The synagogue Scolanova Trani in Italy.

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 study, called the Beit midrash — ("House of Study").

Synagogues are not consecrated spaces, nor is a synagogue necessary for collective worship. Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) assemble. A synagogue is not in the strictest sense a temple; it does not replace the true, long since destroyed, Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Many Jews in English-speaking countries use the Yiddish term "shul" in everyday speech. Spanish and Portuguese Jews call the synagogue an esnoga. Persian Jews and Karaite Jews use the term Kenesa, which is derived from Aramaic, and some Arab Jews use knis. Reform and some Conservative congregations in the United States sometimes use the word "temple."

Origins

Before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, communal prayers centered around the korbanot ("sacrificial offerings") brought by the kohanim ("priests") in the Holy Temple. The all-day Yom Kippur 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 captivity the Men of the Great Assembly 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 saving 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, existed long before the destruction of Solomon's Temple.^[1] The earliest archaeological evidence for the existence of very early synagogues comes form Egypt, where stone synagogue dedication inscriptions dating from the third century BCE prove that synagogues existed by that date.^[2] A synagogue dating from between 75 and 50 BCE has been uncovered at a Hasmonean-era winter palace near Jericho.^{[3] [4]} More than a dozen Second Temple era synagogues have been identified by archaeologists.^[5]

Throughout Jewish history, synagogues have been constructed by all types of people. They have been constructed by wealthy patrons; by ethnically-bound groups of people (such as the Sephardic synagogues established by Sephardi refugees to large cities that had already established congregations); and by any like-minded group of Jews. Eastern European Jewish communities were characterized by the presence of kloizen (literally, "gathering places") in which worshippers belonging to the same profession prayed together. Thus there was the tailors' kloiz, the water-carriers' kloiz, etc. One kloiz that still bears that name today is the Breslov synagogue in Uman, Ukraine, which accommodates thousands of worshippers at the annual Breslover Rosh Hashana kibbutz (prayer gathering). It is called the "New Kloiz" to distinguish it from the "Old Kloiz", which was built by Nathan of Breslov in 1834.^[6]

Architectural design

The Sardis Synagogue in Manisa, Turkey. The synagogue was a section of a large bath-gymnasium complex, which was in use for 450–500 years.

Historically, synagogues were built in the prevailing architectural style of their time and place. Thus, the synagogue in Kaifeng, China looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden in which several buildings were arranged.

Bird's eye view of the synagogue of Kaifeng.

The emancipation of Jews in European 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 Neoclassical, Neo-Byzantine, Romanesque Revival Moorish Revival, Gothic Revival, and Greek Revival. There are Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one Mayan Revival synagogue. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificient ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as eclectic.

Some synagogues used the swastika as a decorative element, usually without religious significance, before it took on sinister connotations in twentieth-century Nazi Germany.

In the post-war era, synagogue architecture abandoned historicist styles for modernism.

Most synagogues of almost every era and region, however, were modest buildings using the inexpensive vernacular architecture of their era and region. Most still are.

Chabad Lubavitch

Chabad Lubavitch has made a practice of designing some of its Chabad Houses and centers as replicas of or homages to the architecture of 770 Eastern Parkwayhttp://www.shmais.com/pages.cfm?page=photo_gallery&ID=191.

Interior elements

Orthodox synagogues

Orthodox synagogues usually contain the following features:

Aron Kodesh covered by dark blue parochet with decorative, embroidered design.

• An ark called the Aron Kodesh ???? ????, the Holy Ark by Ashkenazim and heikhal ???? [temple] by Sephardim where the Torah scrolls are kept.

The ark in a synagogue is positioned in such a way that those who face it, face towards Jerusalem. Thus, sanctuary seating plans in the Western world generally face east, 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 Covenant which contained the tablets with Ten Commandments. This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the Holy of Holies. 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 read and from where the services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues.

• A continually-lit lamp or lantern, usually electric, called the (), the "Eternal Lamp," used as a reminder of the western lamp of the menorah of the Temple in Jerusalem, which remained miraculously lit always.

• A candelabrum specifically lit during services commemorating the full Menorah.

