Congratulations to the editors and authors of a new book that should be of interest to many of our readers: Reform Judaism and Architecture, edited by Andreas Brämer, Mirko Przystawik and Harmen H. Thies and published October 6 by Michael Imhof Verlag as part of the series on Jewish architecture of the Bet Tfila – Research Unit for Jewish Architecture in Europe.
The essays are drawn from papers presented at a Bet Tflla conference in 2010 that considered questions such as
– Was there a single type of a reform synagogue?
– What were the mutual relations between liturgical reforms, on the one hand, and the architecture, or inner space design, on the other hand?
– Viewed from a comparative perspective, what can be deduced from the architectural development of Jewish houses of worship?
– What differences and similarities can be drawn from national, European and international comparisons?
– Are there any specific regional elements which characterize Jewish prayer houses?
According to the book description:
The long nineteenth century was marked by social, economic, and political upheavals in Europe. The Jewish society also witnessed a modernizing change, which ultimately led to pluralization within the religious world. Subsequent to the Haskalah, Jewish Enlightenment, and in a complex reciprocal relationship with the emerging science of Judaism (Wissenschaft des Judentums), the Jewish reformers implemented progressive changes within the Jewish liturgy which are also reflected in the architecture of Jewish sacral buildings. Starting with the Jakobstempel in Seesen, this volume Reform Judaism and Architecture illuminates different aspects of Jewish Reform architecture in overviews and case studies.
See the Table of Contents:
