In the 1960s the building was given back to the Municipality. The residents of the Talpiot neighbourhood, headed by Mr. Mordechai Caspi and Mr. Shai Agnon, filed suit for it to be given back to the community to serve as a synagogue. The Court decided in favour of the residents. The Municipality, with the aid of the Fund for Jerusalem and a financial contribution from Shai Agnon out of his Nobel Prize money, renovated the building.
It is said that Mr. Arye Klein, who died in 2005, claimed that he had convinced Mr. Agnon to donate the money, with the words: "In 400 years time the name Agnon might not be known to people, your books might be forgotten but if there is a synagogue named in your honour - your name will stay in people's memory for hundreds of years".