• A pulpit facing the congregation for the use of the rabbi, and a pulpit or amud - (Hebrew for "post" or "column") facing the Ark where the Hazzan stands while leading the prayer service.

• A partition () dividing the men's and women's seating areas, or a separate women's section located on a balcony.

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.

Synagogue windows are sometimes curved at the top and squared at the bottom, recalling the popular depiction of the shape of the Tablets of Stone which Moses received from God at Mount Sinai. There is also a tradition to install twelve windows around the main sanctuary to recall the Twelve Tribes of Israel, underscoring the importance of unity and brotherhood as a result of the communal prayers.

Interior of a "caravan shul" (synagogue housed in a trailer-type facility) in Neve Yaakov, Jerusalem, Israel.

The United States has well over 1200 Orthodox congregations, including over 1000 affiliated with the Orthodox Union (OU), and 150 with the National Council of Young Israel, as well as many associated with Agudath Yisrael, a widespread movement often identified with Orthodox Judaism, especially Chassidim.

Reform synagogues and temples

The Synagogue in the Gerard Doustraat in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

The first Reform synagogue, which opened in Hamburg in 1811, introduced changes that made the synagogue look more like a church. These included: the installation of an organ to accompany the prayers (even on Shabbat, when musical instruments are proscribed by halakha ), a choir to accompany the Hazzan, and vestments for the synagogue rabbi to wear http://www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory/Crash_Course_in_Jewish_History_Part_54_-_Reform_Movement.asp.

The New Synagogue in Berlin, Germany.

Conservative synagogues

The Conservative movement, which also developed in Europe and America in the 1800s, rejected Reform as being too liberal and Orthodoxy as being too outdated. However, like other varieties of Judaism, its synagogue design is not consistent. Some Conservative synagogues resemble Reform temples, complete with organhttp://www.bethyeshurun.org/organ.htm. Others resemble Orthodox synagogues, but usually without a mechitza, the dividing barrier between men and women. There are approximately 750 Conservative synagogues in the United States today.

Reconstructionist synagogues

The Reconstructionist movement, which arose in America in the latter half of the 20th century, counts fewer than 100 synagogues worldwide. In keeping with a Reconstructionist Jewish spirit of liberalism, the movement's synagogues are not as traditionalist in design as are synagogues of Conservative Judaism, and do not use the mechitza. The congregation decides communally how much traditional Judaic imagery and symbols are appropriate. Reconstructionist Jews generally do not call their houses of worship "temples".

Synagogue as community center

Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewish communities and may include additional facilities such as a function hall, kosher kitchen, religious school, library, day care center and a smaller chapel for daily services.

Synagogue offshoots

A related place of worship is the (, pl. or , Yiddish for "little house") that is frequently used by and preferred by Hasidic and Haredi Jews. A may sometimes be a room in the private home of a Hasidic Rebbe, or a place of business which is set aside for the express purpose of prayer. It may or may not offer the communal services of a synagogue.

Another type of communal prayer group, favored by some non-Orthodox Jews, is the chabura (?????, pl. chaburot, ??????), or prayer fellowship. These groups meet at a regular place and time, usually in a private home. In antiquity, the Pharisees lived near each other in chaburot and dined together to ensure that none of the food was unfit for consumption.^[7]

Orthodox Jews, who must collect a minyan or quorum of ten men before certain communal paryers can be recited do not require a consecrated space and commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings.

World's largest synagogues

Ranked by number of seats:

• The largest synagogue in the world is the New Beit Midrash of Ger in Jerusalem, Israel. The main sanctuary seats over 8,500.

• The second largest synagogue in the world is the Belz World Center, also in Jerusalem, Israel, whose main Sanctuary seats 6,000. Construction took 16 years.

• The third largest may be the Satmar synagogue in Kiryas Yoel, New York state, which is said to seat "several thousand." ^[8]

• The largest synagogue in Europe is the Dohány Street Synagogue or Great Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary , which seats 3,000.

• Another very large synagogue is Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York, a Reform house of worship located on Fifth Avenue, New York City, with an area of 3,523 m², seating 2,500.

