The synagogue was completed in the 15th-century century and named in honor of the Spanish kabbalist of the era, Rabbi Isaac Abuhav.

According to tradition Rabbi Abuhav designed the synagogue and his disciples erected the building in Safed when they arrived in the 1490s after the expulsion from Spain.

[1][2][3] Another legend claims that the synagogue was transported miraculously from Spain to Safed.

[4] The synagogue was almost completely destroyed in the 1837 earthquake, only the southern wall containing the arks remained standing and exists today as a remnant of the original building.

The Holy Ark has three sections and contain Torah scrolls traditionally written by Abuhav himself and Rabbi Suleiman Ohana of Fes, Morocco.