Synagogue Archives | Page 2 of 18

Knesset Eliyahu

Knesset Eliyahu is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located in downtown Mumbai, India. It is the city’s second oldest Sephardic synagogue. It was established in 1884 by Jacob Elias Sassoon, son of Eliyahoo David Sassoon and grandson of David Sassoon; the latter had immigrated from Baghdad to India in 1832 due to persecution and had settled in Mumbai, then known as Bombay.

It is maintained by the Jacob Sassoon Trust. The building’s significance is attributed to its Jewish traditions as well as Indian and English colonial influences. It was designed by the British architectural firm Gostling & Morris of Bombay. The basement part of the edifice is built in stone masonry and the superstructure is built in brick masonry. The exterior facade of the synagogue is painted turquoise. The sanctuary within the interior of the building is in western direction, towards Jerusalem.

Photo Attribution: World Monuments Fund

Maalem Synagogue

Maalem Synagogue is a synagogue located on the slopes overlooking the Golden Horn near the Jewish old age home in the Hasköy district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is the only remaining open synagogue in an area that once had many Jewish residents. The synagogue is open for visits only during weekdays.

Ahrida Synagogue

According to tradition, the Ahrida Synagogue was founded in 1430 by Jews from the city of Ohry, Macedonia, thus the origin of its name (Ahrida / Ohrida).

The synagogue was destroyed in a fire in the 1600s. A decree by the sultan in 1694 led to the building’s reconstruction, which was carried out in the Ottoman Baroque style popular at that time. Particular examples of the Ottoman style are the mother-of-pearl inlaid doors of the Ark and wooden domes. It has a unique boat shaped bemah, said to symbolize Noah’s Ark.

The building was extensively restored in the early 1992 when remnants of architectural details from the 1700s and 1800s were discovered. Elements of those details were included in the restoration. The unique boat shaped bemah (pulpit) is said to symbolize either Noah’s Ark or the ships that brought Sephardic Jews from Spain to the Ottoman Empire.

Tero Tashkent Synagogue

The Tero Synagogue in Tashkent is one of two active Bukharian synagogues. Mr. Arkadiy Isakharov is the chairman of the synagogue who often leads tours of the building and can explain the brief history to guests who wish to learn about the Jewish community of Tashkent. The synagogue’s arc contains numerous Torah Scrolls, several of which survived a fire and others that are more than 250 years old! This synagogue was formed because of the Jewish cemetery, called Textile, that was nearby. In Tashkent there are two cemeteries that were used to bury Bukharian Jews. One being Textile, and the other being Chigatai.

Gumbaz Synagogue

The Gumbaz Synagogue is the only Jewish landmark in the city, and it dates back to the end of the nineteenth century, specifically to the year 1891. This Jewish landmark is characterized by being influenced by the Islamic architecture surrounding it, and added wonderful decorations and mosaics on its walls and domes, and made the merging of European and Islamic details of the building a matter. Very unique and an important tourist attraction. Visitors to the synagogue will also find pictures of former rabbis, Stars of David, carved doors, and much more. Learn more.

Image attribution:
Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons;
Demerzel 21 from Getty Images

Kochi Jewish Cemetery

The Jewish Cemetery in Kochi, also called the Gan Shalom, is part of the Paradesi Synagogue and was once one of the main cemeteries for Jews living in the city. Today, the cemetery is largly undisturbed and mostly only avaliable for visitors to view through the steel gate. Members from the town’s small Jewish community are still buried here.

Image credit:
Emmanuel DYAN from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons;
Jason Rosenberg, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons;
Reuben Strayer from montreal, canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Chendamangalam Synagogue and Museum

The Chendamangalam Synagogue is one of the oldest known synagogues built by the Malabar Jews, in Chendamangalam, a village in the Ernakulam district of the coastal state of Kerala. It is dated to 1100 A.D, though the synagogue structure itself dates to 1420 A.D or 1614 A.D., making it the oldest synagogue in the Commonwealth of Nations. A tombstone recovered from Shingly was stored in this synagogue and is presently on display in the courtyard in front. This tombstone with the inscription of Sarah bat Israel is the oldest Jewish relic found in India, dating to 1270 A.D.

After the entire congregation made aliyah to Israel in 1950s, the synagogue was defunct for decades. Today it serves as a Kerala Jews Lifestyle Museum for the Muziris Project, a conservation project by the Government of Kerala. The synagogue has been restored and has an exhibit open to visitors from 9:30 to 5:00 during the week. A tombstone recovered from Shingly was stored in this synagogue and is presently on display in the courtyard in front. This tombstone with the inscription of Sarah bat Israel is the oldest Jewish relic found in India, dating to 1270 A.D.

The Chendamangalam Synagogue Musuem showcases the lives and rituals of Kerala Jews who were firm believers and lived in close contact with the local society. The synagogue is located inside high walls that surround it. The wall in front is as high as the front elevation. When you cross the front door, it is the Azara, with a vast prayer room behind it. The balcony that projects into the prayer room is the second Bimah (elevated platform for Torah reading). Supporting it are two stone pillars with intricate carvings. The position of the Ark is on the wall across the door, and it is a beautiful piece of art in teak with carved images. On the wooden planks on the roof are carved images of lotus that are painted. On both sides of the Bimah are two rows of bench. There is a spiral staircase to climb up to the second Bimah.

Kadavumbagam Synagogue

In a most unlikely setting, the Kadavambagam synagogue in Ernakulam (a 45-minute drive away from Jew Town) sits in the midst of a crowded market, hidden behind a plant and aquarium shop called Cochin Blossoms that incorporates hamsas on its sign.

The current synagogue is the restored oldest synagogue of the Malabar Jews, with a Sefer Torah scroll and offering occasional services. It was established in 1200 CE and restored several times through the centuries on the same site. It is modeled on the earliest synagogue of the Malabar Jews at Muziris from the ancient times of Mediterranean sea trade with Kerala. The earliest synagogue of the ancient Malabar Jews is today submerged in the sea following the gradual rise of sea level over several millennia.

Although the Chendamangalam Synagogue is the oldest surviving synagogue structure in Kerala and Indian subcontinent (established in 1166 CE), its Torah scrolls were taken to Israel by it congregation in 1952. This makes the Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam synagogue the oldest Malabar Jewish synagogue today (since its restoration in 2018) with a Torah scroll that is occasionally used for services. The Paradesi Sephardic synagogue at Mattancherry also has Torah scrolls but it was established much later in 1568.

The Sabbath services at the Kadavumbhagam Ernakulam synagogue continued till 1972 when a large portion of the community immigrated to Israel by 1972 along with the Torah scrolls. For decades, the Kadavumbhagham Synagogue at Ernakulam remained without any Sabbath services and without a Sefer Torah. Today the synagogue is nested within the bustling market at Ernakulam with a thriving aquarium in the front area near the synagogue operating since 1985. After much effort, the Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam synagogue was restored and the Sefer Torah brought back to the synagogue in 2018 after 46 years. Today there are only two synagogues in Kochi that have Torah scrolls: the Paradesi synagogue of the Sephardic Jews in Mattancherry and the Kadavumbhagham Ernakulam synagogue of the ancient Malabar Jews.

Paradesi Synagogue

The Paradesi Synagogue aka Mattancherry Synagogue is a synagogue located in Mattancherry Jew Town, a suburb of the city of Kochi, Kerala, in India. It was built in 1568 A.D. by Samuel Castiel, David Belila, and Joseph Levi for the flourishing Paradesi Jewish community in Kochi. The Malabari Jews or Yehudan Mappila (also known as Cochin Jews) formed a prosperous trading community of Kerala, and they controlled a major portion of worldwide spice trade.

In 1568, Paradesi Jews constructed the Paradesi Synagogue adjacent to Mattancherry Palace, Cochin, now part of the Indian city of Ernakulam, on land given to them by the Raja of Kochi. The first synagogue in India was built in the 4th century in Kodungallur (Cranganore) when the Jews had a merchantile role in the South Indian region (now called Kerala) along the Malabar coast. When the community moved to Kochi in the 14th century, it built a new synagogue there.

Today the Paradesi Synagogue is the only functioning synagogue in Kochi with a minyan (though this minyan must be formed with Jews from outside Kochi, as the number who still reside there is not sufficient). In conformity with the Hindu, St Thomas Christian or Syrian Mappila and Muslim Mappila traditions of Kerala, the worshippers are required to enter the Paradesi Synagogue barefoot. Other facets which are unique to the Cochin Jewish community, and which are results of Hindu influence, include special colours of clothing for each festival, circumcision ceremonies performed at public worship, and distribution of grape-soaked myrtle leaves on certain festivals.

The Paradesi Synagogue has the Scrolls of the Law, several gold crowns received as gifts, many Belgian glass chandeliers, and a brass-railed pulpit. It houses the 10th-century copper plates of privileges given to Joseph Rabban, the earliest known Cochin Jew. These two plates were inscribed in Old Malayalam by the ruler of the Malabar Coast. The floor of the synagogue is composed of hundreds of Chinese, 18th-century, hand-painted porcelain tiles, each of which is unique.

Bukhara Synagogue

The oldest part of the synagogue was called “Kanisa Mulla Mani”, that is, the synagogue named after Mulla Mani. Mullah Mani is a venerable Jew who was a foreman in this synagogue in the 20s of the 20th century.

Before the construction of the first synagogue, Jews prayed in the same room with Muslims in a mosque called “Mahak-i Attari.” According to one version, Jews prayed with Muslims at the same time, but in different corners. According to another, Jews came there only at the end of Muslim prayers. This can explain the custom, which exists among Bukharian Jews, to end the morning prayer with the words “Shalom Aleihom.”

There is a version that the resettlement of Jews in the Jewish quarter is associated with the construction of a synagogue. Before the construction of the synagogue, Jews lived near today’s Lyabi-Khauz, at a local Bazaar market. In an effort to concentrate around the prayer house, they gradually moved to this quarter, where a synagogue was built, so that not a single Jewish family remained in the Bazaar.

According to another version, the Jews have been living in Jewish Mahallah since the time of their resettlement from the central regions of Persia. They say that this area was occupied by Muslims, and when it was empty, the quarters located here began to collapse, and the ruler of Bukhara gave this place to the Jews who came from Jerusalem in the interests of trade.

The synagogue, in the Mahalli Kukhma quarter, with a 300-year history, was closed by the Soviet authorities in 1940. And only in 1945, at the insistent request of the population, the former building of the synagogue was returned to the Jewish community, which functions to this day.

Image attribution: Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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