Repurposed first under the Japanese occupation during World War II and again following the Communist conquest of Shanghai in 1949, the synagogue has been a protected architectural landmark of the city since 1994.

It replaced its predecessor, the Beth El Synagogue, established in 1887,[2] and was designed by the Shanghai firm of Robert Bradshaw Moorhead and Sidney Joseph Halse.

[4] Built as a scaled-up neo-Baroque[b] pavilion entered through an Ionic portico recessed between massive rusticated piers in antis, its interior arrangement and the use of round-headed windows on its sides were patterned after the Bevis Marks and Lauderdale Road Synagogues in London.

One of them, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, extracted a promise from Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi to protect Ohel Rachel, restore it, and open it to the public.

[7] Rabbi Schneier resanctified Ohel Rachel for the occasion using a Torah brought from New York City, which he then donated to the local Jewish community.

[19] The areas of the building refurbished for these visits were then used as a lecture hall,[9] although Jews were permitted to observe holidays such as Purim,[20] Passover, Rosh Hashanah, and Hanukkah on site.

[7] As part of the 2010 Shanghai Expo, Ohel Rachel Synagogue was reopened for regular Shabbat services as well, despite Judaism continuing to be an unrecognized religion in China.

[1] The site—still part of the grounds of the Shanghai Ministry of Education[1]—was open by reservation for services on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, while weekday observances were held elsewhere.

[1][17] On 18 March 1994, the Shanghai municipal government declared the Ohel Rachel Synagogue a protected architectural landmark of the city,[8] but it continued to be used as an office and storage space until 1998.

[15] The fund's Jewish Heritage Program provided a grant to assist with documenting the site and establishing a long-term management plan.