not so "un-intended": this was from **Shamayim
Hakoras HaTov to Vinnews and myrtlerising for this expose:
Christian Church Hit In Gaza Built On R’ Yisrael Najara’s Shul, Where Shabtai Tzvi Was Later Declared Messiah
In an *unintended incident which occurred this week, three people were killed and at least five others injured by a stray Israeli shell that hit the compound of the Latin Church of the Holy Family in Gaza. Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly called the Pope to offer his apology.
This was not the first time the church has been damaged in the wars between Israel and Hamas. But beyond the damage, this church has a fascinating history: it was built on the ruins of an ancient synagogue of the Jewish community of Gaza from the 16th century.
One particularly interesting feature of this church is its unusual prayer orientation — the entrance is in the east, and prayer is directed westward, which is rare both in Israel and worldwide. The eastern-facing entrance faces toward Jerusalem, as that was the direction of prayer in the synagogue that once stood there.
This synagogue served the poet Rabbi Israel Najara, composer of the well-known liturgical poem “Yah Ribbon Olam,” during the 17th century, when he served as the rabbi of Gaza’s Jewish community. A dark chapter in the site’s history occurred on Shavuot night in 1665/5425, when Shabtai Tzvi was proclaimed the Messiah there by his companion and spokesman, Nathan of Gaza.
In the courtyard of the church, several fragments of ancient marble railings were discovered in the early 1880s. One fragment bears a Greek inscription:
“For the peace of Jacob son of Elazar, [from] his sons, to give thanks to God for the holy place…”
Another fragment, in the shape of a column and discovered by Gaza’s Jews about a hundred years ago, is inscribed with the words:
“The angel who redeems me from all evil, may he grant me to ascend to Jerusalem.”
Yechiel Brill, editor of HaLevanon — the first Hebrew newspaper published in the Land of Israel — visited Gaza in 1883 and wrote about his experience:
“As I walked through the city’s streets, I passed through one called ‘Harat al-Yahud’ (The Jewish Quarter) and I recognized, on the doorposts of the houses, the marks where mezuzahs once hung. I also saw the place where the synagogue had stood, and now Catholic monks are building a shelter there. Among the stones excavated to lay the foundation for the house, I saw a marble stone resembling a pillar, inscribed with the words:
‘The angel who redeems me from all evil, may he grant me to ascend to Jerusalem’…”
That “shelter” built by the Catholic monks, as described by Brill, is the very same church that was struck this week.
Years later, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi would recount the fate of that pillar. Tzvi Hirschfeld, founder of the moshava Ruhama, heard of the pillar’s existence and asked the priests to sell it. They initially refused, but after the intervention of the British consul, they agreed to sell it for two Ottoman lira. Hirschfeld brought the pillar to Ruhama, and when that village was destroyed during World War I, he took it with him to Rishon LeZion. In 1918, during an outbreak of typhus, Hirschfeld became ill and died in Rishon LeZion on 8 Nissan, 5678 (March 21, 1918). His family decided to set the pillar on his grave.
To this day, that ancient column stands on Hirschfeld’s grave in the cemetery of Rishon LeZion.
A third marble fragment bears carvings of a seven-branched menorah, a shofar, and a lulav, indicating that in the place of today’s church once stood the synagogue of the Jewish quarter — active from the late 15th century until the 19th century.
Source: https://vinnews.com/2025/07/19/christian-church-hit-in-gaza-built-on-r-yisrael-najaras-shul-where-shabtai-tzvi-was-later-declared-messiah/
notice something here?
*Many years ago, near downtown Los Angeles in the Korea Town area my car tire hit something and it damaged my tire. I pulled over and parked in front of an open store. I went in to use their phone since this was before we had cell phones. It turned out to be a Korean restaurant. The walls were decorated with a cut up sefer Torah. I called some Rabbonim who came to meet me at this restaurant. one of the Rabbonim said that this was once a shul but that all the members had either died or left the area when the Yidden moved west into other neighborhoods.
*Prime Minister Netanyahu quickly called the Pope to offer his apology.” If anyone should apologize, it’s the pope who should apologize for the church having stolen the synagogue. High time the land thieves return what they stole.
*What’s a church doing on Jewish property?
G-d destroyed it to be rebuilt Jewish
There’s even a Bracha we say .........
It is a positive commandment to destroy, preferably by fire, false deities.
It is a positive commandment to destroy false deities, all their accessories, and everything that is made for their purposes, as [Deuteronomy 12:2] states: "You shall surely destroy all the places [where the gentiles... served their gods]" and, as [implied by Deuteronomy 7:5]: "Rather, what you should do to them is tear down their altars." Rambam, Hil. A"Z 7:1. Sourde: mi yodeah @ https://judaism.stackexchange.com/
The NY Times with it’s anti-Israel reporting falsely reported that it was destroyed. Fake News
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