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Zaradel Synagogue is a synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt.
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Zaradel Synagogue is a synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt.
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A synagogue is a Jewish or rarely Samaritan house of worship. Synagogues have a place for prayer and may also have rooms for study, a social hall, and offices. Some have a separate room for Torah study, called the בית מדרש beth midrash, lit. "house of study".
Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and Admiral Nelson's defeat of the French Navy at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Napoleon took a scientific expedition with him to Egypt. Publication of the expedition's work, the Description de l'Égypte, began in 1809 and was published as a series through 1826. The size and monumentality of the façades discovered during his adventure cemented the hold of Egyptian aesthetics on the Parisian elite. However, works of art and architecture in the Egyptian style had been made or built occasionally on the European continent and the British Isles since the time of the Renaissance.
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.
Egyptian Jews constitute both one of the oldest and youngest Jewish communities in the world. The historic core of the Jewish community in Egypt consisted mainly of Arabic-speaking Rabbanites and Karaites. After their expulsion from Spain, more Sephardi and Karaite Jews began to emigrate to Egypt and their numbers increased significantly with the growth of trading prospects after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. As a result, Jews from all over the territories of the Ottoman Empire as well as Italy and Greece started to settle in the main cities of Egypt, where they thrived. The Ashkenazi community, mainly confined to Cairo's Darb al-Barabira quarter, began to arrive in the aftermath of the waves of pogroms that hit Europe in the latter part of the 19th century.
Special Shabbatot are Jewish Shabbat days on which special events are commemorated. Variations in the liturgy and special customs differentiate them from the regular Sabbaths and each one is referred to by a special name. Two such Sabbaths, Shabbat Mevarchim, which immediately precedes a new month, and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, which coincides with the new month, can occur on several occasions throughout the year. The other special Sabbaths occur on specific sabbaths before or coinciding with certain Jewish holidays during the year, according to a fixed pattern.
The Ben Ezra Synagogue, sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue or the Synagogue of the Levantines (al-Shamiyin), is situated in the Fustat part of Old Cairo, Egypt. According to local folklore, it is located on the site where baby Moses was found.
The Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue is located in Cairo, Egypt. The synagogue was also known as Temple Ismailia and the Adly Street Synagogue.
The Great Synagogue is the main synagogue of the Jewish community in Copenhagen, Denmark. The synagogue is defined by its unique architecture around the Ark. During the first half of the 19th century, synagogues continued to be built in the classical tradition, but there began to be a revival of Greek and Roman architecture. The Great Synagogue in Copenhagen is one of a few synagogues of its period to use Egyptian elements in the columns, ceiling and cornice over the ark.
The history of the Jews in Sudan goes back to when a small but vibrant community of Jews lived in Sudan from about 1885 to around 1970, with most of the community leaving for Israel or Europe after anti-Semitic attacks began to spread against both the Jews in Israel and those still living in Sudan.
The Great Synagogue is a large heritage-listed synagogue located at 187a Elizabeth Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Sited opposite Hyde Park, the synagogue extends to Castlereagh Street. It was designed by Thomas Rowe and built from 1874 to 1878, with stonework by Aaron Loveridge. The synagogue was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 10 September 2004. The building is also listed on the Register of the National Estate.
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue is a synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt built in the Neo-Gothic style. It is located in Nabi Daniel street. An earlier synagogue was built on the site in 1354, but was bombed and destroyed by the French during their invasion of Egypt in 1798. A new synagogue, the current building, began construction in 1850 with contributions from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. It is included on the World Monuments Fund's 2018 list of monuments at risk.
The Hobart Synagogue is a heritage-listed synagogue located in 59 Argyle Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The synagogue is the oldest synagogue building in Australia and is a rare example of the Egyptian Revival style of synagogue architecture. The Egyptian Revival building was constructed in 1845. The trapezoidal shape of the windows and the columns with lotus capitals are characteristic of the Egyptian Revival style. Currently the Hobart Synagogue has regular services by both Orthodox and Progressive groups.
The Launceston Synagogue is a heritage-listed building located in St. John's Street, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, that served as a synagogue from 1846 until 1871, and again during the c. 1930s until its closure in 1961 and reopened in 1984.
The ancient synagogue of Gaza was built in 508 AD during the Byzantine period and was discovered in 1965. It was located in the ancient port city of Gaza, then known as "Maiumas", currently the Rimal district of Gaza City.
The Maimonides Synagogue, also known as the Rav Moshe Synagogue, is a historic synagogue located in Cairo, Egypt. A synagogue has existed at the site since the 10th century and was subsequently named after the famous Jewish philosopher, rabbi and physician Maimonides, after his arrival there in around 1168. It is believed that Maimonides' original tomb is contained within the building. In March 2010, the Egyptian government completed the restoration of the current building which dates from the late 19th century.
The Shafrir synagogue shooting attack was an attack carried out by Palestinian terrorists on 11 April 1956. Three Palestinian militants who infiltrated to Israel from Egypt attacked a synagogue full of children and teenagers, in the farming community of Kfar Chabad (Shafrir). Six people, five children and a youth worker, were killed.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Cairo, Egypt.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Alexandria, Egypt.
The history of the Jews in Alexandria, Egypt, dates back to the founding of the city by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Jews in Alexandria played a crucial role in the political, economic, and religious life of Hellenistic and Roman Alexandria, with Jews comprising about 35% of the city's population during the Roman Era. Alexandrian Jewry were the founders of Hellenistic Judaism and the first to translate the Torah from Hebrew to Koine Greek, a document known as the Septuagint. Many important Jewish writers and figures came from or studied in Alexandria, such as Philo, Ben Sira, Tiberius Julius Alexander and Josephus. The position of Alexandria's Jewry began deteriorating during the Roman era, as deep antisemitic sentiment began developing amongst the city's Greek and Egyptian populations. This led to the subsequent Alexandrian pogrom in 38 CE and the Alexandria riot in 66 CE, which was in parallel with the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War. Alexandria's Jewry began to diminish, leading to a mass emigration of Alexandrian Jews to Rome, as well as other Mediterranean and North African cities. By the beginning of the Byzantine era, the Jewish population had again increased, but suffered from the persecutions of the Christian Church, and during the subsequent Muslim conquest of Egypt, the number of Jews in Alexandria increased greatly, with some estimates numbering around 400,000. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and the ensuing Six-Day War, almost all of Alexandria's Jewish population were expelled from the country and emigrated to Israel.