Followers of Rabbi Yisrael Friedman of Ruzhin built the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. Nisan Bak was co-founder and, per one account, architect and contractor, while the architect Faina Milstein concludes that Martin Ivanovich Eppinger designed it or advised Bak. Plans began in 1839, land was bought in 1843 and ground was broken in 1858.
It was a three-story synagogue with a single dome, ornate decoration and painted murals inside the dome. Emperor Franz Joseph donated for the dome during his November 1869 visit, though the article flags a related anecdote as dubious. The synagogue was inaugurated on August 19, 1872.
After serving as a Haganah post, it was blown up by the Arab Legion in May 1948. Reconstruction began in 2014 and was reported complete in May 2025, but the opening has been delayed.
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