A
synagogue (from
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
: ,
transliteratedTransliteration is the practice of converting a text from one writing system into another in a systematic way.-Definitions:From an information-theoretical point of view, transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another, word by word, or ideally letter by letter...
synagogē, "assembly";
beyt knesset, "house of assembly"; or
beyt t'fila, "house of prayer",
shul; ,
esnoga) is a
JewThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish house of prayer.
Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices. Some have a separate room for
Torah studyTorah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
, called the
beth midrashBeth Midrash is a study hall...
— ("House of Study").
Synagogues are often not consecrated spaces, nor is a synagogue necessary for collective worship. Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a
minyan{dablink|This article is about the term in [Judaism]. For other meanings, see [Minyan ].}{infobox Halacha|image=|caption=|verse={bibleverse||Leviticus|22:32|HE}|talmud=[Megillah] 23b; Sanhedrin 74b|talmudy=[Megillah] 4:4|mishnah=[Megillah] 4:3...
) assemble. A synagogue is not in the strictest sense a temple; it does not replace the true, long-since destroyed,
Holy TempleThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a future Temple features in Jewish eschatology. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acts as...
in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
.
In colloquial speech, Israelis use the term
Bet knesset (assembly house). Jews of Ashkenazi descent have traditionally used the Yiddish term "shul" (cognate with the
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
schule, school) in everyday speech.
Spanish and Portuguese JewsSpanish and Portuguese Jews are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardim who have their main ethnic origins within the crypto-Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula and who shaped communities mainly in Western Europe and the Americas from the late 16th century on...
calles the synagogue an
esnoga. Persian Jews{ethnic group|group=Persian Jews|image =...
and Karaite Jews use the term
KenesaKenesa is the term for a Karaite or Persian synagogue. The word derives from the Aramaic word for "assembly" .-Layout:...
, which is derived from
AramaicAramaic is a Semitic language with a 3,000-year history. It has been the language of administration of empires and the language of divine worship...
, and some Arabic-speaking Jews use
knis. Some
ReformReform Judaism refers to the spectrum of beliefs, practices and organizational infrastructure associated with Reform Judaism in North America and in the United Kingdom....
and
ConservativeConservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.The principles of Conservative Judaism include:* A deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish...
Jews use the word "temple".
Origins
Although synagogues existed well before the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE, communal worship in the time while the Temple still stood centered around the
korbanKorban , in Judaism, is the term for a variety of sacrificial offerings described and commanded in the Torah. Such sacrifices were offered in a variety of settings by the ancient Israelites, and later by the Jewish priesthood, the Kohanim, at the Temple in Jerusalem...
ot ("sacrificial offerings") brought by the
kohanimA Kohen is a Jew who is in direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron, older brother of Moses, with an honored status in Judaism...
("priests") in the
Holy TempleThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a future Temple features in Jewish eschatology. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acts as...
. The all-day
Yom KippurYom Kippur , also known as the Day of Forgiveness, is the holiest day of the year for religious Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services...
service, in fact, was an event in which the congregation both observed the movements of the
kohen gadol ("the high priest") as he offered the day's sacrifices and prayed for his success.
During the
Babylonian captivityAlthough the term Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile typically refers to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II in 586 BC, in fact the exile started with the first deportation in 597 BC...
(586-537 BCE) the
Men of the Great AssemblyAccording to Jewish tradition, the Great Assembly or Anshei Knesset HaGedolah , also known as the Great Synagogue, was an assembly of 120 scribes, sages, and prophets, in the period from the end of the prophets up to the time of the development of Rabbinic Judaism, marking a transition from an era...
began the process of formalizing and standardizing Jewish services and prayers that did not depend on the functioning of the Temple in Jerusalem. Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai, one of the leaders at the end of the Second Temple era, promulgated the idea of creating individual houses of worship in whatever locale Jews found themselves. This contributed to the continuity of the Jewish people by maintaining a unique identity and a portable way of worship despite the destruction of the Temple, according to many historians.
Synagogues in the sense of purpose-built spaces for worship, or rooms originally constructed for some other purpose but reserved for formal, communal prayer, however, existed long before the destruction of Solomon's Temple. The earliest archaeological evidence for the existence of very early synagogues comes from Egypt, where stone synagogue dedication inscriptions dating from the third century BCE prove that synagogues existed by that date. A synagogue dating from between 75 and 50 BCE has been uncovered at a Hasmonean-era winter palace near
JerichoJericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate, and has a population of over 20,000 Palestinians. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest...
