The Romaniote Jews or Romaniotes are an ethnic Jewish community native to the Eastern Mediterranean. They are one of the oldest Jewish communities in existence and the oldest Jewish community in Europe. Their distinct language was Judaeo-Greek or Yevanic, a Greek dialect that contained Hebrew along with some Aramaic and Turkish words, but today's Romaniotes speak modern Greek or the languages of their new home countries. They derived their name from the internal name, Rhomania (Ῥωμανία), of the Byzantine Empire. Large communities were located in Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Arta, Preveza, Volos, Chalcis, Thebes, Corinth, Patras, and on the islands of Corfu, Zakynthos, Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, and Cyprus, among others. The Romaniotes are historically distinct and still remain distinct from the Sephardim, some of whom settled in Ottoman Greece after the 1492 expulsion of the Jews from Spain.
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.
A Torah scroll, in Hebrew Sefer Torah, is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning: of the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses. It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Torah reading during Jewish prayers. At other times, it is stored in the holiest spot within a synagogue, the Torah ark, which is usually an ornate curtained-off cabinet or section of the synagogue built along the wall that most closely faces Jerusalem, the direction Jews face when praying.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim, is the oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom in continuous use. It is located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London.
Heřmanův Městec is a town in Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of around 4,800 inhabitants. It is located at the northern foothills of the Iron Mountains at an altitude of 275 meters above sea level.
The history of the Jews in Indonesia began with the arrival of early European explorers and settlers, and the first Jews arrived in the 17th century. Most of Indonesian Jews arrived from Southern Europe, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, the Middle East, North Africa, India, China, and Latin America. Jews in Indonesia presently form a very small Jewish community of about 100–550, of mostly Sephardi Jews. Judaism is not recognized as one of the country's six official religions, and members of the local Jewish community have to register as Christian or another recognized religion on their official identity cards.
Congregation Mikveh Israel, "Holy Community of the Hope of Israel", is a synagogue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that traces its history to 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portuguese synagogue that follows the rite of the Amsterdam esnoga. It is the oldest synagogue in Philadelphia, and among the oldest in the United States.
The Larnaca Synagogue, located in the seaside resort town of Larnaca, Cyprus was inaugurated on 12 September 2005. It is the island's first and only synagogue. Until its opening, Cyprus was the only nation in the European Union without a synagogue.
This article deals in more detail with some of the notable synagogues of Jerusalem that do not have their own page as yet.
The White Stork Synagogue is a nineteenth-century synagogue in Wrocław, Poland. Rededicated in 2010 after a decade-long renovation, it is the religious and cultural centre of the local Jewish community, under the auspices of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland. It is the only synagogue in Wrocław to have survived the Holocaust.
Exeter Synagogue is in Synagogue Place, Mary Arches Street within the old city of Exeter, Devon, and is the third oldest synagogue in the United Kingdom. Originally built as a Sephardi synagogue for Dutch Jews trading in Exeter, it is now a synagogue of the Ashkenazi rite. Exeter Hebrew Congregation itself existed shortly prior to its construction.
Bet Mishpachah is a Jewish egalitarian worshiping community in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C. It is one of a number of national and international Jewish communities of "LGBT affirming congregations" that specifically welcome and "embrace" the LGBT community, along with all others who "wish to participate in an inclusive, egalitarian, and mutually supportive community." Membership is open to all singles, couples, and families, regardless of religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Jack Cohen was an American Reconstructionist rabbi, educator, philosopher and author. Cohen held a PhD from Columbia University in the philosophy of education. In 1943 he was ordained as a rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS) and, soon after, started to teach courses there. Cohen was one of the distinguished students of Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan, the founder of the Reconstructionist Movement, and was one of the founders of Kehillat Mevakshei Derech, a synagogue in Israel. Rabbi Dr. Jack Cohen was Honorary Chairman at Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood and director of the Hillel Foundation at the Hebrew University for 23 years.
Hakafot ; Hakafah —meaning "[to] circle" or "going around" in Hebrew—are a Jewish minhag (tradition) in which people walk or dance around a specific object, generally in a religious setting.
Kehillat Kernow is a Jewish community with about 100 members in Cornwall, England, associated with the Movement for Reform Judaism. Founded in 1999, its name is a combination of the Hebrew word kehillat (community) and the Cornish word Kernow, meaning Cornwall.
The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum is a museum commemorating the Jewish refugees who lived in Shanghai during World War II after fleeing Europe to escape the Holocaust. It is located at the former Ohel Moshe or Moishe Synagogue, in the Tilanqiao Historic Area of Hongkou district, Shanghai, China. The museum features documents, photographs, films, and personal items documenting the lives of some of the more than 20,000 Jewish residents of the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, better known as the Shanghai Ghetto, during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai.
Beth Shalom Synagogue is a Conservative synagogue located at 11916 Jasper Avenue in the Oliver neighbourhood in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1932, it is the city's second oldest synagogue.
The Madras Synagogue is the only Synagogue in Tamil Nadu, it was built by Jacques (Jaime) de Paiva (Pavia) a Paradesi Jew of Madras. Madras Synagogue was also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, Esnoga is synagogue in Ladino, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardic Jews.
The city of Cumberland, Maryland is home to a small and declining but historically significant Jewish community. The city is home to a single synagogue, B'er Chayim Temple, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. Cumberland has had a Jewish presence since the early 1800s. The community was largest prior to the 1960s, but has declined in number over the decades. Historically, the Jewish community in Cumberland maintained several synagogues, a Jewish cemetery, and a Hebrew school. By 2019, Cumberland's Jewish community had its lowest population point since the early 1900s.
The Sulzbacher Torah is a Torah Scroll from the Synagogue of Sulzbach. It dates from 1792 or 1793 and survived both the Sulzbach town fire of 1822 and the November pogroms. After the fall of National Socialism, it was kept unrecognised in the Torah shrine of the Synagogue of Amberg for over seven decades. After its rediscovery, it was restored and completed on 27 January 2021, following the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of National Socialism ceremony of the German Bundestag in the Devotional Room of the Reichstag Building. Patrons were the representatives of the five permanent constitutional bodies of the Germany.
Falmouth, Cornwall, England, UK 