The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law, by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religious law treats women differently in various circumstances. According to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center, women are slightly more likely to identify with Judaism. They account for 52% of the worldwide Jewish population.
The Torah is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. It is known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses by Christians. It is also known as the Written Torah in Jewish tradition. If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll. If in bound book form, it is called Chumash, and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries.
The Touro Synagogue or Congregation Jeshuat Israel is a synagogue built in 1763 in Newport, Rhode Island. It is the oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the only surviving synagogue building in the U.S. dating to the colonial era, and the oldest surviving Jewish synagogue building in North America. In 1946, it was declared a National Historic Site.
Moses Schreiber (1762–1839), known to his own community and Jewish posterity in the Hebrew translation as Moshe Sofer, also known by his main work Chatam Sofer, Chasam Sofer, or Hatam Sofer, was one of the leading Orthodox rabbis of European Jewry in the first half of the nineteenth century.
A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot and other religious writings.
A wimpel is a long, linen sash used as a binding for the Sefer Torah by Jews of Germanic (Yekke) origin. It is made from the cloth used to swaddle a baby boy at his bris milah, uniting the communal world of the synagogue with the individual's own life cycle.
The Olomouc Synagogue, located in Olomouc, Czech Republic, was built in 1897 and was destroyed during a Nazi attack in March 1939.
Rykestrasse Synagogue, Germany's largest synagogue, is located in the Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood in the Pankow borough of Berlin. Johann Hoeniger built the synagogue in 1903/1904. It was inaugurated on 4 September 1904, in time for the holidays of and around Rosh Hashanah. The synagogue stands off the street alignment and is reached by a thoroughfare in the pertaining front building.
Yochanan Sofer was the rebbe of the Erlau dynasty. He was born in Eger, Hungary, where his father and grandfather were also rebbes. After surviving the Holocaust, he founded a yeshiva, first in Hungary and then a few years later in Jerusalem.
Erlau, is a Haredi dynasty of Hungarian origin, which follows the teachings of the Chasam Sofer and is often considered Hasidic.
Kiryat Unsdorf, also known as Sorotzkin, after its main street, is a Haredi Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem. It is located along the northern edge of the mountain plateau on which central Jerusalem lies. Constructed between 1970 and 1985, Unsdorf is home to several landmark educational centers. A large percentage of residents are American-born.
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.
Shmuel Ehrenfeld, known as the Mattersdorfer Rav, was a pre-eminent Orthodox Jewish rabbi in pre-war Austria and a respected Torah leader and community builder in post-war America. He established Yeshivas Ch'san Sofer in New York City and taught thousands of students who went on to become leaders of American Torah Jewry. He also founded the neighborhood of Kiryat Mattersdorf in Jerusalem, where his son and grandson became prominent Torah educators. He was the great-great-grandson of the Chasam Sofer through the Chasam Sofer's daughter Hindel, who married Rabbi Dovid Tzvi Ehrenfeld.
Shimon Sofer (1820–1883) was a prominent Austrian Orthodox Jewish rabbi in the 19th century. He was Chief Rabbi of Kraków, Poland after serving as Chief Rabbi of Mattersdorf. He was the second son of Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg.
Moshe Sofer (II) (1885–1944) (German; Moses Schreiber) was a prominent Orthodox Jewish (Charedi) Rabbi in the early 20th century. He was Dayan of Erlau, Hungary and author of a halachic responsa sefer named Yad Sofer.
The Rabbi Dr. I. Goldstein Synagogue is a synagogue on the Edmond J. Safra Givat Ram campus of the Hebrew University in Israel named in honor of Rabbi Israel Goldstein, an American-born Israeli rabbi, author, and Zionist leader. Designed by two Israeli architects—the German-born Heinrich Heinz Rau and the Brazilian-born David Resnick—it has been listed as one of the "ten most beautiful synagogues in Israel," and called "without a doubt, a landmark in local architecture."
The Görlitz Synagogue in Görlitz, Germany was built between 1909 and 1911 in the Art Nouveau style and was the main place of worship for the city's Jewish community. Despite an arson attack, the synagogue was one of the few synagogues in the area to survive Kristallnacht, sustaining only minor damage. The damage could have been greater, but was lessened because the firefighters ignored the orders to let the synagogue burn. With the city's Jewish population depleted, the unused synagogue became a ruin in the following decades. In 1991, a restoration project began which was completed in December 2020. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opening ceremony was postponed until 2021. The synagogue duly opened on July 12, 2021. On September 12, 2022, a new Magen David was placed on top of the synagogue.
The Synagogue of Sulzbach is a monument in Sulzbach-Rosenberg and was the synagogue of the Jewish Community of Sulzbach until 1930.
The Ljubljana Synagogue is a house of prayer of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Graz and Ljubljana, located in a residential building in the center of the Slovenian capital. It was founded, planned and realized by the president of the Jewish community in Graz Elie Rosen and is managed by the Jewish community of Graz for the Slovenian community respectively all Slovenian Jews. Before that it wasn't possible for the Jewish community of Slovenia to build its own permanent synagogue in Ljubljana in lack of financial means. Therefore, they were dependent on makeshift arrangements.
The mitzvah to write a Torah scroll is the last mitzvah of the 613 Jewish commandments. It mandates Jews to write a Torah scroll for themselves. The source of the mitzvah is from what is said in Parashat Vayelech in Book of Deuteronomy:
Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them"