. More than a dozen Second Temple era synagogues have been identified by archaeologists.
Any Jew or group of Jews can build a synagogue. Synagogues have been constructed by ancient Jewish kings, by wealthy patrons, as part of a wide range of human institutions including secular educational institutions, governments, and hotels, by the entire community of Jews living in a particular place, or by sub-groups of Jews arrayed according to occupation, ethnicity (I.e. the Sephardic, Polish or Persian Jews of a town,) style of religious observance (i.e., a Reform or an Orthodox synagogue,) or by the followers of a particular rabbi.
Architectural design
There is no set
blueprintA blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan.- History :...
for synagogues and the architectural shapes as well as interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact, the influence from other local religious buildings can often be seen in synagogue arches, domes and towers.
Historically, synagogues were built in the prevailing architectural style of their time and place. Thus, the synagogue in
Kaifeng, ChinaKaifeng , formerly known as Bianliang , Bianjing , Daliang , or simply Liang , is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China...
looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden in which several buildings were arranged. The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled the temples of other sects of the eastern Roman Empire. The surviving synagogues of medieval Spain are embellished with
mudéjarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
plasterwork. The surviving medieval synagogues in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
and
PraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Nicknames for Prague have included "the mother of cities" , "city of a hundred spires", or Stověžatá Praha in Czech and "the golden city" or Zlaté město in Czech.Situated on the River Vltava in central Bohemia, Prague has been the...
are typical
GothicGothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
structures.
The emancipation of Jews in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an countries not only enabled Jews to enter fields of enterprise from which they were formerly barred, but gave them the right to build synagogues without needing special permissions, synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show not only their wealth but also their newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. These were built across Europe and in the United States in all of the historicist or revival styles then in fashion. Thus there were
NeoclassicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, both as a reaction against the Rococo style of anti-tectonic naturalistic ornament, and an outgrowth of some classicizing features of Late Baroque...
, Neo-Byzantine, Romanesque Revival
Moorish RevivalMoorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of the Romanticist fascination with all things oriental...
, Gothic Revival, and Greek Revival. There are Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one
Mayan RevivalThe Mayan Revival is a modern architectural movement that draw inspiration from the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures...
synagogue. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as eclectic.
In the post-war era, synagogue architecture abandoned historicist styles for modernism.
Interior elements
All synagogues contain a Torah Ark, a table from which the Torah is read, and a desk for the prayer leader.
The Torah Ark, (Hebrew:
Aron Kodesh—ארון קודש) (called the
heikhal—היכל [temple] by Sephardim) is a cabinet in which the
TorahThe term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
scrolls are kept.
The ark in a synagogue is positioned in almost always such a way that those who face it, face towards
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
. Thus, sanctuary seating plans in the Western world generally face
eastIn Judaism, mizrah is the direction to be faced during prayer. The word also designates the wall of the synagogue facing this direction, where seats are reserved for the rabbi and other dignitaries, and an ornamental wall plaque used to indicate the direction of prayer in Jewish homes.-Jewish...
, while those east of Israel face west. Sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. Occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons; in such cases, some individuals might turn to face Jerusalem when standing for prayers, but the congregation as a whole does not.
The ark is reminiscent of the
Ark of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant is a container described in the Bible as containing the Tablets of Stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna. According to the Pentateuch, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai...
which contained the tablets with
Ten CommandmentsThe Ten Commandments, or Decalogue, are a list of religious and moral imperatives that, according to Judeo-Christian tradition, were authored by God and given to Moses on the mountain referred to as "Mount Sinai" or "Horeb" in the form of two stone tablets...
. This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the
Holy of HoliesThe Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which referred to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur....
. The ark is often closed with an ornate curtain, the
, which hangs outside or inside the ark doors.
A large, raised, reader's platform called the
by Ashkenazim and
by Sephardim, where the Torah scroll is placed to be read. Is a feature of all synagogues. In Sephardi synagogues it is also used as the prayer leader's reading desk.
Other traditional features include a continually-lit lamp or lantern, usually electric in contemporary synagogues, called the
, the "Eternal Light," used as a reminder of the western lamp of the menorah of the
Temple in JerusalemThe Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to a series of structures located on the Temple Mount in the old city of Jerusalem. Historically, two temples were built at this location, and a future Temple features in Jewish eschatology. According to classical Jewish belief, the Temple acts as...
