Hadar Central Synagogue, Religious landmark in Hadar neighborhood, Haifa, Israel

Hadar Central Synagogue is a three-storey building on Herzliya Street in the Hadar HaCarmel neighbourhood, founded in 1937 and opened for prayer in September 1938. Its main hall covers about 1,000 square metres and seats around 1,100 people, with a ceiling reaching 16 metres and a women's gallery at 4.5 metres. The exterior rises about 23 metres from the street and is topped by a dome; a 4-metre-high, 10-metre-wide stone relief by Israel Rubinstein, on the theme "Atchalta de-Geulah", shows Elijah the Prophet of Mount Carmel in a chariot with the symbols of the tribes.

The synagogue was built from 1937 in eastern Hadar HaCarmel and opened for prayer on Rosh Hashanah 5699, in September 1938. A 1935 competition drew 67 plans; architect Max Loewe and his assistant Meir Ben-Uri won. Construction stalled for lack of funds, and the building stood half-finished for years. In 1949 the Haifa municipality took over completion, and work proceeded in three stages from 1953 to 1956.

The synagogue's name, "the Great Synagogue," reflects its role as the main prayer hall of Hadar HaCarmel, and streets around it between Herzog and Herzl close to vehicle traffic on Shabbat. Its lower floor was completed in 1953 as a wedding and events hall, and a Torah library founded in 1949 moved there in 1956. Today Belz Hasidim hold the large hall while Ger Hasidim pray in a ground-floor room.

The building is located in the Hadar neighborhood and can be visited during operating hours. Visitors should be aware that religious protocols apply when inside, particularly during prayer times.

The stone relief on the façade, 4 metres high and 10 metres wide, was chosen in a competition at the end of 1956 and made by artist Israel Rubinstein. Its theme, "Atchalta de-Geula" (the beginning of redemption), shows Elijah the Prophet, a man of Mount Carmel, in a chariot with the symbols of the tribes.