Having an organ in a synagogue is a fairly recent innovation, related to the emancipation of the Jews and spread of reform Judaism in the 19th century. The introduction of a pipe organ into a synagogue sometimes sparked heated polemics. … continue reading →
Happy Birthday(s) Synagogues! This year a number of synagogue buildings have celebrated or will celebrate a significant anniversary of their dedication with public ceremonies, lectures, and talks — in-person or online, and with guided tours, temporary exhibitions, concerts, and also, … continue reading →
(JHE) — Simchat Torah — Rejoicing in the Torah, the Jewish festival that celebrates the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings (and beginning of the new cycle), begins this week at sundown on Tuesday and ends at nightfall on … continue reading →
When Pope Francis visited Slovakia this week, he met with representatives of the Slovak Jewish community in one of the most significant and symbolic places of Jewish history in the country: Bratislava’s Rybné Square, the site where the grand, twin-towered … continue reading →
(JHE) — A full-scale replica of one of the hundreds of East European wooden synagogues destroyed during WW2 has been installed at Poland’s largest open-air ethnographic museum, or skansen. The replica of the synagogue of Połaniec now forms part of a … continue reading →
