A synagogue, sometimes referred to as a shul or a temple, is a house of worship in Judaism. Synagogues have 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.
A bar mitzvah (masc.) or bat mitzvah (fem.) is a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they are said to "become" b'nai mitzvah, at which point they begin to be held accountable for their own actions. Traditionally, the father of a bar or bat mitzvah offers thanks to God that he is no longer punished for his child's sins.
Shlomo Riskin is an Orthodox rabbi, and the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue on the Upper West Side of New York City, which he led for 20 years; founding chief rabbi of the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the Israeli-occupied West Bank; former dean of Manhattan Day School in New York City; and founder and Chancellor of the Ohr Torah Stone Institutions, a network of high schools, colleges, and graduate Programs in the United States and Israel.
Zeved habat or Simchat Bat is the Jewish naming ceremony for newborn girls. The details of the celebration varies somewhat by Jewish community and will typically feature the recitation of specific biblical verses and a prayer to announce the name of the newborn child.
Jewish feminism is a movement that seeks to make the religious, legal, and social status of Jewish women equal to that of Jewish men in Judaism. Feminist movements, with varying approaches and successes, have opened up within all major branches of the Jewish religion.
The First Roumanian-American Congregation, also known as Congregation Shaarey Shomayim, or the Roumanishe Shul, was an Orthodox Jewish congregation that, for over 100 years, occupied a historic building at 89–93 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York.
Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, more commonly known as the Kane Street Synagogue, is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 236 Kane Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, in the United States. It is currently the oldest continuously operating synagogue in Brooklyn.
Beth Hamedrash Hagodol is an Orthodox Jewish congregation that for over 120 years was located in a historic building at 60–64 Norfolk Street between Grand and Broome Streets in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was the first Eastern European congregation founded in New York City and the oldest Russian Jewish Orthodox congregation in the United States.
TheGreat Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation located in a large heritage-listed synagogue at 187a Elizabeth Street in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
Breed Street Shul, also known as Congregation Talmud Torah of Los Angeles or Breed Street Synagogue, is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, California, in the United States. It was the largest Orthodox synagogue west of Chicago from 1915 to 1951, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Congregation Sherith Israel,, is an Orthodox synagogue located at 3600 West End Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee, in the United States. The congregation is led by Rabbi Saul Strosberg.
The East Midwood Jewish Center is a Conservative synagogue located at 1625 Ocean Avenue, Midwood, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, in the United States.
Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid is an egalitarian Conservative synagogue located at 6880 North Green Bay Road in Glendale, a suburb north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States.
Adas Israel is a Conservative synagogue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is the largest Conservative synagogue in the city.
Oseh Shalom is a Reconstructionist synagogue in Laurel, Maryland, in the United States. It is the only synagogue in Laurel, and one of five Reconstructionist synagogues in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. Members of the community hail from many nearby areas, including Howard, Montgomery, Prince George's, and Anne Arundel counties. Oseh Shalom was founded in 1966, and affiliated with the Reconstructionist movement in 1979.
Congregation Shaare Zion is an Orthodox Jewish Sephardic synagogue located at 2030 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, in the United States.
A bat-kohen or bat kohen is the daughter of a kohen, who holds a special status in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts. She is entitled to a number of rights and is encouraged to abide by specified requirements, for example, entitlement to consume some of the priestly gifts, and an increased value for her ketubah.
Julie Stern Joseph was the first woman hired as a congregational intern at an Orthodox synagogue. She was hired in 1998 by the Lincoln Square Synagogue of the Upper West Side in New York. As a congregation intern, Stern Joseph met with girls who were preparing for their bat mitzvah ceremonies, counseled women on matters such as how to prepare for the mikvah, taught an adult education class, and visited sick congregants in the hospital. She also preached once a month; her first "sermonette", as the synagogue called it, was about why Moses was the perfect model of Jewish leadership.
Steven Blane is an American rabbi, cantor and recording singer-songwriter.
Shlomo Einhorn is an Orthodox rabbi and Dean of School at Yeshivat Yavneh in Los Angeles. He is also a lecturer, educator, and author.
