The Sejny synagogue is a former synagogue in Sejny, Poland, also called the White Synagogue in Sejny.
The large, Neo-baroque style building on Pilsudskiego Street was erected in the 1860s, replacing an older building. It was used by the Nazis as a fire station, the interior was gutted and all furnishings were destroyed. It was restored - with a plain, modern interior - in 1987 and now serves as a cultural center, theater and museum. [1]
Called the Borderland Foundation (Fundacja Pogranicze), the foundation and its cultural center are dedicated to the cultures of the region: Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian, Jewish, Ukrainian and Russian.[ citation needed ] A Klezmer band is based at the cultural center.[ citation needed ]
The nineteenth century yeshiva building also survives, and is also used by the Borderland Foundation.[ citation needed ]
Sejny is a town in north-eastern Poland and the capital of Sejny County, in Podlaskie Voivodeship, close to the northern border with Lithuania and Belarus. It is located in the eastern part of the Suwałki Lake Area, on the Marycha river, being a tributary of the Czarna Hańcza. As of 1999 it had almost 6,500 permanent inhabitants, with a strong seasonal increase during the tourist season.
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 Divine Presence (Shekhinah) can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an ark, called aron ha-kodesh by Ashkenazim and hekhal by Sephardim, where the Torah scrolls are kept.
The Ohel Leah Synagogue and its next-door neighbors, the Jewish Recreation Club and the Jewish Community Center, have formed the center of Jewish social and religious life in Hong Kong for over a century. Originally the community was mostly Baghdadi and the synagogue was under the superintendence of the Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Congregation of London: it is now fully independent and has members from across the Jewish diaspora.
Suwałki Region is a small region around the city of Suwałki in northeastern Poland near the border with Lithuania. It encompasses the powiats of Augustów, Suwałki, and Sejny, and roughly corresponds to the southern part of the former Suwałki Governorate. The region was disputed between Poland and Lithuania after their re-emergence as independent states following World War I. This dispute along with the Vilnius question was the cause of the Polish-Lithuanian War and the Sejny Uprising. The area has been subsequently part of Poland until today, with the exception of the German and Soviet occupation during World War II. The Suwałki Region remains as the center of the Lithuanian minority in Poland.
The Oświęcim Synagogue, also called the Auschwitz Synagogue, is the only active synagogue in the town of Oświęcim, Poland. The formal, as well as pre-war, name of the synagogue is Chevre Loymdei Mishnayos. It is now part of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, which includes a Jewish Museum, a cafe in the house of Shimson Kleuger and an education center.
Kamyanyets is a town in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kamyenyetski Rajon. The town is located in the northwestern corner of Brest Region on the Lyasnaya river, about 40 km north from Brest. In 2002, the population was about 9,000 people. The Leśna Prawa river flows through the town.
Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim, commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire. It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders. It is considered the first modern yeshiva, and served as a model for later Misnagedic educational institutions.
Zamość Synagogue is a UNESCO-protected Renaissance synagogue built between 1610 and 1618 in Zamość, southeastern Poland. Erected during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it functioned as a place of worship for Polish Jews until World War II, when the Nazis turned the interior into a carpenters' workshop. The structure was spared from destruction and in 1992 it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Old City of Zamość.
Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva was a Jewish educational institution (yeshiva) that operated in the city of Lublin, Poland from 1930 to 1939. At the time, it was one of the largest in the world.
Szydłów Synagogue was an Orthodox Judaism synagogue in Szydłów, Poland. It was built in 1534–1564 as a fortress synagogue with heavy buttresses on all sides. The synagogue was devastated by Nazis during World War II. During the war it served as a weapons and food magazine. After the war, it briefly served as a village cinema, but was eventually abandoned.
The Jewish courtyard in Speyer, is an historic and archeological site located in the inner city of Speyer, Germany. Built in stages between 1104 and the 14th century, the courtyard contains some of the oldest and best-preserved Jewish community buildings. Along with the other ShUM-cities of Worms and Mainz, Speyer was the hometown of one of the most important Jewish communities in Middle Ages in northern Europe. Because of its historical importance and its testimony to the European Jewish cultural tradition, the Jewish courtyard was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2021.
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 Włodawa Synagogue in Włodawa, Poland is an architectural complex consisting of two historic synagogues and a Jewish administrative building, now preserved as a museum. The complex includes the Włodawa Great Synagogue of 1764–74, the late 18th century Small Synagogue, and the 1928 community building. It is "one of the best-preserved" synagogues in Poland.
The Jewish Center is one of America's premier Orthodox synagogues and Modern Orthodox congregations, in New York City.
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.
The Mala Synagogue is one of the oldest extant synagogues in India and was built by the historic Malabar Jews of Kerala. It is located at Mala, a small town in Thrissur district of Kerala state in south India.
The Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, is a religious association formed by Jews living in Poland who adhere to Judaism. It was originally created in 1949 as the Religious Association of Judaism, and renamed in 1992. The Association's seat is located in Warsaw, with seven administrative branches throughout the country. ZGWŻ consists of approximately 2,000 members (1998) congregating in nine municipalities. The Union operates seven active synagogues and 15 prayer houses. Also, ZGWŻ publishes its own periodicals, as well as the popular Jewish Calendar. Since 2003, the president of the Union is Piotr Kadlčik.
Krzysztof Czyżewski is a Polish author, one of the initiators of the Borderland Foundation in Sejny, Poland.
The Great Synagogue of Brody, also known as the Old Fortress Synagogue, was the main synagogue of the Jewish community in Brody. Constructed in the mid-18th century, the building was significantly damaged by the Nazis in 1943, and has since fallen into disrepair.