[1] In 1835, Muhammad Ali, viceroy of Egypt who ruled Jerusalem at the time, permitted the refurbishment of the synagogues which had been denied since their construction.

[1] In 1845, Joseph Schwarz, considered by the Jewish Encyclopedia as "the greatest Jewish authority on Palestinian matters since Estori Farḥi"[2] stated that the buildings were knocked down and completely rebuilt:[3] All these four Synagogues form, properly speaking, but a very large single building, since they stand near one another, so that one can walk from one into the other, and the centre one, the smallest of all, has no entrance from the street, and you have to reach it through either of the three others.

On my arrival, in the year 5593 (1833), I found them in a most miserable and lamentable condition, since they were at the time greatly out of repair, and almost threatened to tumble in, and were useless in rainy weather, inasmuch as they were roofed in with nothing but old and rotten boarding, and our brothers could not obtain the permission from "the pious faithful" to drive as much as a single nail to fasten anything in the building without being first authorized by the most worthy persons in authority… But in the year 5595, Abraim Pacha of Egypt, who understood and was able to instruct and convince his people "that even the Nebbi had grown more tolerant in modern times," gave the permission to rebuild anew from the foundation all these four Synagogues, and they are accordingly at present four fine buildings.After the fall of the Jewish Quarter during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War the synagogues were damaged by shell fire.

[citation needed] According to legend, the Yochanan ben Zakai Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת יוחנן בן זכאי), also known as Kahal Kadosh Gadol, is believed to stand on the spot of the Beit Midrash of the tanna Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai,[6] who established the Sanhedrin in Yavneh after the destruction of the Second Temple.

The current building was constructed at the beginning of the 17th century,[citation needed] and by 1947, it was the largest synagogue of the Sephardic community in Jerusalem.

It should nevertheless be noted that if construction was indeed permitted, the building itself had to comply with Muslim restrictions for dhimmi houses of prayer not to be higher than mosques.

[9] Located in the old Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, it suffered the same fate as most of the synagogues in the area during the 19 year Jordanian rule after 1948.

Tradition held that these were ancient relicts of the Temple, which could only be used to herald the arrival of the Messiah and in his subsequent anointing ceremony, while a 19th century account by Abraham Moses Luncz implies that the oil jug's importance was connected to the ritual of Shituf Mevo'ot.

The Istanbuli Synagogue (Hebrew: בית הכנסת האיסטנבולי) was formed from 1764, as the Sephardic community of Jerusalem grew due to large groups of immigrants who arrived from Istanbul, Turkey.

They used the adjacent building as a synagogue and attracted worshipers from the Eastern communities, including Kurdistan and from North and West Africa.

[12] A description of the synagogue was published in 1947 as follows: Qahal Stāmbūlī (Hebrew: קהל סטאמבולי)(Istanbuli Congregation).

In all of the synagogues of the Spaniards there are wide benches that are situated only around the [interior] walls and joining the raised platform (dais), and [strewn] over them (i.e. the floor) are mats so as to permit sitting, their legs being beneath their knees, as the manner of the people of the Orient.

According to legend, the name of the synagogue was given after an event that took place on Yom Kippur, when one person was missing to complete the minyan required for prayer.