EL GHRIBA SYNAGOGUE & TORAH
Djerba, Tunisia The extremely ancient Jewish community of Tunisia is one of the oldest Israelite colonies outside of the Eastern Mediterranean region. In fact, other than the Israelites of Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia, it may be the world’s oldest Jewish community. If this is indeed the case, than it would also be among the oldest continuous Jewish population in the … [Read more...]
MODERN JERUSALEM
Jerusalem, Israel Modern Jerusalem is a sprawling metropolis with three-quarters of a million people, dwarfing the city built in ancient times. Jerusalem is also the epicenter of two millenia of religious tension and conflict between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the nineteen centuries since the end of the Great Revolt, Jerusalem has changed hands more than a dozen … [Read more...]
OLD TEL AVIV & THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE
Tel Aviv, Israel The city of Tel Aviv, an outgrowth of the ancient port of Jaffa, is the modern-day financial and diplomatic capital of Israel. Home of the nation’s busiest airport, it is the world’s gateway to Israel, and the first city most pilgrims see when visiting the Holy Land. Despite its size and importance, Tel Aviv is barely a century old. However, it boasts … [Read more...]
KAHAL ZUR ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE MUSEUM
Recife, Brazil Brazil was home to both the first clandestine Jewish communites and the first openly Jewish communities in the New World. The former arrived as refugees from Portugal at the beginning of the 16th century, the latter as colonists from the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. Brazil was the mother colony of Judaism in the Americas, and it was from … [Read more...]
KENESA OF YEVPATORIA
Yevpatoria, Ukraine The Kenesa, or synagogue, of Yevpatoria is the center of Karaite Judaism in the Crimea and the oldest active Karaite synagogue in the world. The Karaites, a Jewish sect that originated in Persia, broke off from mainstream Judaism in the years following the arrival of Islam. Strict followers of the Torah, the Karaites rejected the Talmud as unnecessary … [Read more...]
STARANOVA SYNAGOGUE
Prague, Czech Republic While virtually every major city in Eastern Europe has been home to a Jewish ghetto at some point in the past, none are so well known or as breathtaking as the ghetto in Prague. Home to the legendary creature known as the Golem, the Prague ghetto boasts the best preserved medieval Jewish neighborhood in Europe, including the Staranova Synagogue, one … [Read more...]
DOHANY STREET SYNAGOGUE
Budapest, Hungary Of all of the Jewish peoples residing in Europe during the Diaspora, it is fair to say that none had quite so eventful a history as the Jews of Hungary. Located at the crossroads of many empires, peoples and religions, no other group of Jews suffered as much virtually continuous persecution throughout their history. By the same token, no other group of … [Read more...]
NEW SYNAGOGUE
Berlin, Germany It is ironic that one of the greatest synagogues to survive the Holocaust stands so close to the center of Berlin, the capital of the most violently anti-Semitic empire the world has ever seen. While the Jewish community of Berlin was neither Europe’s oldest nor its largest, as many other Jewish communities throughout Central and Eastern Europe surpassed … [Read more...]
RASHI SHUL SYNAGOGUE
Worms, Germany The cities of Mainz and Worms in Germany were the first major centers of Judaism in Central Europe, and together are considered to be the birthplace of Ashkenazi Jewry. While Mainz was the older, larger and more important of these two Jewish communities, more of medieval Jewish Worms has survived the ravages of time. Some of the oldest Jewish sites in … [Read more...]
