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 New Synagogue on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin is a mid-19th century synagogue built as the main place of worship for the city's Jewish community, succeeding the Old Synagogue which the community outgrew. Because of its Moorish style and resemblance to the Alhambra, the New Synagogue is an important architectural monument in Germany.
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 history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewish community prospered and enjoyed political equality, and during other periods it suffered pogroms, deportations to concentration camps and mass murder, and antisemitism. The Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in Austria and only 8,140 Jews remained in Austria according to the 2001 census. Today, Austria has a Jewish population of 10,300 which extends to 33,000 if Law of Return is accounted for, meaning having at least one Jewish grandparent.
The Leopoldstädter Tempel, also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt, was a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Tempelgasse 5, in Leopoldstadt, in the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria. Completed in 1858, the synagogue was destroyed as a result of Kristallnacht. A monument marks the location of the former synagogue.
The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England, in the United Kingdom.
The Stadttempel, also called the Seitenstettengasse Temple, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located at Seitenstettengasse 4, in the Innere Stadt 1st district of Vienna, Austria. Completed in 1826, it is the main synagogue in Vienna. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
The Old Synagogue is a former Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Steeler Straße 29, in Essen, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The former synagogue was repurposed in 1960 as a Jewish museum.
The Rykestrasse Synagogue is a Conservative Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood in the Pankow borough of Berlin, Germany.
The Synagogue in Glockengasse was a Jewish synagogue, that was located in Cologne, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Designed by Ernst Friedrich Zwirner in the Moorish Revival style, the synagogue was completed in 1861 and destroyed by Nazis on November 9, 1938, during Kristallnacht.
Beth David Synagogue, formally Congregation Beth David, is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 3344 East Main Street in the hamlet of Amenia, New York, in the United States. It is a small brick European-style building erected in the late 1920s.
The South Fallsburg Hebrew Association Synagogue is a historic Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Lake Street in the hamlet of South Fallsburg, New York, in the United States.
Agudas Achim Synagogue, formally known as Congregation Agudas Achim, is a Reform Jewish synagogue located on Rock Avenue in Livingston Manor, Sullivan County, New York, in the United States. The stucco-sided wooden building was erected in the 1920s to serve the growing Jewish community in that area of the Catskills. It served the large summer population of Jews from the New York City area who vacationed at family resorts in the region.
The Beth Yaakov Synagogue, also the Great Synagogue or the Grande Synagogue, is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 11 Place de la Synagogue, Geneva, in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. Located in the heart of Geneva, the synagogue was completed in 1859 for the Ashkenazi Jewish community, which comprised about 200 people at the time of the synagogue's construction.
Congregation Shomrei Emunah is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 5202 14th Avenue, Borough Park, Brooklyn, in New York City, New York, United States.
The Wittlich Synagogue is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Himmeroder Straße 44, in Wittlich, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Designed by Johannes Vieknen in the Art Nouveau style and completed in 1910, the synagogue was the main place of worship for the city's Ashkenazi Jewish community until 1938.
The Memorial to the Jews of Zelem commemorates the Jewish community in the Austrian market town of Deutschkreutz in Burgenland, which was expelled in 1938. It was erected and unveiled in 2012 and is located in front of the former residence of the composer Karl Goldmark. The memorial was initiated by Michael Feyer.
The Ljubljana Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in located in a residential building in the center of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Established by the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Graz and Ljubljana in 2021, the synagogue is the only active Jewish place of worship in Slovenia. Prior to its establishment, the congregation was dependent on makeshift arrangements.
Schlomo Elieser Hofmeister is a European rabbi, mohel and author. In 2008, Schlomo Hofmeister, who was then living with his family in London and Jerusalem, was appointed Community Rabbi of Vienna by the Board of the Jewish Community of Vienna and has lived in the Austrian capital ever since - where his ancestors had already resided for several generations after their expulsion from Spain. He also holds the office of Landesrabbiner of Lower Austria, Burgenland, Carinthia and Styria, as well as Chief Rabbi of the Styrian provincial capital Graz and Baden bei Wien. He is also Chief Rabbi of the Austrian Armed Forces.
The Ark Synagogue is a Liberal Judaism Synagogue situated in Northwood, in a northwest London suburb, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in the United Kingdom. Since its foundation in 1964 it has become the largest Liberal Jewish Synagogue outside of central London with over 1100 adult and 300 younger members. Previously known as Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS), in December 2020 they adopted the name "The Ark Synagogue".
