(JHE) — There are so many webinars and Zoom lectures that it’s hard to keep up. Here’s a series that will be of interest to our readers — by JHE friend Dr. Vladimir Levin, Director of the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University, called Beyond Religion: the History and Architecture of Synagogues in Eastern Europe.
The series of three lectures is devoted to the history and architecture of synagogues in eastern Europe, from the 16th and 17th centuries until the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. It will deal with the synagogue as both an architectural space and a public place, discussing features and functions which are far beyond the narrow realm of religion.
The lectures are a program presented by BEIT AVI CHAI, a Jewish cultural hub in Jerusalem dedicated to the creation, development and expression of Jewish thought and ideas.
Town within a Town: Synagogue Compounds in Eastern Europe.
Oct 13, 2020 08:00 PM Israel time
The lecture will discuss the similarity between a medieval self-governing town and the compound or courtyard of the great synagogue (shulhoyf). As will be shown, all features that defined the self-governing town could be found in the shulhoyf, which functioned as the center of the life of the local Jewish community.
The Architecture of Gender: Women in the Eastern European Synagogue.
Oct 20, 2020 08:00 PM Israel time
The lecture will discuss the place that women occupied in the synagogue in eastern Europe and the profound changes in their position that took place in the 18th century and in the late 19th century.
Reform or Consensus? Choral Synagogues in the Russian Empire
Oct 27, 2020 08:00 PM Israel time
The lecture will discuss the choral synagogues – a special type of synagogues that emerged in the Russian Empire in the mid-nineteenth century. While in the beginning the choral synagogues were considered to be part of religious Reform, at the end they turned out to be the synagogues of the social elite, with emphasis on decorum and good music.
…and don’t forget:
There are still two more lectures in the series of Webinars on the Art and Architecture of the Synagogue presented by Dr. Samuel D. Gruber — October 8 (American Synagogue Architecture and Identity) and October 15 (Modern Synagogue Architecture).
Click here for the info and links to register
Sam’s first lecture in the series, an overview of synagogue architecture, can be viewed online here or on YouTube: