Frank Lloyd Wright, arguably the greatest architect in American history and one of the pivotal figures of the modern architecture movement, made his impact on modern church design as much as he impacted everything else. Over the course of his career Wright designed over a dozen churches and other religious structures, some of which were so ground breaking that they set the … [Read more...]
About Howard Kramer
SHANGHAI JEWISH REFUGEES MUSEUM AND SHANGHAI JEWISH GHETTO
The Jewish Diaspora, in which the ancient inhabitants of Israel slowly spread to the four corners of the Earth, is one of the great epic stories of world history. From the most humble beginning of a tiny enclave in ancient Canaan, the Jews spread across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East; thence to Europe and Central Asia; and finally across the globe. Of all the … [Read more...]
OLDEST SYNAGOGUES ON EARTH
Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world (among the major active religions it is only predated by Hinduism). Despite this, little if anything remains of Jewish religious sites prior to the Middle Ages. Thousands of years of wars and persecutions have left little in the way of ancient synagogues. The world’s last intact Roman-era synagogue was sadly destroyed when a … [Read more...]
TOP TEN MUST-SEE SYNAGOGUES IN THE UNITED STATES
Over the last few years, The Complete Pilgrim has featured stories about synagogues all over the United States, looking at the most historic by region. Today The Complete Pilgrim is narrowing it down to a highly subjective top ten list of America’s must-see synagogues, which would be difficult in just New York (which I just realized I have never done a list for!). Actually, I … [Read more...]
RELIGIOUS SITES OF NEW YORK CITY – PART TWO – MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
New York City has what is arguably the greatest collection of must-see churches and religious sites in the United States. And ground zero for church hopping here is the island of Manhattan. Many of the most historic churches, such as Trinity Church, are packed into the downtown area, which we looked at in Part One. However, for New York’s most famous and visited churches, … [Read more...]
HISTORIC CHURCHES AND HOUSES OF WORSHIP IN WASHINGTON DC
Washington DC, the capital of the United States, receives millions of visitors every year. People come from all over the world to see the historic government district, with its immense, stately buildings, museums and monuments. What most visitors to Washington do not often see are its equally magnificent religious buildings. This is due in large part to the fact that there … [Read more...]
TEN MAJOR JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN ANNIVERSARIES COMING UP IN THE NEXT DECADE
In 2017, I had the opportunity to go to the city of Wittenberg, Germany where they were celebrating the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the town church, inadvertently launching one of the greatest movements for religious and social change in history. For Germany, the … [Read more...]
STORIES FROM THE HEBREW BIBLE THAT NEED TO BE MADE INTO MOVIES
So for the last few months I have been taking advantage of the extra time to furiously work on The Complete Jewish Pilgrim. I have also been watching a lot of Biblical movies for inspiration. In doing so I have realized that while there are many movies based on the Bible, most of them focus on the same handful of figures (I’m looking at you Moses). The Bible is full of some … [Read more...]
PLACES WHERE MASSACRES OF NATIVE AMERICANS HAPPENED
The period that lasted from the early 17th century to the early 20th century was one of nearly constant warfare between white settlers and Native Americans. There were approximately one hundred named conflicts, or roughly one every three years. These wars ranged in scale from small scale skirmishing that ended in days to massive uprisings that lasted for decades. But they … [Read more...]
SITES THAT HONOR AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE MILITARY
The story of African Americans serving in the military is a long and historic one. African Americans have fought in every American war since the Revolution, with huge numbers fighting for the Union during the Civil War. Among America’s most storied military units are the Buffalo Soldiers, who served on the frontier and in the Spanish American War, and the Tuskegee Airman, who … [Read more...]
