The delicate restoration of the elaborately carved and painted wooden Ark, or Aron Kodesh, of the 17th century Great Synagogue in Iaşi, Romania is nearly complete. This restoration marks the final step in the years-long renovation of the synagogue — the … continue reading →
Radauti, Romania: women’s gravestones with candlesticks We’re marking March 8 — International Women’s Day — by saluting the way Jewish women are remembered in visual terms: in this case, the way women are portrayed in Jewish funerary art. Jewish … continue reading →
Wednesday marks Tu B’Shevat — the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat, which is known as “the New Year for Trees.” It is the time of year when the earliest-blooming trees in the land of Israel start to flower. It is … continue reading →
Several new books make important contributions to the study of synagogue history, art and architecture and provide insight on the ways disused synagogues have been neglected, restored and/or repurposed in recent decades. Two are monumental works focusing on synagogues … continue reading →
By now it’s a JHE tradition. The night of November 9-10 marks the 79th anniversary of the so-called Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, when the Nazis launched coordinated violent attacks on Jews, Jewish property and Jewish places of worship all … continue reading →
