the titular head of the chassidic Kollel Volhyn in the Old Yishuv, and was one of the city’s most powerful Jewish leaders. The Ruzhiner desired that his community have its own place of worship, without having to integrate into the broader chassidic or Perushim congregations. The Rebbe provided the initial seed funding, while his son and successor, Rav Avraham Yaakov of Sadigura, managed to secure the resources to complete the project.

However, there were bureaucratic obstacles to overcome. The Muslim authorities, located in the faraway Ottoman capital of Istanbul, required special licenses for the construction of any shul, especially one that reached a significant height. These hurdles, combined with fundraising challenges, delayed the start of construction until 1866 — over two decades after the Rebbe’s initial vision. Finally, after years of struggle, the Tiferes Yisrael shul was dedicated in a grand ceremony in 1872. Although named for the Ruzhiner, who had since passed away, it was also known as “Nissan Bak’s shul,” after the man who served as its administrator and gabbai until his passing in 1889.

The shul rose three floors to its most prominent visual element, the grand dome that graced the roof. This dome was initially painted green, but was later repainted at the behest of one of the Rothschilds, who contributed funds to resolve tensions with local Muslim communities. The complex included a mikveh, a cheder, and soup kitchen. The primary focus, however, was always the shul itself.