Religion: HQ for Judaism

Solomon would have been astonished. In Jerusalem last week the Israelis dedicated a "supreme religious center" in the form of a glittering seven-story building, white-cupolaed and monumental with pillars, fitted out inside with tiles and marble, English oak paneling, elevators, and hot-air blowers (instead of towels) in the lavatories. It cost $1,700,000—more than two-thirds of it from the pocket of British Chain Store Tycoon Isaac Wolf son—and the dedication ceremony was appropriate for a building that aspires to be the new center of religious law for all the world's Orthodox Jews.

Bearded rabbis in frock coats and black hats stepped solemnly down...