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, bar and bat mitzvahs, 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 history of the Jews in the current-day Spanish territory stretches back to Biblical times according to Jewish tradition, but the settlement of organised Jewish communities in the Iberian Peninsula possibly traces back to the times after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The earliest archaeological evidence of Hebrew presence in Iberia consists of a 2nd-century gravestone found in Mérida. From the late 6th century onward, following the Visigothic monarchs' conversion from Arianism to the Nicene Creed, conditions for Jews in Iberia considerably worsened.
Abulafia or Abolafia is a Sephardi Jewish surname whose etymological origin is in the Arabic language. The family name, like many other Hispanic-origin Sephardic Jewish surnames, originated in Spain among Spanish Jews (Sephardim), during the time when it was ruled as Al-Andalus by Arabic-speaking Moors.
The Synagogue of Santa María la Blanca, also known as the Ibn Shoshan Synagogue, is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 4 Calle Reyes Católicos, in the historic old city of Toledo, in the province of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. Erected in the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, it is disputably considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing. The building was converted to a Catholic church in the early 15th century.
The Synagogue of Tomar is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 73 Rua Dr. Joaquim Jaquinto, in the historic center of the city of Tomar, in the Santarém District of Portugal. The medieval synagogue was completed in the Gothic style by c. 1460, and was active as a synagogue until 1496, when Jews were expelled from Portugal.
The Synagogue of El Tránsito, also known as the Synagogue of Samuel ha-Levi or Halevi, is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at on Calle Samuel Levi, in the historic old city of Toledo, in the province of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.
Calatayud in Spain had a large Jewish community as early as the reign of Abd al-Rahman III. In 1882, while workmen were digging the foundation of a house, they discovered a marble tombstone bearing a Hebrew inscription in memory of a certain Samuel b. Solomon, who died Marheshwan 11, 4680. By the kings of Aragon, the Jews of Calatayud were granted certain privileges, among which was one with regard to the oath; and these privileges were from time to time renewed.
In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian or Muslim authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is "Di yiddishe gas", or "The Jewish quarter." While in Ladino, they are known as maalé yahudí, meaning "The Jewish quarter".
The Ohr ha-Chaim Synagogue, is a Kabbalistic Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Ohr ha-Chaim Street, in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. The synagogue was named in honour of Chaim ibn Attar.
The Kahal Shalom Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in La Juderia, the Jewish quarter of the city of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes, in the South Aegean region of Greece. Completed in 1577, the synagogue building is the oldest synagogue in Greece. The congregation worships in the Eastern Sephardi rite, predominately in summer months only.
Santa Cruz, is the primary tourist neighborhood of Seville, Spain, and the former Jewish quarter of the medieval city. Santa Cruz is bordered by the Jardines de Murillo, the Real Alcázar, Calle Mateos Gago, and Calle Santa María La Blanca/San José. The neighbourhood is the location of many of Seville's oldest churches and is home to the Cathedral of Seville, including the converted minaret of the old Moorish mosque Giralda.
La Juderia,, was the former Jewish quarter of the city of Rhodes, Greece. The quarter was inhabited by Sephardic, Ladino-speaking Jews.
The Córdoba Synagogue is a historic former Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 20 Calle de los Judíos in the Jewish Quarter of Córdoba, Andalusia. Completed in 1315, with its Mudéjar design attributed to Isaac Makheb, the synagogue's small size points to it possibly being the private synagogue of a wealthy resident. It is also possible that Córdoba's complex of buildings was a yeshiva, kollel, or beth midrash. Another possibility is that it was initially a local trade guild’s workroom or a residence before converting to a synagogue.
Historic synagogues include synagogues that date back to ancient times and synagogues that represent the earliest Jewish presence in cities around the world. Some synagogues were destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site. Others were converted into churches and mosques or used for other purposes.
The history of the Jews in Tudela, Spain goes back well over one thousand years.
Yehuda ben Moshe ha-Kohen lived during the 13th century and became the personal physician of King Alfonso X of Castile.
Samuel ben Meir Ha-Levi Abulafia, was the treasurer of king Pedro I "the Cruel" of Castile and founder of the Synagogue of El Transito in Toledo, Spain.
The Sephardic Museum is a museum in Toledo, Spain, devoted to the Jewish cultural heritage in Spain, as well as of the Sephardim, the descendants of the Jews who lived on the Iberian peninsula until 1492. It occupies the former convent of the Knights of Calatrava, annexed to the Synagogue of El Tránsito. It is one of the National Museums of Spain and it is attached to the Ministry of Culture.
Old Town of Cáceres is a historic walled city in Cáceres, Spain.
The Judería de Córdoba is the area of the Spanish city of Córdoba in which the Jews lived between the 10th and 15th centuries. It is located in the Historic centre of Córdoba, northeast of the Mezquita Catedral, in the area of the following streets: Deanes, Manríquez, Tomás Conde, Judíos, Almanzor and Romero.
