Editing Synagogue architecture

{{Short description|Style of architecture}}
[[File:Princes_Road_Synagogue_Nave.jpg|thumb|The late 19th century [[Princes Road Synagogue]], Liverpool, United Kingdom]]
[[File:Scola_spagnola_(Venice).jpg|thumb|The 16th century [[Spanish Synagogue (Venice)|Spanish Synagogue]] in [[Venice]], Italy, a "hidden" synagogue not giving any external sign of its function.]]
[[File:Belz World Center Outside.jpg|thumb|Oriental style—[[Belz Great Synagogue]] (2000), Jerusalem.]]

'''Synagogue architecture''' often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for [[synagogue]]s and 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]]'': the quorum of ten required for [[Jewish prayer]].

Synagogues have some requirements. They always contain a [[Torah ark]] where the [[Torah scroll]]s are kept (called an ''aron qodesh'' ({{langx|he|אָרוֹן קׄדֶש}}) by [[Ashkenazi Jews]] and a ''hekhal'' ({{lang|he|[[wikt:היכל|היכל]]}}) by [[Sephardic Jews]]). Also, since synagogues are buildings for congregational worship, they require a large central space (like [[church (building)|church]]es in [[Christianity]] and [[mosque]]s in [[Islam]]). They are generally designed with the ark at one end, typically opposite the main entrance on the east side of the building, and a [[Bema#Judaism|''bema'']] either in front of that or more centrally placed. Raised galleries for female worshipers have been common in historical buildings. 
[[File:Kai_Feng_synagogue.jpg|thumb|A model of the now-destroyed [[synagogue]] of Kaifeng or ''Qīngzhēn-sì'' ({{cjkv|c=清真寺}}).]]
Beyond these requirements, there is little to dictate synagogue design. Historically, synagogues were typically according to prevailing architectural styles. For example, the synagogue of [[Kaifeng]] looked like [[Buddhist temple]]s of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden where several buildings were arranged.

==Considerations==
[[File:Lille_synagogue.jpg|thumb|[[Lille Synagogue]], France. An eclectic hybrid with Moorish, [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]], classical and Baroque elements, 1892.]]
[[File:Exterior of kaifeng synagogue.JPG|thumb|Synagogue of the [[Kaifeng Jews|Kaifeng Jewish community]] in China|alt=]]

The ark may be more or less elaborate, even a cabinet not structurally integral to the building or a portable arrangement whereby a Torah is brought into a space temporarily used for worship. There must also be a table, often on a raised platform, from which the Torah is read. The table/platform, called ''[[Bema#Judaism|bimah]]'' by eastern Ashkenazim, ''almemmar'' (or ''balemmer'') by Central and Western Ashkenazim and ''tebah'' by Sephardim, where the Torah is read (and from where the services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues) can range from an elaborate platform integral to the building (many early modern synagogues of central Europe featured bimahs with pillars that rose to support the ceiling), to elaborate free-standing raised platforms, to simple tables. A ''[[ner tamid]]'', a constantly lit light as a reminder of the constantly lit ''[[Menorah (Temple)|menorah]]'' of the [[Temple in Jerusalem]]. Many synagogues, mainly in Ashkenazi communities, feature a pulpit facing the congregation from which to address the assembled. All synagogues require an ''amud'' ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] for "post" or "column"), a desk facing the Ark from which the ''[[Hazzan]]'' (reader, or prayer leader) leads the prayers.

A synagogue may or may not have artwork; synagogues range from simple, unadorned prayer rooms to elaborately decorated buildings in every architectural style.

The synagogue, or if it is a multi-purpose building, prayer sanctuaries within the synagogue, are typically designed to have their congregation face towards [[Jerusalem]]. Thus sanctuaries in the Western world generally have their congregation face east, while those east of Israel have their congregation face west. Congregations of sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. But this orientation need not be exact, and occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons, in which case the community may face Jerusalem when standing for prayers.

==History==
The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled the houses of worship of other faiths in the [[Byzantine Empire]], such as the [[ancient synagogues in Palestine]]. Later styles continued this practice: synagogues of Morocco are embellished with [[zellige]], the colored tilework characteristic of [[Moroccan architecture]]. The surviving medieval synagogues in [[Budapest]], [[Prague]], and the German lands are typical of [[Gothic architecture]].