• Other large synagogues include the Great Synagogue of Rome and the Great Synagogue in Plze?, Czech Republic; the Orthodox synagogue in Ko?ice, Slovakia; the Novi Sad Synagogue in Novi Sad, Serbia; and the Sofia Synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria.

World's oldest synagogues

• The oldest Samaritan synagogue dates from at 150 to 128 BCE, or earlier and is located on the island of Delos.^[9]

• The oldest securely dated mainstream Jewish synagogue in the world was built between 70 and 50 BCE at a royal winter palace near Jericho.^[10]

• The oldest synagogue fragments are stone synagogue dedication inscriptions stones found in middle and lower Egypt and dating from the third century BCE.^[11]

In Israel

• In Israel and regions of the Jewish diaspora archaeologists have uncovered many ruins of synagogues from thousands of years ago. The small ruined synagogue at Masada is one of the most well-documented; it dates from the time of the Second Temple.

• The oldest synagogue in Israel which is currently in use is probably the Ari in Safed, which dates from the 16th century. There were synagogues in the Old City that are older, but, like the Rashi Shul, they were razed by anti-Semites and the present buildings are reconstructions.

• The Ramban Synagogue, founded by Nahmanides in 1267 and rebuilt after 1967, is the oldest active synagogue in the Old City of Jerusalem. The present building is a reconstruction on foundations of the ancient building destroyed during the Jordanian occupation of Jerusalem. See also: Synagogues in Jerusalem.

In Europe

• The oldest synagogue in Europe uncovered in an archaeological dig to date is in the ancient Roman port of Ostia. The present building, of which partial walls and pillars set upright by archaeolgists remain, dates from the fourth century CE. However, excavation revealed that it is on the site of an earlier synagogue dating from the middle of the first century CE, that is, from before the destruction of the Temple.^[12]

• The oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing is Santa María la Blanca, built in Toledo, Spain in 1190. It was consecrated as a church upon the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in the 15th century, but no major renovations were done. While still a consecrated church, it is no longer used for worship and is open as a museum.

Built around 1270, the Old New Synagogue in Prague (Czech Republic) is the world's oldest active synagogue.

• The oldest active synagogue building in Europe is the Alteneushul (Old-New Synagogue) in Prague, Czech Republic, which dates from the 13th century. The Altneushul was the pulpit of the great Rabbi Yehuda Loew, (the Maharal), and his creation, the golem of Prague, is rumored to be hidden within the synagogue.

In Asia

• The third century CE Dura-Europos synagogue (in today's Syria) is is better preserved than other, older synagogues that have emerged from archaeological digs. It is often called the world's oldest preserved Jewish synagogue.

In the Americas

• The Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue in Recife, Brazil, was the first Jewish synagogue erected in the Americas, in 1636. Its foundations have been recently discovered, and the twentieth century buildings on the site have been altered to resemble a 17th century Spanish and Portugese synagogue.

• The Curaçao synagogue, Congregation Mikvé Israel-Emanuel, built in 1732 is the oldest still standing synagogue building in the Western Hemisphere.^[13]

Oldest synagogues in the United States

• Congregation Shearith Israel, 1655, is the oldest congregation in the United States, its present building dates from 1897.

• The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, 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, built in 1175 and razed on Kristallnacht in 1938, was painstakingly reconstructed using many of the original stones. It is still in use as a synagogue.

The Great Synagogue of Santiago, Chile.

• The Synagogue of El Transito of Toledo, Spain, was built in 1356 by Samuel HaLevi, treasurer of King Pedro I of Castile. This is one of the best examples of mudejar 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 Alhambra palace in Granada as well as the Mosque of Cordoba. Since 1964, this site has hosted a Sephardi museum.

• The Paradesi Synagogue in the old city of Kochi, Kerala State, India, dates from 1568. It has been restored as a tourist site.

• The Hurva Synagogue, located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, was Jerusalem's main Ashkenazi synagogue from the 16th century until 1948, when it was destroyed by the Arab Legion several days after the conquest of the city. After the Six-Day War, 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 Barbados Nidhe Israel Synagogue ("Bridgetown Synagogue"), located in the capital city of Bridgetown, 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 is a Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam built on pilings. It was founded by ex-Marranos (Portuguese Crypto-Jews) in 1675.