, which remained miraculously lit always. Many have an elaborate chair named for the prophet Elijah and only sat upon during the ceremony of
Brit milahBrit milah is a religious ceremony within Judaism to welcome infant Jewish boys into a covenant between God and the Children of Israel through ritual circumcision performed by a mohel...
. Many synagogues have a large seven-branched candelabrum commemorating the full Menorah. Most contemporary synagogues also feature a lectern for the rabbi.
A synagogue may be decorated with artwork, but in the Rabbinic and Orthodox tradition, three-dimensional sculptures and depictions of the human body are not allowed, as these are considered akin to idolatry.
Until the 19th century, an
AshkenaziAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley and northern France...
synagogue, all seats most often faced the 'Torah Ark. In a
SephardiSephardi Jews are a subgroup of Jews originating in the Iberian Peninsula, usually defined in contrast to Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews.-Definition:A...
synagogue, seats were usually arranged around the perimeter of the sanctuary, but when the worshippers stood up to pray, everyone faced the Ark. In Ashkenazi synagogues The
TorahThe term "Torah" , refers either to the Five Books of Moses or to the entirety of Judaism's founding legal and ethical religious texts...
was read on a reader's table located in the center of the room, while the leader of the prayer service, the
, stood at his own lectern or table, facing the Ark. In Sephardic synagogues, the table for reading the Torah was commonly placed at the opposite side of the room form the Torah Ark, leaving the center of the floor empty for the use of a ceremonial procession carrying the Torah between the Ark and the reading table.
Denominational differences
Orthodox synagogues feature a partition dividing the men's and women's seating areas, or a separate women's section located on a balcony.
The
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
Reform movement which arose in the early 1800s made many changes to the traditional look of the synagogue, keeping with its desire to simultaneously stay Jewish yet be accepted by the host culture.
The first Reform synagogue, which opened in
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
in 1811, introduced changes that made the synagogue look more like a church. These included: the installation of an
organThe organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet...
to accompany the prayers (even on
ShabbatShabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
, when musical instruments are proscribed by
halakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
), a choir to accompany the
Hazzan, and vestments for the synagogue rabbi to wear.
In following decades, the central reader's table, the
bimahA bimah , almemar or tebah is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading service. The bimah is sometimes misdescribed as an altar or tower...
, was moved to the front of the Reform sanctuary—previously unheard-of in Orthodox synagogues. The rabbi now delivered his
sermonA sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
from the front, much as the
ChristianChristianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented by the revelations in the New Testament....
ministers delivered their sermons in a church. The synagogue was renamed a "temple", to emphasize that the movement no longer looked forward to the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Synagogue as community center
Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewish communities and may include additional facilities such as a catering hall, kosher kitchen, religious school, library, day care center and a smaller chapel for daily services.
Synagogue offshoots
Since Orthodox Jews must collect a minyan or quorum of ten men before certain communal prayers can be recited, but do not require a consecrated space, they commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings. A room or building that is used this way can become a dedicated small synagogues and pray room. Among Ashkenazi Jews they are traditionally called
' onMouseout='HidePop("50740")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Chavurah">Chavurah
A chavurah or havurah is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as lifecycle events, and Jewish learning...
(חבורה, pl.
chavurot, חבורות), or prayer fellowship. These groups meet at a regular place and time, usually in a private home. In
antiquityClassical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, the
PhariseesThe word Pharisees comes from the Hebrew פרושים perushim from פרוש parush, meaning "set apart" . The Pharisees were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era...
lived near each other in
chavurot and dined together to ensure that none of the
foodFood is any substance, usually composed of carbohydrates, fats, proteins and water, that can be eaten or drunk by an animal, including humans, for nutrition or pleasure. Items considered food may be sourced from plants, animals or other categories such as fungus or fermented products like alcohol...
was unfit for consumption.
Great synagogues
During the
19thThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Ottoman, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
and early
20th centuryThe 20th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1901 and ended on December 31, 2000, according to the Gregorian calendar.The British Empire, the Russian Empire, the German Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved in the first half of the century, with all but the...
, it was fairly common for Jewish communities, particularly in
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, to construct very large, showpiece synagogues. These edifices were intended not simply to accommodate worshipers, but to serve as emblems of Jewish participation in modern society. For this purpose, they were built to be not merely large, but architecturally impressive. Even small cities had elaborate synagogues of this type, albeit smaller than the synagogues of Vienna and New York. They are often designated as
The Great Synagogue of..., or, in Russia,
The Choral Synagogue. These notable synagogues include; the
Great Synagogue of RomeThe Great Synagogue of Rome is the largest synagogue in Rome.-History:The Jewish community of Rome goes back to the second century BC when Judea had an alliance with the Roman Empire under the leadership of Judah Maccabeus. During that time, many Israelites left the land of Israel to go to Rome...
