Haim Synagogue
Summer 2009

Built in 1913 on a 1,000 square-meter plot in Tehran’s Si-e Tir Street (formerly known as Qavam Street), this synagogue was designed by Aziz Banayan, an important figure of the Jewish community. The synagogue is on Simi Alley 12.

The synagogue building is built one meter above the courtyard level. A relatively large area houses a cistern that was used until 1976. Another part of the yard includes several other cisterns or basements, some of which were used to house war refugees in the past half century. The ceiling is built in the Qajar architectural style in the form of an octagonal arch (also known as honeycomb muqarnas).

Although twelve-meters high, the synagogue hall is built in only one floor, the ground floor, with a mezzanine at the entrance. The design is well suited for lighting, having wide and tall windows on three sides — the north, south, and east side.

The north side of the hall has five family rooms, similar to the ones used in opera halls, for families who would like to be together during religious celebrations. The benches have been built by Ayyub Najjar and are situated on the western side of the hall. The altar is decorated with beautiful and intricate plaster and mirror work, giving it a particular majesty. In the eastern part of the hall, adjacent to the entrance door, there is a women’s section in the mezzanine with a capacity of 50 people and a men’s prayer section with a capacity of 250 people. A beautiful hekhal curtain was gifted to the synagogue by Morad Aryeh, Jewish representative to Iran’s Parliament, in 1956.

With a history that is just under a century, Haim Synagogue is the first to be built outside the Oudlajan area, and it has seen many ups and downs in its time. In Hebrew culture, “haim” means “life”. According to one account, the synagogue is named after the great rabbi and scholar Haim Moreh.

In the 1890s, a group of philanthropists in the Jewish community decided to build a synagogue in one of the main streets of a wealthy neighborhood of northern Tehran. They bought a piece of land in the area of Ghavam Al Saltaneh Street. The late Ibrahim Sedgh paid half of the land price, and the other half plus the the construction costs were borne by other philanthropists, most of whom were from Kashan. Ibrahim Sedgh became the servant of the synagogue and the first member of the synagogue board of directors.

The Torah ark is surrounded by large handwritten plaques that were calligraphed with Psalms of David and donated by Mr. Yaghoub Sedgh, who was a board member and servant of the synagogue. Haim Synagogue has hosted many religious and social figures of the Jewish community of Tehran, some of which include Rabbi Haim Moreh, Solomon Haim, the Hai and Alghanaian household, and Ariyeh, among others. In addition, Rabbi Yedidya Shofet and Eliyahu Beroukhim were among the Chief Rabbinates of this synagogue, and they occasionally engaged in Torah discussion sessions, also known as Dibur Torah.

In the 1950s, Haim Synagogue sheltered Iraqi Jewish refugees, who stayed there until their fate was determined.

The Haim Synagogue was reconstructed in 1956 once, and then one more time in 1981.

As Jewish migration increased after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and remaining Jews moved to the northern parts of the city, the population of the synagogue declined. Similar to other synagogues, now Haim synagogue only hosts Shabbats, religious ceremonies, and some other particular events. Currently, Dr. Reuben Yomtoubian is the Chief Rabbinate and Albert Sedgh, the third generation of the Sedgh family is the synagogue’s servant and member of board of directors, following in his fathers’ steps.

The Haim Synagogue is considered one of the architectural landmarks of the late 19th century due to its architectural and structural features. For this reason, in 2004, with the support of the Tehran Jewish Community and the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, Haim Synagogue was registered as a national monument of Iran.

The first members of the council of Haim Synagogue
1292 A.D

Haim Synagogue
Summer 2009

The interior of Haim Synagogue in the 1320s

In early 1954, Haim Synagogue Council decided to renovate the dilapidated parts and beautify the interior of the synagogue with a budget it had collected over the past three decades. They asked Jahangir Banayan, the son of Master Aziz Banayan who was the contractor of Haim Synagogue, to complete his father’s unfinished work.

The changes made in this regard were as follows:

Replacing the floor of the synagogue from brick to marble,
replacing the roof covering and installing several ceiling fans,
removing the four large chandeliers made in Czech,
removing the windows above the Torah stand and the entrance door next to the Torah stand,
installing an iron fence in front of the family stands on the south wall of the synagogue for protection,
building a new Torah stand with a wooden door accompanied by beautiful decorations derived from plasterwork, mirror work, and marble,
replacing the mattresses and painting the benches,
replacing the place of prayer,
and performing other interior decorations.

Haim Synagogue is now Iran’s first Jewish museum and is open to the public.