Haim Synagogue


The Haim Synagogue is a synagogue at 30 Tir Street, formerly known as Qavam-os-Saltane, in central Tehran, Iran.
, the synagogue was opened only on the occasions of Shabbat and the High Holy Days, due mainly to emigration and decline in membership.

History

The Haim Synagogue was built following the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in 1913, under the reign of Ahmad Shah Qajar, by two Iranian Jewish residents Eshagh Sedgh and Eshagh Moradoff. It has often been considered the first urban synagogue in Iran. Prior to its construction, most synagogues in Iran were built in ghettos.
The building was designed by Azizollah Banayan, the only Jewish architect at the time.

World War II

By the time of World War II, the Haim Synagogue hosted a number of Polish Jewish refugees. After an increase in the number of Polish Jewish refugees, the Ashkenazi Danial Synagogue was built near the Haim Synagogue in 1940.

Operation Ezra and Nehemiah

In the 1950s, the Haim Synagogue was used as a refugee camp to host a number of Iraqi Jewish refugees, who immigrated to Israel via Iran as part of Operation Ezra and Nehemiah.