, the New Synagogue (Berlin), the
Leopoldstädter TempelThe Leopoldstädter Tempel was the largest synagogue of Vienna, in the district of Leopoldstadt. It was also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt. It was built in 1858 in a Moorish Revival style by the architect Ludwig Förster...
, the
Grand Choral SynagogueThe Grand Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg , sometimes called the St. Petersburg Synagogue, is the second largest synagogue in Europe. It was built between 1880 and 1888, and consecrated in 1893. Poet Osip Mandelstam called the Petersburg Synagogue a "lavish, outstandish seductress".-Permit from...
, the
Moscow Choral SynagogueThe Moscow Choral Synagogue is the main synagogue in Russia and in the former Soviet Union. It is located in central Basmanny District at 12, Bolshoy Spasogolinischevsky Lane, close to Kitai-Gorod Metro station.-History:...
, the
Great Synagogue of FlorenceThe Great Synagogue of Florence or Tempio Maggiore is a magnificent synagogue in Florence, Italy.The synagogue was built between 1874 and 1882. The architects were Mariano Falcini, Professor Vincente Micheli, and Marco Treves, who was Jewish. Their design integrated the architectural traditions...
, the
Great Synagogue, PlzenThe Great Synagogue in Plzeň , Czech Republic is the second largest synagogue in Europe.A Viennese architect called Fleischer drew up the original plans for the synagogue in Gothic style with granite buttresses and twin 65-meter towers. The cornerstone was laid on December 2, 1888 and that was...
, the Great Synagogue (Warsaw), the
Košice Orthodox SynagogueThe Orthodox synagogue in Košice was built in the years 1926-1927 at Puškinova Street in the historic centre of Košice, Slovakia.The Orthodox Jews built a representative synagogue with 800 seats with a school and the Talmud Torah school haeded by rabbis...
, the
Novi Sad SynagogueNovi Sad Synagogue is a Jewish synagogue and one of the many cultural institutions in Novi Sad, the capital of Serbian province Vojvodina...
, the
Szeged SynagogueThe Szeged Synagogue is a synagogue in Szeged, Hungary.The synagogue is a 1907 building by the Jewish Hungarian architect Lipót Baumhorn whose work is considered to contain the finest examples of the unique fin de siecle Hungarian blending of Art Nouveau and Historicist styles sometimes known as...
, the
Sofia SynagogueThe Sofia Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Southeastern Europe, one of two functioning in Bulgaria and the third-largest in Europe....
and the
Great Synagogue of OranThe Great Synagogue of Oran , Algeria, was built and consecrated in 1880 at the initiative of Simon Kanoui, but its inauguration took place only in 1918...
.
World's largest synagogues
- The largest synagogue in the world is probably the Belz Great Synagogue
The Belz Great Synagogue, , is the largest synagogue in Jerusalem which was built by the Belz Hasidic community with philanthropic help from their supporters and admirers around the world.-Planning:...
, in Jerusalem, Israel; whose main Sanctuary seats 6,000. Construction on the edifice lasted for over 15 years.
- The next largest may be the Satmar synagogue in Kiryas Joel, New York; which is said to seat "several thousand."
- The largest synagogue in Europe is the newly constructed Bratzlav Center at the graveside of Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav in Uman
Uman is a city located in the Cherkasy Oblast in central Ukraine, to the east of Vinnytsia...
, UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
; which seats up to 5,000.
- Congregation Shaare Zion
Congregation Shaare Zion, is an Orthodox Sephardi synagogue located at 2030 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York. One of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregations in New York, it has an estimated 1,500 worshipers who attend its services Fridays and Saturdays for Shabbat.-History:The original...
, an Orthodox Sephardic synagogue located in Brooklyn, New York; which is the largest Syrian Jewish congregation in New York City. It is attended by over 1,000 worshipers on weekends.
- Kehilas Yetev Lev D'Satmar (Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Congregation Yetev Lev D'Satmar is a large Satmar Hasidic synagogue located at Kent Avenue and Hooper Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It has been dubbed a "miracle" synagogue because it was constructed in just 14 business days.-Background:...
; seating between 2,000 to 4,000 congregants.