For much of history, the constraints of [[antisemitism]] and the laws of host countries restricting the building of synagogues visible from the street or forbidding their construction altogether meant that synagogues were often built within existing structures or opened from interior courtyards. Old synagogues with elaborate interior architecture can be hidden within nondescript European buildings and the [[Muslim world]].

Where synagogues were permitted, they were built in the prevailing architectural style of the time and place. Many European cities had elaborate Renaissance synagogues, of which a few survive. In Italy, there were many synagogues in the style of the Italian Renaissance like the [[Old Synagogue of Livorno]], [[Padua Synagogue]], and the [[Spanish Synagogue (Venice)|Spanish Synagogue of Venice]]. With the coming of the Baroque era, [[Baroque]] synagogues appeared across Europe.<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-19/ty-article-magazine/.premium/not-exactly-temples-why-are-israels-synagogues-so-unattractive/00000190-2b27-d340-a1f8-2b2725ec0000 Not Exactly Temples: Why Are Israel's Synagogues So Unattractive?], [[Haaretz]]</ref>

The [[Jewish emancipation|emancipation of Jews]] in [[Europe]]an countries and of Jews in Muslim countries colonized by European countries gave Jews the right to build large, elaborate synagogues visible from the public street. Synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show their wealth and newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. Handsome nineteenth-century synagogues from the period of Jewish imagination stand in virtually every country with Jewish communities. Most were built in revival styles then in fashion, such as [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]], [[Neo-Byzantine]], [[Romanesque Revival]], [[Moorish Revival]], [[Gothic Revival]], and [[Greek Revival]]. There are [[Egyptian Revival]] synagogues and even one [[Mayan Revival]] synagogue. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as [[Eclecticism in architecture|eclectic]].

[[Hasidic Judaism]] often established their own houses of worship, which are usually known now by the Yiddish loanword [[shtiebel]]. These comparatively modest buildings were the focus of Hasidic practice in [[early modern]] and [[pre-war architecture|pre-war]] Eastern Europe and afterwards in [[Israel]] and [[North America]].

In contrast, the [[Chabad]] movement has made a practice of designing [[Chabad house]]s as replicas of or homages to the architecture of [[770 Eastern Parkway]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shmais.com/pages.cfm?page=photo_gallery&ID=191 |title=770's around the world - Photos: Andrea Robbins and Max Becher |website=www.shmais.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070303062718/http://www.shmais.com/pages.cfm?page=photo_gallery&ID=191 |archive-date=3 March 2007}}</ref>

===Central Europe: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth===
Significant exceptions to the rule that synagogues are built in the prevailing style of their time and place are the [[wooden synagogues in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] and two forms of masonry synagogues: synagogues with bema support and nine-field synagogues (the latter not confined to synagogues).

====Wooden synagogues====
{{main|Wooden synagogues in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth}}
[[File:Synagoge Kurkliai.JPG|thumb|The 1936 Kurkliai Synagogue in [[Kurkliai]]]]
[[File:Wolpa_Synagogue_Poland_1920.jpg|thumb|[[Wołpa Synagogue]] in [[Vowpa]], [[Belarus]]]]

