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.
Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of Hasidic Jews in Europe.
Whitechapel is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in East London and part of the East End. It is the location of Tower Hamlets Town Hall and therefore the borough town centre. Whitechapel is located 3.4 miles (5.5 km) east of Charing Cross.
The United Synagogue (US) is a union of British Orthodox Jewish synagogues, representing the central Orthodox movement in Judaism. With 62 congregations, comprising 40,000 members, it is the largest synagogue body in Europe. The spiritual leader of the union is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth – a title that bears some formal recognition by the Crown, even though his rabbinical authority is recognised by only slightly more than half of British Jews.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation is affiliated to London's historic Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community and worships in the Sephardic rite.
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.
Sukkat Shalom Synagogue or Belgrade Synagogue is the only fully active Jewish place of worship in Serbian capital Belgrade, although there are other synagogue buildings in the city. It is located in central Belgrade, near Obilićev Venac Square and central high street Knez Mihailova.
The Giffnock Newton Mearns Synagogue, commonly known as Giffnock Shul, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 222 Fenwick Road in Giffnock, East Renfrewshire, on the south side of Glasgow, Scotland, in the United Kingdom. The synagogue is the largest in Scotland and also features a religious day school for both children and teenagers.
The Machzike Hadath, also known as the Spitalfields Great Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Highfield Road, Golders Green, in the Borough of Barnet, in the East End of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was formed predominately by Lithuanian Jews in 1891 and was initially located on Brick Lane. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
The History of the Jews in Amsterdam focuses on the historical center of the Dutch Jewish community, comprising both Portuguese Jews originally from both Spain and Portugal and Ashkenazi Jews, originally from central Europe. The two separate groups have had a continuing presence since the seventeenth century. Amsterdam has been called a Jerusalem of the West and the "Dutch Jerusalem". The Holocaust in the Netherlands devastated the Jewish community, with the Nazis murdering some 75% of the approximately 80,000 Jews at time present in Amsterdam, but the community has managed to rebuild a vibrant and living Jewish life for its approximately 15,000 present members.
Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue,, is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 41 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, in the Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London, England, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1899, the congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite. The synagogue building was sold in 2015 and it has since operated as a mosque.
The Gardens Shul, formally, the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation (CTHC) is a Modern Orthodox synagogue located in the Company Gardens, in the Gardens neighborhood of Cape Town. It has the oldest Jewish congregation in South Africa, dating to 1841. The congregation, known as "The Mother Synagogue of South Africa," possesses two historic structures, the 1863 synagogue known as the Old Shul and the 1905 synagogue. The South African Jewish Museum, located in its grounds, also occupies the Old Shul and is responsible for its upkeep. The 1905 building is an example of Edwardian architecture and has been called "one of the most magnificent synagogues in the world."
Synagogues may be considered "oldest" based on different criteria, and can be oldest in the sense of oldest surviving building, or oldest in the sense of oldest congregation. Some old synagogue buildings have been in continuous use as synagogues, while others have been converted to other purposes, and others, such as the Touro Synagogue, were shuttered for many decades. Some early established congregations have been in continuous existence, while other early congregations have ceased to exist.
Sandy's Row Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Sandys Row, on the corner of Middlesex Street in Bishopsgate, in the East End, Borough of Tower Hamlets, London, England, in the United Kingdom.
City Shul is a Reform synagogue in downtown Toronto, founded in October 2012 and led by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein. Until September 2017, the congregation met at the Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, near the St George campus of the University of Toronto. From 2017 to 2022, it was located in the same building as Bloor Street United Church. Since 2022, the congregation has met at the St George by the Grange.
The Great Park Synagogue is an Orthodox synagogue situated in Houghton, Johannesburg. The present building was consecrated in 2000, after the congregation vacated their long-time home, the Great Synagogue on Wolmarans Street, Hillbrow in 1994, after eighty years. The Wolmarans Street synagogue came to be known as the city's mother synagogue and "the crown jewel of Orthodox Judaism in South Africa." All large-scale Jewish events in Johannesburg were held in the building, and throughout its existence it was the seat of the country's chief rabbi. Northward migration by congregation members led to the synagogue closing its doors in 1994. The relocated synagogue was built on the model of the Great Synagogue, whose own architecture in turn was inspired by the Hagia Sophia. Great Park Synagogue was also the original name of the synagogue on Wolmarans Street before it became the Great Synagogue.
The Lauderdale Road Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, more commonly called the Lauderdale Road Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Maida Vale on Lauderdale Road in the City of Westminster, West London, England, in the United Kingdom.
The Marais Road Shul, formally, the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation (G&SPHC) is a notable Modern Orthodox synagogue in Sea Point, a seaside suburb of Cape Town. The congregation was first established in 1926, and the synagogue was completed in 1934. It had initially intended to become a branch of the Gardens Shul in the City Bowl, but opted for independence, and became the larger of the two. It is the largest Jewish congregation in South Africa, and by 1994, it had become the largest in the South Hemisphere. The Sephardi Hebrew Congregation, established in 1960, also operates a shul from the G&SPHC's Weizmann Hall on Regent Road in Sea Point.