- Temple Emanu-El of New York, a Reform Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
located in New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, with an area of 3,523 m², seating 2,500.
- The Sofia Synagogue
The Sofia Synagogue is the largest synagogue in Southeastern Europe, one of two functioning in Bulgaria and the third-largest in Europe....
located in SofiaSofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city by population in the European Union, with 1.4 million people living in the Capital Municipality...
, BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
, seating about 1,200.
- The Dohány Street Synagogue
, also known as Dohány Street Synagogue or Tabakgasse Synagogue, is located in Erzsébetváros, the 7th district of Budapest. It is the largest synagogue in Eurasia and the second largest in the world, after the Temple Emanu-El...
in BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
, HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
; which seats 3,000.
World's oldest synagogues
- The oldest Samaritan
The Samaritans are an ethnoreligious group of the Levant. Religiously, they are the adherents to Samaritanism, a parallel but separate religion to Judaism or any of its historical forms...
synagogue, the Delos SynagogueThe Delos Synagogue dates from between 150 and 128 BC, or earlier and is located on the island of Delos. It is understood to be Samaritan. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the world.-Archaeology:...
dates from between 150 and 128 BCE, or earlier and is located on the island of DelosThe island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
.
- The Jericho Synagogue, the oldest, securely dated, mainstream Jewish synagogue in the world was built between 70 and 50 BCE at a royal winter palace near Jericho
Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate, and has a population of over 20,000 Palestinians. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest...
.
- The oldest synagogue fragments are stone synagogue dedication inscriptions stones found in middle and lower Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia...
and dating from the third century BCE.
- The Paradesi Synagogue
The Paradesi Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations, located in Kochi, Kerala, in South India. It was built in 1568 by the Malabar Yehudan people or Cochin Jewish community in the Kingdom of Cochin...
is the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-three independent member states. Most of them were formerly part of the British Empire. They co-operate within a framework of common values...
, located in Kochi, KeralaKerala , is a state located in southwestern India. The state was created in 1956 on linguistc basis, bringing together those places where Malayalam formed the principal language...
, in India. It was built in 1568 by the Malabar Yehudan people or Cochin Jewish community in the Kingdom of Cochin. Paradesi is a word used in several Indian languages, and the literal meaning of the term is "foreigners", applied to the synagogue because it was historically used by "White Jews", a mixture of Jews from Cranganore, the Middle East, and European exiles. It is also referred to as the Cochin Jewish Synagogue or the Mattancherry Synagogue. The synagogue is located in the quarter of Old Cochin known as Jew Town and is the only one of the seven synagogues in the area still in use.
Oldest synagogues in the United States
- Congregation Shearith Israel
Congregation Shearith Israel, often called The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, is the oldest congregation in the United States, although its current Neoclassical building dates only to 1897...
, 1655, is the oldest congregation in the United States, its present building dates from 1897.
- The Touro Synagogue
The Touro Synagogue is a synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, that is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States,the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America and the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S...
in Newport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about 30 miles south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States...
, is the oldest Jewish house of worship in North America that is still standing. It was built in 1759 for the Jeshuat Israel congregation, which was established in 1658.
Other famous synagogues
- The Rashi Shul
The Rashi Shul is an 11th century synagogue located in Worms, Germany. The synagogue is named after the great Jewish scholar, Rashi, who studied in the yeshiva attached to the synagogue in around 1060....
, built in 1175 and razed on KristallnachtKristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass was an anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on 9 to 10 November 1938. It is often called Novemberpogrome or Reichspogromnacht in German....
in 1938, was painstakingly reconstructed using many of the original stones. It is still in use as a synagogue.
- The Synagogue of El Transito
The Synagogue of El Transito located in Toledo, Spain, was founded by Samuel ha-Levi in 1356. After the expulsion of the city's Jews under the Alhambra decree in 1492, it was converted into a church...
of Toledo, SpainToledo is a municipality located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the province of Toledo and of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha...
, was built in 1356 by Samuel HaLevi, treasurer of King Pedro I of CastileThe Crown of Castile, as a historic entity, is usually considered to have begun in 1230 with the third and almost definitive union of the monarchies of kingdoms Castile and Toledo in one hand, and the kingdoms of Leon and Galicia in other hand, and with the union of their parliaments a few decades...
. This is one of the best examples of mudejarMudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Christian territory after the Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...
architecture in Spain. The design of the synagogue recalls the Nasrid style of architecture that was employed during the same period in the decorations of the AlhambraThe Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex of the Moorish rulers of Granada in southern Spain , occupying a hilly terrace on the...
palace in Granada as well as the Mosque of Cordoba. Since 1964, this site has hosted a Sephardi museum.