[[Wooden synagogues in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] were a unique Jewish artistic and architectural form.<ref name="Zimiles et al p 5">{{cite book | editor = Stacy C. Hollander | author1 = Murray Zimiles | author2 = Vivian B. Mann | author3 = American Folk Art Museum | author4 = Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, N.Y.) | author5 = Farmers' Museum (Cooperstown, N.Y.) | date = 2007 | title = Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel | publisher = UPNE | page = 5| isbn = 978-1-58465-637-1 | oclc = 1022726182 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eBC5UsySVBQC}}</ref> Characteristic features include the independence of the pitched roof from the design of the interior domed ceiling. They had elaborately carved, painted, domed, balconied and vaulted interiors. The architectural interest of the exterior lay in the buildings' large scale, the multiple, horizontal lines of the tiered roofs, and the carved [[corbel]]s that supported them. Wooden synagogues featured a single, large hall. In contrast to contemporary churches, there was no [[apse]]. Moreover, while contemporary churches featured imposing vestibules, the entry porches of the wooden synagogues were a low annex, usually with a simple lean-to roof. In these synagogues, the emphasis was on constructing a single, large, high-domed worship space.<ref name="Hollander2007">{{cite book | editor = Stacy C. Hollander | author1 = Murray Zimiles | author2 = Vivian B. Mann | author3 = American Folk Art Museum | author4 = Fenimore Art Museum (Cooperstown, N.Y.) | author5 = Farmers' Museum (Cooperstown, N.Y.) | date = 2007 | title = Gilded Lions and Jeweled Horses: The Synagogue to the Carousel | publisher = UPNE | pages = | isbn = 978-1-58465-637-1 | oclc = 1022726182 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=eBC5UsySVBQC}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2017}}<ref name="Zimiles et al p 5" /><ref name="Wischnitzer1964">{{cite book | author = Rachel Wischnitzer | date = 1964 | title = The Architecture of the European Synagogue | publisher = Jewish Publication Society of America | pages = 125–147| oclc = 1465235 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6p1BAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Krinsky1996">{{cite book | author = Carol Herselle Krinsky | date = 1 January 1996 | title = Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning | publisher = Courier Corporation | pages = 53–58| isbn = 978-0-486-29078-2 | oclc = 11470019 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uv1c0gkDgLsC}}</ref>

According to art historian Stephen S. Kayser, the wooden synagogues of Poland with their painted and carved interiors were "a truly original and organic manifestation of artistic expression—the only real Jewish folk art in history."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Piechotka |first1=Maria |last2=Piechotka |first2=Kazimierz |title=Wooden Synagogues |url=https://www.commentary.org/articles/alfred-werner/wooden-synagogues-by-maria-and-kazimierz-piechotka/ |website=Commentary Magazine |date=1 July 1960}}</ref>

According to [[Louis Lozowick]], writing in 1947, the wooden synagogues were unique because, unlike all previous synagogues, they were not built in their region's and era's architectural style, but in a newly evolved and uniquely Jewish style, making them "a truly original folk expression," whose "originality does not lie alone in the exterior architecture, it lies equally in the beautiful and intricate wood carving of the interior."<ref name="Godfrey p. 92">{{cite book | author = Mark Godfrey | date = 1 January 2007 | title = Abstraction and the Holocaust | publisher = Yale University Press | page = 92| isbn = 978-0-300-12676-1 | oclc = 1008453832 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fJu2-D2nhRwC}}</ref>

Moreover, while in many parts of the world Jews were proscribed from entering the [[List of construction trades|building trades]] and even from practicing the decorative arts of painting and woodcarving, the wooden synagogues were built by Jewish craftsmen.<ref name="Godfrey p. 92" />

Art historian [[Ori Z. Soltes]] points out that the wooden synagogues, unusual for that period in being large, identifiably Jewish buildings not hidden in courtyards or behind walls, were built not only during a Jewish "intellectual golden age" but in a time and place where "the local Jewish population was equal to or even greater than the Christian population.<ref name="Soltes2005">{{cite book | author = Ori Soltes | date = 1 November 2005 | title = Our Sacred Signs: How Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Art Draw from the Same Source | publisher = Basic Books | page = 180 | isbn = 978-0-8133-4297-9 | oclc = 1022724571 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zcD-swEACAAJ}}</ref>

====Synagogues with bimah-support====
[[File:Synagoga_w_Łańcucie_1.jpg|thumb|[[Łańcut Synagogue]], bimah-tower]]

In the second half of the 16th century masonry synagogues whose interiors present an original structural solution, found in no other kind of building, were constructed in the  Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These were synagogue halls whose bimah was surrounded by four pillars. Placed upon a podium, connected above by [[Arcade (architecture)|arcading]], in one powerful pier, the pillars constituted the ''bimah-support'' (or ''bimah-tower'') supporting the vault, consisting of four barrels with [[lunette]]s intersecting at the corners. The bases of the vault-rips rested on the podium or were transmitted through a [[balustrade]], solid or pierced. A small [[cupola]] covered the field above the bimah. These cupolas were occasionally significantly lowered in comparison with the remaining fields of vaulting. Thus a kind of inner chapel, built inside the bimah-tower, was created.<ref>Maria und Kazimierz Piechotka: ''Landscape With Menorah: Jews in the towns and cities of the former Rzeczpospolita of Poland and Lithuania.'' Salix alba Press, Warsaw 2015. Page 73. {{ISBN|978-83-930937-7-9}}</ref>

