A synagogue, sometimes referred to by the Yiddish term shul and referred to by Reform communities as a temple, is a Jewish house of worship. Synagogues have a place for prayer, where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies, have rooms for study, social hall(s), administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious school and Hebrew school, sometimes Jewish preschools, and often have many places to sit and congregate; display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork throughout; and sometimes have items of some Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself on display.
Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.
The former communities of Jewish migrants and their descendants from Baghdad and elsewhere in the Middle East are traditionally called Baghdadi Jews or Iraqi Jews. They settled primarily in the ports and along the trade routes around the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea.
Kolkata, India, is largely inhabited by the ethnic community of the native Bengalis respectively. According to a report by the Indian Statistical Institute owned by the Government of India, the Kolkata city had a population of 4.5 million as of 2011 out of which the population of native Bengalis in Kolkata is almost 62% which comprised the majority of the city's population, whereas ethnic groups like Marwaris, Biharis and Urdu-speaking Muslims together forming 36% of the population which comes under the category of large minorities. Other Various micro-minority communities of Kolkata include as far as concerned follows -: Pathans, Marathis, Odias, Gujaratis, Sindhis, Kashmiris, Punjabis, Nepalis, Telugus, Tamils, Anglo-Indians, Iraqis, Jews, Armenians, Tibetans, Greeks, Parsis, Chinese, and Iraqis etc.
There are many synagogues in India, although many no longer function as such and today vary in their levels of preservation. These buildings dating from the mid-sixteenth through the mid-20th century once served the country's three distinct Jewish groups—the ancient Cochin Jews, and Bene Israel communities as well as the more recent Baghdadi Jews.
The Magain Shalome Synagogue was a synagogue in Karachi, Pakistan. It was built by Solomon David Umerdekar in 1893, when the region was still under British rule as India. The synagogue was destroyed in 1988 by the orders of then President of Pakistan, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, following which a shopping plaza was built in its place.
The Synagogue in Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva is a synagogue located in Lublin, Poland, in the building of Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva, on Lubartowska 85 Street.
The Spanish Synagogue is the newest synagogue in the area of the so-called Jewish Town; it was in fact built at the site of the presumably oldest synagogue, Old School. The synagogue is built in Moorish Revival Style. Only a little park with a modern statue of Franz Kafka lies between it and the Church of the Holy Spirit. Today, the Spanish Synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague.
Beth Ahabah is a Reform synagogue in Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 1789 by Spanish and Portuguese Jews as Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States.
Congregation Beth Yeshurun is a Conservative synagogue in Houston, Texas.
The history of the Jews in Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, in India, began in the late eighteenth century when adventurous Baghdadi Jewish merchants originally from Aleppo and Baghdad chose to establish themselves permanently in the emerging capital of the British Raj. The community they founded became the hub of the Judeo-Arabic-speaking Baghdadi Jewish trading diaspora in Asia.
Edinburgh Synagogue was opened in 1932 and is located on Salisbury Road in the Newington area of Edinburgh. It is the home of the Edinburgh Hebrew Congregation (EHC) which was founded in 1816. Prior to the opening of the 1932 building, the congregation worshipped at a converted chapel on Graham Street which had served as its synagogue since 1898.
Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome was the first synagogue built in Richmond, Virginia; it was also the first Sephardic Kahal in Virginia. The creation of this community was a natural outgrowth of early immigration to North America and it was one of the first six synagogues built in British Colonies which would become known as United States of America. Kahal Kadosh Beth Shalome received its charter to operate 3 years after the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom in 1786.
David Joseph Ezra was a leading merchant, property developer and communal leader of the Baghdadi Jewish community in Kolkata, India. He was one of the key developers behind nineteenth century Kolkata, and was responsible for many of its most celebrated Victorian buildings and synagogues.
Elias David Joseph Ezra was a property owner in Calcutta, India. He was a member of the Baghdadi Jewish community of that city.
Ezekiel Judah, or Yehezkel Yehuda or Yahuda or Ezekiel Judah Jacob Sliman was a Jewish communal leader, indigo, muslin and silk trader, philanthropist and talmudist of Baghdad, who migrated to India, leading the Baghdadi Jewish community of Kolkata in his lifetime and establishing the city's first synagogues.
Nahoum & Sons Pvt. Limited is an Indian bakery shop situated in West Bengal. It is one of the oldest surviving shops in Kolkata owned by the Jewish family. The products of Nahoum & Sons at Christmas are a part of the culture of Kolkata. Various famous personalities of India have eaten this foods of this bakery.
Shalom Aaron Obadiah Cohen was a Jewish jeweler and community leader known for founding the Jewish community in Kolkata in 1798 and engaging in the jewelry trade.
Temple Beth Zion-Beth Israel is a Conservative synagogue that is located in Center City, Philadelphia.
