The building houses the Zoharei Chama Orthodox synagogue, which has prayer services throughout the day for local businessmen, residents and tourists.

[5] The tall, narrow building, which towers over the neighboring structures, was constructed by Rabbi Shmuel Levy, an American tailor[6] who immigrated to Israel from the United States at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1906 he purchased a one-story house in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood on Jaffa Road with the intention of adding to it in stages and providing rooms for immigrants as a public service.

[5] The vertical sundial on the fourth floor of the building was designed by Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, a watchmaker in Mea Shearim[5] and a self-taught astronomer who had learned the science by studying the pertinent writings of Maimonides and the Vilna Gaon.

[9] Before the Zoharei Chama sundial was erected, Orthodox Jews would climb to the top of the Mount of Olives or the hills of the Bayit Vegan neighborhood[5] each morning and evening to observe the times of sunrise and sunset.

The third floor of Levy's building originally included an eastern-facing wooden porch which allowed worshippers to easily see the sunrise.