One of the first synagogues with a bimah-support was the [[Old Synagogue (Przemyśl)]], which was destroyed during World War II. Synagogues with a bimah-tower were built up to the 19th century and the concept was adopted in various Central European countries.<ref>https://publikationsserver.tu-braunschweig.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dbbs_derivate_00009149/Doktorarbeit.pdf Bimah-support. Retrieved July 29, 2019.</ref>

====Nine-field synagogues====
Around the beginning of the 1630s the first synagogues with nine-field vaulting were constructed. This design has a set of four large columns or piers placed squarely in a rectangular central space, supporting three rows of three vaults on the ceiling.  They allowed for much greater halls than hitherto and were also called ''nine-bay synagogues''. The [[Great Suburb Synagogue]] in [[Lviv]] and the synagogue in [[Ostroh]] were erected virtually at the same time (1625 and 1627). In these halls the vaulting rested on four tall pillars and on corresponding wall [[pilaster]]s. The columns and the pilasters were situated in equal spacing and dividing the roof-area into nine equal fields. In these synagogues the bimah was a free-standing podium or a bower situated within the central field between the pillars.<ref>Maria und Kazimierz Piechotka: ''Landscape With Menorah: Jews in the towns and cities of the former Rzeczpospolita of Poland and Lithuania.'' Salix alba Press, Warsaw 2015. Page 75. {{ISBN|978-83-930937-7-9}}</ref>

===Egyptian Revival===
[[File:Hobart_Synagogue.jpg|thumb|Egyptian door, [[Hobart Synagogue]]]]

[[Egyptian Revival architecture|Egyptian Revival]] synagogues were popular in the early nineteenth century. [[Rachel Wischnitzer]] argues that they were part of the fashion for Egyptian style inspired by the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>Rachel Wischnitzer, ''Architecture of the European Synagogue'', Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1964</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2017}} According to [[Carol Herselle Krinsky]], they were meant as imitations of [[Solomon's Temple]] and intended by architects and governments to insult Jews by portraying Judaism as a foreign faith.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Krinsky |first1=Carol Herselle |title=Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning |date=1 January 1996 |publisher=Courier Corporation |isbn=978-0-486-29078-2 |pages=71, 73, 77, 314 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Synagogues_of_Europe/uv1c0gkDgLsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=synagogues+of+europe&printsec=frontcover |language=en}}</ref> According to [[Diana Muir Appelbaum]], they were expressions of Jewish identity intended to advertise Jewish origins in [[ancient Israel]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Appelbaum |first1=Diana Muir |title=Jewish Identity and Egyptian Revival Architecture |journal=Journal of Jewish Identities |date=July 2012 |volume=5 |issue=2 |page=1 |doi=10.1353/jji.2012.0020}}</ref>

=== Moorish influence ===
[[File:Santa_María_La_Blanca_^_sinagoga_en_TOLEDO_-_panoramio_edited.jpg|thumb|Interior of [[Santa María la Blanca]]]]
[[File:Plzen_114.JPG|thumb|[[Great Synagogue (Plzeň)|Great Synagogue of Plzeň]] in [[Plzeň]], [[Czech Republic]]]]

In medieval [[Spain]] (both [[Al-Andalus]] and the Christian kingdoms), a host of synagogues were built, and it was usual to commission them from [[Moorish architecture|Moorish]] and later [[Mudéjar architecture|Mudéjar]] architects. Very few of these medieval synagogues, built with Moorish techniques and style, are conserved. The two best known Spanish synagogues are in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], one known as [[Synagogue of El Tránsito|El Tránsito]], the other as [[Santa María la Blanca]], and are now preserved as national monuments. The former is a small building containing very rich decorations; the latter is especially noteworthy. It is based upon Almohad style and contains long rows of octagonal columns with curiously carved capitals, from which spring Moorish arches supporting the roof.

