The Heichal Shlomo (; hence Hekhal of Solomon) is a building, which houses a synagogue, Jewish museum and teacher's college, located opposite the Leonardo Plaza Hotel, on King George Street, Jerusalem, Israel.

The building served as the seat of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel until 1992. It now serves as the Jerusalem Campus of Herzog College for their Masters in Education program, and houses the Jewish Heritage Center and Museum of Jewish Art.

History The building was erected between 1953 and 1958, following plans by German-born architect Alexander Friedman, and was formally dedicated in May 1958.Rosenbaum, Alan. "Herzog College: Leading the renaissance at Hechal Shlomo", The Jerusalem Post, January 7, 2021. Accessed June 9, 2026. "On Thursday, May 8, 1958, hundreds of dignitaries gathered to dedicate Hechal Shlomo, a stately new structure in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood, as the seat of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and its Supreme Rabbinical Court.... Finally, in 1992, with the election of Rabbi Israel Meir Lau as Chief Rabbi, the Chief Rabbinate fell under the control of haredi elements. Rabbi Lau moved the offices of the Chief Rabbinate from Hechal Shlomo to the city entrance, says Brandes, because the building had been primarily identified with the religious Zionist movement."

The building has housed the Jewish Heritage Center and Jewish Art Museum since 1992.

The Renanim Synagogue was transferred from Padua together with its 18th-century Torah ark and bimah, and decorated with modern stained glass windows. The Entrance Gallery displays temporary exhibitions of Israeli artists. The museum displaying traditional and modern Jewish art in permanent and temporary exhibitions is named in honour of British Jewish philanthropist, Sir Isaac Wolfson.

Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik, the rabbi of Brisk, strongly discouraged entering the building, saying "every stone there is impure".

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI paid a courtesy visit to Heichal Shlomo, where he met with the two Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem.

Gallery

See also

History of the Jews in Israel List of synagogues in Israel Synagogues of Jerusalem

References

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