• The Snoa in Willemstad, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles 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 on New York's Lower East Side, 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 zodiac frescos, and the sanctuary is illuminated by stained glass windows. The bimah and floor-to-ceiling ark are handcarved.

• The Great Synagogue of Florence, 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.

Selected images of synagogues

<gallery> Image:EsnogaAmsterdam.jpg|The Amsterdam Esnoga Synagogue in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Image:Synagogue - Budapest.jpg|The Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, Hungary. It is the largest synagogue in Europe. Image:Great Synagogue Plzen CZ general view.JPG|The Great Synagogue of Plze?, Czech Republic. Image:1938 Interior of Berlin synagogue after Kristallnacht.jpg|The Fasanenstrasse Synagogue in Berlin (Germany) after the Kristallnacht. The Jewish Community Center was built in its place in 1959. Image:Frankfurt Hauptsynagoge 1885.jpg|The main synagogue of the city of Frankfurt am Main (Germany) before the Kristallnacht. Image:Köln synagoge pano.jpg|The Roonstrasse Synagogue in Cologne, Germany. Image:Lesko synagoga.jpg|The Lesko Synagogue in Lesko, Poland. Image:Synagoga w Bobowej.JPG|The Bobowa Synagogue in Bobowa, Poland. Image:Besht Shul1 Medzhibozh.jpg|The Baal Shem Tov's shul in Medzhybizh, Ukraine (c. 1915). The shul no longer exists. Image:Belz hasidic synagogue.jpg|The Belzer synagogue of Belz, Ukraine. The synagogue no longer exists. Image:Kherson-Synagogue01.jpg|The synagogue of Kherson, Ukraine. Image:Hurva synagogue.jpg|The dome of the Hurva Synagogue dominated the skyline of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem for centuries. Image:Hakhurba-synagogue01m.jpg|The remains of the Hurva Synagogue as they appeared from 1967 to 2003. The synagogue is currently being reconstructed. image:Istanbul_Ashkenazi_Sinagogue_Interior.JPG|The Ashkenazi Synagogue of Istanbul, Turkey. The synagogue was founded in the year 1900. Image:Duraeuropa-1-.gif|Scenes from the Book of Esther from the Dura-Europos synagogue (244 CE).

Image:Karaite_synagogue_cali.jpg|The interior of a Karaite synagogue (kenesa). Image:Centralsynoglex.JPG|The Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, United States of America. Image:Emanu-elNYjeh.JPG|Congregation Emanu-El of New York on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City, is the largest synagogue outside of Israel. Image:Templebethel.jpg|Temple Beth-El, the oldest synagogue in Florida, which was built in Art Deco style. </gallery>

See also

• Beth midrash
• Jewish services
• Shtiebel
• Siddur
• Synagogue architecture

References

External links

• Resources>Jewish Culture and Folklore>Synagogues and Cemeteries The Jewish History Resource Center, Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• Chief Rabbinate of Turkey
• Index of Prague Synagogues List of still active Synagogues in Prague with contacts and addresses
• 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia article on Synagogue
• 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article on Synagogue
• Picture Gallery - Visit over 100 synagogues, past and present
• 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia article on Synagogue
• Global Chabad-Lubavitch Centers and Institutions Directory
• GoDaven.com - Find an Orthodox Synagogue Anywhere in the World
• Who Invented the Synagogue? chabad.org
• Synagogues around the World at Beit Hatefutsot (The Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora)
• The Synagogue Companion
• MavenSearch Worldwide Comprehensive Synagogue Directory
• Aerial photographs: Synagogue - Budapest - Hungary
• http://ayunt.murcia.googlepages.com/homeMurcia Spain comunidadjudia
• Synagogue & Rabbi Index
• The Great Synagogue Challenge-Try to Locate a Synagogue
• Guide to synagogues and other Jewish heritage sites in Slovakia
• B'Nai Israel Synagogue on GuidepostUSA
• Joseph Tabory, A list of articles on Synagogues (in various languages), in the DAAT site
• Eldridge Street Synagogue
• picture of Aron Kodesh in Rav Pealim Beit Knesset

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