(JHE) — There are so many webinars and online programs it’s hard to choose. But this one will be of particular interest to our readers: a three-part series on The Art and Architecture of the Synagogue presented by JHE friend Dr. Samuel D. Gruber — an internationally recognized expert on Jewish art, architecture and the historic preservation of Jewish sites and monuments who has been a leader in the documentation, protection, and preservation of historic Jewish sites worldwide for more than 30 years.
Jews are the “People of Book”, but they are also “People of the Building.”
Given the opportunity, Jews have built beautiful synagogues for their communities for hundreds of years. Inspired by the detailed architectural accounts in the Bible and also by their contemporary surroundings, Jews in many places have fulfilled the concept of Hiddur Mitzvah (glorify the commandment) through architecture and architectural decoration.
Great synagogues have been built in Europe of since Middle Ages, but especially since the lavish inauguration of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam in the late seventeenth century the stream of impressive Jewish buildings has continued with little interruption on every inhabited continent throughout the world.
This series explores great historic synagogues of the world, the American synagogue and “modern” synagogue architecture.
The hourlong live Zoom talks all take place at 3:30 PM EDT — that’s 21:30 Central Europe Time. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
- Thursday October 1, 2020 – Great Synagogues of the World
This lecture illustrates this architectural and artistic heritage with historic and contemporary images and introduces many lesser known “great synagogues,” and many recently restored buildings.
- Thursday October 8, 2020 – Arise and Build: American Synagogues and Jewish Identity
This lecture presents a wide range of synagogue types and styles, including humble and grand houses of worship, and synagogues in cities, towns and rural areas. While most publications on synagogue history and architecture focus on a few main population centers, the talk will introduce synagogue – past and present – from across America.
- Thursday October 15, 2020 – Modern Synagogue Architecture: Between Memory and Innovation
This illustrated lecture reviews the modernism that is now “historic”, and then looks at some of the most contemporary designs in Jewish synagogue art and architecture. The presentation is illustrated with photos of many less known or unpublished projects and buildings.
The webinar series is organized by the Orange County Community Scholar program.
Samuel D. Gruber is president of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments and the author of the books American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (2003) and Synagogues (1999) as well as scores of published reports and articles. Since 2008, he has written the blog Sam Gruber’s Jewish Art and Monuments. He was founding director of the Jewish Heritage Program of World Monuments Fund and served as Research Director of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad from 1998 through 2008, for which he organized and published more than a dozen countrywide surveys of historic sites and monuments of Jewish and other ethnic and religious minorities in Europe.
Click here for full information and registration