Another significant Mudéjar synagogue is the one at [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] built in 1315. As in El Tránsito, the vegetal and geometrical stucco decorations are purely Moorish, but unlike the former, the [[epigraphic]] texts are in Hebrew.

After the expulsion from Spain there was a general feeling among wealthy [[Sephardic|Sephardim]] that Moorish architecture was appropriate in synagogues. By the mid-19th century, the style was adopted by the [[Ashkenazim]] of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] Europe, who associated Moorish and [[Mudéjar]] architectural forms with the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain|golden age of Jewry in Al-Andalus]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} As a consequence, [[Moorish Revival]] spread around the globe as a preferred style of synagogue architecture, although Moorish architecture is by no means Jewish, either in fact or in feeling. The [[Alhambra]] has furnished inspiration for innumerable synagogues, but seldom have its graceful proportions or its delicate modeling and elaborate ornamentation been successfully copied.

Moorish style, when adapted by the Ashkenazi was believed to have been a reference to the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry,<ref>Kalmar, I. D. (2001). "Moorish style: Orientalism, the Jews, and synagogue architecture". ''Jewish Social Studies'', 7(3), 68–100. 69.</ref> it was not the primary intention of the Jews and architects who chose to build in the Moorish style.<ref name="Davidson p70">Davidson, ''Moorish Style''. p. 70</ref> Rather, the choice to use the Moorish style was reflective of pride in their Semitic or oriental heritage.<ref name="Davidson p70"/> This pride in their heritage and understanding of Jews as "semitic" or "oriental" led architects like [[Gottfried Semper]] ([[Semper Synagogue]] Dresden, Germany) and [[Ludwig Förster]] (Tempelgasse or [[Leopoldstädter Tempel]], Vienna, Austria and [[Dohány Street Synagogue]], Budapest, Hungary) to build their synagogues in the Moorish style.<ref>Davidson, ''Moorish Style''. p. 84</ref> Moorish Style remained a popular choice for synagogues throughout the rest of the 19th and early 20th century.

===Modern synagogue architecture===
[[File:Synagoge_muenchen(softeis)_ShiftN_cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Ohel Jakob synagogue (Munich)|Ohel Jakob synagogue]] in Munich, Germany]]

In the modern period, synagogues have continued to be built in every popular architectural style, including [[Art Nouveau]], [[Art Deco]], International style, and all contemporary styles. In the post-World War II period "a period of post-war modernism," came to the fore, "characterized by assertive architectural gestures that had the strength and integrity to stand alone, without applied artwork or Jewish iconography."<ref>Henry and Daniel Stoltzman, ''Synagogue Architecture in America; Path, Spirit, and Identity,'' Images Publishing, 2004, p. 193</ref> A notable work of [[Art Nouveau]], pre–[[World War I]] [[Hungary|Hungarian]] synagogue architecture is [[Budapest]]'s [[Kazinczy Street Synagogue, Budapest|Kazinczy Street Synagogue]].<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Jewish heritage Walking tours in Budapest |title=Synagogues |url=http://jewish.hu/synagouges/}}</ref>
In the UK, synagogues built in the early 1960s, such as a [[Carmel College (Oxfordshire)]] in the UK, designed by the British architect, Thomas Hancock,<ref name="historicengland.org.uk">[http://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1379943 "Jewish Synagogue at Carmel College" Historic England List Entry, retrieved November 4, 2018]</ref> were decorated with the stained glass of windows of Israeli artist, [[Nehemia Azaz]]. The stained glass windows were praised by art and architecture scholar [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] as using "extraordinary technique with rough pieces of coloured glass like crystals"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sherwood|first1=Jennifer|last2=Pevsner|first2=Nikolaus|title=Buildings of England - Oxfordshire - Pevsner Architectural Guides|date=1974|publisher=Penguin|pages=712|isbn=9780140710458|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2yUNAQAAIAAJ&q=azaz}}</ref> and by Historic England as "brilliant and innovative artistic glass".<ref name="historicengland.org.uk"/>

== The interior ==
The most common general plan for the interior of the synagogue is an [[Ark (synagogue)|Ark]] at the end opposite the entrance, and with an almemar or pulpit. In older or [[Orthodox Jew|Orthodox]] synagogues with separate seating, there may be benches for the men on either side, and a [[Ezrat Nashim|women's gallery]] reached by staircases from the outer vestibule. Variations of this simple plan abound: the vestibule became larger, and the staircases to the women's gallery were separated from the vestibule and given more importance. As the buildings became larger, rows of columns were required to support the roof, but in every case the basilican form was retained. The Ark, formerly allowed a mere niche in the wall, was developed into the main architectural feature of the interior, and was flanked with columns, covered with a canopy and richly decorated. The almemar in many cases was joined to the platform in front of the Ark, and elaborate arrangements of steps were provided.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Neveh_Shalom_Synagogue.jpg|[[Neveh Shalom Synagogue]] (1842) in  [[Paramaribo]], [[Suriname]]
File:Toledo_-_Sinagoga_El_Transito_int_01.jpg|Ark of the 14th century [[Sephardi Jews|Sephardic]] [[Synagogue of El Tránsito]] in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], Spain
</gallery>

=== The Ark ===
The [[Torah Ark]] (usually called ''Aron Hakodesh'' or ''Hekhál'') is the most important feature of the interior, and is generally dignified by proper decoration and raised upon a suitable platform, reached by at least three steps, but often by more. It is usually crowned by the Ten Commandments and the Torah. The position of the pulpit varies; it may be placed on either side of the Ark and is occasionally found in the center of the steps.

=== Other interior arrangements ===
The modern synagogue, besides containing the minister's study, trustees' rooms, choir-rooms, and organ-loft devote much space to school purposes; generally, the entire lower floor is used for classrooms. The interior treatment of the synagogue allows great latitude in design.

For the thirty-three [[Synagogues in India|synagogues of India]], American architect and professor of architecture Jay A. Waronker has learned that these buildings tend to follow the Sephardic traditions of the tevah (or bimah, the raised platform where the service is led and Torah read) being freestanding and roughly in the middle of the sanctuary and the ark (called the hekhal by Sephardim and the aron ha-kodesh by Ashkenazim) engaged along the wall that is closest to Jerusalem. The hekhals are essentially cabinets or armoires storing the sefer Torahs. Seating, in the form of long wooden benches, is grouped around and facing the tevah. Men sit together on the main level of the sanctuary while women sit in a dedicated zone on the same level in the smaller synagogues or upstairs in a women's gallery.

Interesting architectural and planning exceptions to this common Sephardic formula are the Cochin synagogues in Kerala of far southwestern India. Here, on the gallery level and adjacent to the space provided for women and overlooking the sanctuary below, is a second tevah. This tevah was used for holidays and unique occasions. It is therefore interesting that on more special events, the women are closest to the point where the religious service is being led.

In Baghdadi synagogues of India, the hekhals appear to be standard-sized cabinets from the outside (the side facing the sanctuary), but when opened a very large space is revealed. They are essentially walk-in rooms with a perimeter shelf holding up to one hundred sefer Torahs.