- The Hurva Synagogue
The Hurva Synagogue, , also known as Hurvat Rabbi Yehudah he-Hasid, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem was for centuries the site of Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue...
, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
, was Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue from the 16th century until 1948, when it was destroyed by the Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th Century.-Creation:...
several days after the conquest of the city. After the Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
, an arch was built to mark the spot where the synagogue stood. A complete reconstruction is now underway in keeping with plans drawn up by architect Nahum Meltzer.
- The Great Synagogue of Oran
The Great Synagogue of Oran , Algeria, was built and consecrated in 1880 at the initiative of Simon Kanoui, but its inauguration took place only in 1918...
.
- The Barbados
Barbados , situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent West Indian Continental Island-nation in the western Atlantic Ocean. For over three centuries Barbados was a colony and protectorate of the United Kingdom; and still currently maintains Queen Elizabeth II as head of state...
Nidhe Israel SynagogueThe Nidḥe Israel Synagogue is currently the only synagogue situated in Bridgetown, Barbados...
("Bridgetown Synagogue"), located in the capital city of BridgetownThe City of Bridgetown, metropolitan pop 96,578 , is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados. Formerly, the Town of Saint Michael the Greater Bridgetown area is located within the parish of Saint Michael, Locally Bridgetown is sometimes referred to as "The City", but the most common...
, was first built in 1654. It was destroyed in the hurricane of 1831 and reconstructed in 1833http://www.planetware.com/bridgetown/synagogue-bar-mi-syn.htm.
- The Amsterdam Esnoga
The Portuguese Synagogue also known as the Esnoga , or Snoge, is a 17th-century Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam. Esnoga is the Ladino word for synagogue.-Background:...
is a Sephardic synagogue in AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
built on pilings. It was founded by ex-MarranoMarranos or secret Jews were Sephardic Jews who were forced to adopt Christianity under threat of expulsion but who continued to practice Judaism secretly, thus preserving their Jewish identity...
s (Portuguese Crypto-Jews) in 1675.
- The Snoa
Snoa may refer to:*Curaçao synagogue or Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue*snoa , Nordic dance...
in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands AntillesThe Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the Netherlands West Indies or Dutch Antilles/West Indies, is part of the Lesser Antilles and consists of two groups of islands in the Caribbean Sea: Curaçao and Bonaire, just off the Venezuelan coast, and Sint Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten, located...
was built by Sephardic Portuguese Jews from Amsterdam and Recife, Brazil. It is modeled after the Esnoga in Amsterdam. Congregation Mikvé Israel built this synagogue in 1692; it was reconstructed in 1732.
- The Bialystoker Synagogue
The Bialystoker Synagogue at 7-11 Willett Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City, New York State is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue...
on New York's Lower East SideThe Lower East Side is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, E. Houston, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street...
, is located in a landmark building dating from 1826 that was originally a Methodist Episcopal Church. The building is made of quarry stone mined locally on Pitt Street, Manhattan. It is an example of Federalist architecture. The ceilings and walls are hand-painted with zodiacIn astronomy, the zodiac is the ring of constellations that lines the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the Sun across the sky over the course of the year. The Moon and planets also lie within the ecliptic, and so are also within the constellations of the zodiac. In astrology, the zodiac...
frescoFresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins...
s, and the sanctuary is illuminated by stained glass windows. The bimah and floor-to-ceiling ark are handcarved.
- The Great Synagogue of Florence
The Great Synagogue of Florence or Tempio Maggiore is a magnificent synagogue in Florence, Italy.The synagogue was built between 1874 and 1882. The architects were Mariano Falcini, Professor Vincente Micheli, and Marco Treves, who was Jewish. Their design integrated the architectural traditions...
, Tempio Maggiore, Florence, 1874–82, is an example of the magnificent, cathedral-like synagogues built in almost every major European city in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
See also
- Beth midrash
Beth Midrash is a study hall...
- Jewish services
Jewish services are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism...
- Shtiebel
A shtiebel is a place used for communal Jewish prayer. In contrast to a formal synagogue, a shtiebel is far smaller and approached more casually...
- Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as we know it today has developed...
- Synagogue architecture
Synagogue architecture has usually followed styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. Unlike other types of religious architecture where worship buildings often conform to consistent rules for a given architectural period such as the cruciform plan of Gothic churches, or...
External links