A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It has a place for prayer where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings, b'nai mitzvah, choir performances, and children's plays. They also have rooms for study, social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies, and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself.
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the colonial era, and the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America. In 1946, it was declared a National Historic Site.
Congregation B'nai Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located in Galveston, Texas, in the United States. Organized by German Jewish immigrants in 1868, it is the oldest Reform congregation and the second chartered Jewish congregation in the state.
The Central Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue at 652 Lexington Avenue, at the corner of East 55th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Built from 1870 to 1872 and designed by Henry Fernbach in the Moorish Revival style, the synagogue was influenced by Budapest's Dohány Street Synagogue. It has been continuously used by a congregation for longer than any other in New York state, except Congregation Berith Sholom in Troy, and is among the oldest existing synagogue buildings in the United States.
Temple Beth Israel was a Jewish synagogue located at 840 Highland Road in Sharon, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Originally called House of Israel Congregation, it was founded in 1888 as an Orthodox congregation by Eastern European Jews. The congregation merged with Congregation Rodef Sholom of Youngstown, Ohio in July, 2013; and the former synagogue building was sold to a Christian church in 2014.
Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 615 Court Street, Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Founded in 1849 by German Jews, its 1856 synagogue building was the smallest in the United States. The congregation was originally Orthodox, but rapidly moved to "Classical Reform". In the 1930s and 1940s an influx of more traditional Eastern European Jews prompted a change from Classical Reform to Traditional Reform.
Congregation Rodeph Sholom is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 7 West 83rd Street, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, in the United States. Founded in 1842 by immigrants from the German lands, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.
Congregation Chasam Sopher is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 10 Clinton Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in New York City, New York, in the United States.
Oheb Shalom Congregation is an egalitarian, Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue located in South Orange, Essex County, New Jersey, in the United States. The synagogue is affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Congregation Oheb Sholom is a former Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue that was located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in the United States. The former synagogue building is one of fewer than a hundred nineteenth-century synagogues still standing in the United States, and the second oldest synagogue building in the state.
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, Westmount is a Reform synagogue in Westmount, Quebec. The syngagoue is the oldest Liberal or Reform synagogue in Canada, incorporated on March 30, 1883, and is the only Reform congregation in Quebec.
The Temple Society of Concord, commonly referred to as Temple Concord, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 910 Madison Street, in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York, in the United States.
Synagogues may be considered "oldest" based on different criteria, and can be oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, or oldest in the sense of oldest congregation. Some old synagogue buildings have been in continuous use as synagogues, while others have been converted to other purposes, and others, such as the Touro Synagogue, were shuttered for many decades. Some early established congregations have been in continuous existence, while other early congregations have ceased to exist.
The area of New York's Capital District, also known as the Albany metropolitan area, has seen prominent historical events, artistic creations, and unique contributions to the culture of the United States since the 17th century. The largest city in the area, Albany, consistently ranks high on lists of top cities/metro areas for culture, such as being 23rd in the book Cities Ranked & Rated. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy metro area ranked 12th among large metro areas, and Glens Falls ranked 12th among the small metro areas, in Sperling's Best Places, and Expansion Management gave the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area five Stars, its highest ranking, for quality of life features.
Congregation Beth Emeth is a Reform Jewish synagogue located at 100 Academy Road, in Albany, Albany County, New York, in the United States. Established in 1885, it is the fourth oldest Reform congregation in the United States.
Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 284 Rodney Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in New York City, New York, in the United States. The congregation follows the Ashkenazi rite.
Temple Beth Sholom is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 4144 Chase Avenue, on Miami Beach, Florida, in the United States.
Congregation Shaare Emeth is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 11645 Ladue Road, in Creve Coeur, St. Louis County, Missouri, in the United States.