=== Interior decoration ===
There are but few emblems that may be used that are characteristically Jewish; the Star of David, the lion of Judah, and flower and fruit forms alone are generally allowable in [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] synagogues. The [[Sanctuary lamp|ner tamid]] hangs in front of the Ark; the tables of the Law surmount it. The seven-branched candlestick, or [[Menorah (Temple)|menorah]], may be placed at the sides. Occasionally the [[shofar]], and even the [[lulav]], may be utilized in the design. Hebrew inscriptions are sparingly or seldom-used; stained-glass windows, at one time considered the special property of the Church, are now employed but figured subjects are not used.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:20110222 Israel 0133 Capernaum (5540431942).jpg|4th century synagogue in [[Capernaum]], Israel
File:Synagogue Aleppo.jpg|The [[Central Synagogue of Aleppo]]. The oldest surviving inscription at the site dates to 834 CE.
File:Erfurt, Waagegasse 8-003.jpg|The oldest parts of the [[Old Synagogue (Erfurt)|Old Synagogue]] in [[Erfurt]], Germany date to the late 11th century
File:Inside old synagogue Krakow.JPG|The 15th century [[The Old Synagogue|Old Synagogue]] in Kraków, Poland
File:Kochi Jewish Synagogue C.jpg|[[Cochin Jews|Cochin]] [[Paradesi Synagogue]] (1568) in [[Kochi]], India
File:Гусятин Синагога.jpg|The 17th century [[Husiatyn Synagogue]] in [[Husiatyn]], Ukraine
File:Touro Synagogue National Historic Site TOSY1085.jpg|The [[Touro Synagogue]] (1759) in [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]], Rhode Island is the oldest synagogue in the United States
File:Rumbach Street Synagogue.jpg|The 1869 [[Rumbach Street Synagogue]] in [[Budapest]], Hungary
File:02 Pecs, Hungary - Great Synagogue.jpg|1869 Great Synagogue in Romantic style in [[Pécs]], Hungary
File:Central Synagogue 1.JPG|Interior of the [[Moorish Revival architecture|Moorish Revival]] [[Central Synagogue (Manhattan)|Central Synagogue]] (1872) by [[Henry Fernbach]] in Manhattan, New York
File:Aškenaška sinagoga (14143483781).jpg|1902 [[Sarajevo Synagogue]] in [[Sarajevo]], Bosnia and Herzegovina
File:17 Synagogue Or Torah -La salle de prière.JPG|[[Sinagoga Or Torah]] (1927) of [[Buenos Aires]], Argentina
File:Frank Lloyd Wright - Beth Sholom Synagogue - Elkins Park, PA (7175161021).jpg|[[Beth Sholom Congregation (Elkins Park, Pennsylvania)|Beth Sholom Synagogue]] (1954) by [[Frank Lloyd Wright]] in [[Elkins Park, Pennsylvania]]
File:Cymbalista2 Synagogue.jpg|[[Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center|Cymbalista Synagogue]] (1997) by [[Mario Botta]] in Tel Aviv, Israel
File:Synagogue Mainz Exterior2.jpg|The [[Deconstructivist architecture|deconstructivist]] [[New Synagogue (Mainz)|New Synagogue]] (1999) by [[Manuel Herz]] in [[Mainz]]   
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Jewish architecture]]
* [[List of Jewish architects]]
* [[Oldest synagogues in the world]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* de Breffny, Brian, ''The Synagogue'', Macmillan, 1st American ed., 1978, {{ISBN|0-02-530310-4}}.
* Goldman, Bernard, ''The Sacred Portal: a primary symbol in ancient Judaic art'', Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1966
* [[Carol Herselle Krinsky]], ''Synagogues of Europe; Architecture, History, Meaning'', MIT Press, 1985; revised edition, MIT Press, 1986; Dover reprint, 1996
* Stolzman, Henry & Daniel Stolzman (2004). [[Hausman LLC|Tami Hausman]], Ed. ''[https://books.google.com/books/about/Synagogue_Architecture_in_America.html?id=tfJNHoiMDSoC Synagogue Architecture in America: Faith, Spirit, and Identity]''. Images Publishing. {{ISBN|1864700742}}.
* [[Rachel Wischnitzer]], ''Synagogue Architecture in the United States'', Jewish Publication Society of America, 1955
* [[Rachel Wischnitzer]], ''Architecture of the European Synagogue'', Jewish Publication Society, 1964

== External links ==
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=1213&letter=S Synagogue Architecture], Jewish Encyclopedia
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051120083135/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/daily_life/Prayer/TO_Synagogue/Synagogue_Architecture.htm Early Synagogue Architecture], My Jewish Learning
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030117135934/http://www.sacredplaces.org/PSP-InfoClearingHouse/articles/AMERICAN%20SYNAGOGUE%20ARCHITECTURE.htm American Synagogue Architecture]
* [http://www.ascalonstudios.com/synagogueartdesign.html Slideshow of Contemporary American Synagogue Sanctuary Architectural Elements]

[[Category:Synagogue architecture| ]]
[[Category:Sacral architecture]]