The contemporary synagogue (or, in Reform Judaism, temple) is a prime example of the simultaneous conservatism and adaptability of rabbinic Judaism as a whole: even as the basic architectural and religious elements of the synagogue have remained remarkably stable over the centuries (really, since the rise of rabbinic Judaism), the synagogue itself (architecturally and religiously) has also undergone remarkable transformation that places the material culture of Jews in direct contact (or conflict) with the dominant cultures among which they have lived.
Below many of these traditional elements are illustrated and described, as well as the ways in which these elements have undergone transformation over the centuries. Note: to see the images full-sized, click on the thumbnail image.
Orientation. Since antiquity, all synagogues are oriented so that, when facing the Torah shrine, the congregant is facing the city of Jerusalem. In most U.S. synagogues, this means the building is oriented on an East/West axis.
Architecture. Since antiquity, synagogue architecture has generally mimicked the dominant styles of architecture in the culture in which the particular Jewish community resides: there has never been a distinctive "Jewish" architectural exterior (such as the Eastern Orthodox rotund basilica, or the cruciform European Gothic cathedral). The style of architecture in modern (especially, U.S.) synagogues often constitutes a statement about the balance of "tradition" and "assimilation."
For instance, some synagogues were designed to "blend in" to the neo-classical or "American Rustic" architecture of the 19th-century northeast:
This
is a Reform Temple from Charleston, South Carolina, in a stately Federalist
style: from the outside it might be a bank, a courthouse, a museum, or a
church--or, a synagogue.
This synagogue from 19th-century Philadelphia has the simple, clapboard style of a Protestant church, including the steeple.
Other U.S. synagogues have deliberately drawn on the "foreignness" of Judaism in U.S. culture and chosen an orientalizing, eastern style:
This
is a Reform Temple from New Orleans, Louisiana, in a typically "Byzantine"
style.
As
is this similar, "Byzantine"-style synagogue from Hartford, Connecticut.
As Jews have achieved fuller integration in U.S. societies, synagogues have become sites of architectural creativity, not necessarily making a statement about "otherness" or assimilation, such as this Philadelphia synagogue designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is meant to invoke Sinai:
Seating. Before the Reform Movement, synagogues were generally arranged "in-the-round": benches surrounded a raised platform on which the Torah scrolls were deposited and read during some points in the service (called the bima). Because parts of the rabbinic liturgy involve facing the Torah shrine (and Jerusalem), or facing the Torah scrolls when deposited on the bima, this often led to a somewhat chaotic movement of bodies and persons. In these Traditional synagogues, women and children were seated separately (either in the back, behind a curtain, or in a second-story balcony).
Click here to see a diagram of a "traditional" synagogue floorplan.
After the Reform Movement, Temples (and synagogues) were generally arranged in a more "orderly" fashion: the raised platform (bima) for reading the Torah was placed directly in front of the Torah shrine, so there was minimal shuffling and moving around. Benches and chairs were replaced with orderly pews, and families were expected to sit together (in many Orthodox synagogues, separate seating still remains standard).
Click here to see a diagram of a "modernized" synagogue floorplan.
Torah shrine (ark; Hebrew, aron). The earliest architectural feature common to all synagogues, since the first century CE, is the Torah shrine: a cabinet (whether portable or architecturally fixed) that contains the parchment scrolls on which the Torah (the first five books of the Tanak) are written. The Torah scrolls are brought out for liturgical purposes, but otherwise kept stored in the ark. At times in the rabbinic liturgy, the congregation will rise and turn towards the ark (and thus, towards Jerusalem), making it a focal point of the synagogue. As a highly traditional element, the Torah shrine has been subject to diverse modes of cultural expression: some example are given here.
This is one of the oldest surviving Torah shrines, from the third-century CE synagogue of Dura Europos (on the Euphrates River): it incorporates both specifically Jewish iconography (representations of the Jerusalem Temple) as well as common, Greco-Roman artistic motifs (such as the clam shell).
This contemporary Torah shrine from Boca Raton, Florida.
This is the Torah shrine of the Elkins Park synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (pictured above).
Other elements have been standard in the synagogue since the middle ages, some of which can be seen in the pictures above:
Eternal Light (Hebrew: Ner Tamid), usually placed in front of or above the Torah shrine, usually said to symbolize the eternal hope of return to the Temple in Jerusalem.
Bima, the raised platform from which the Torah is read and the rabbi and/or cantor lead the liturgy.
Other elements of decor have become standard in modern synagogues, although often subject to various cultural interpretations, such as:
Biblical passages, usually in Hebrew (as in the Florida Torah shrine pictured above) from the Tanak: this is often a way of reasserting distinctively Jewish identity in the generic "sanctuary structure" of the contemporary U.S. house of worship;
Candelabra, either functioning or decorative (candlesticks are visible on both sides of the Elkins Park Torah shrine, pictured above); these commemorate the 7-branched candelabra that was in the Temple in Jerusalem;
Stained glass, often with abstract or semi-abstract representations of Jewish symbols or characters from the Bible. Note: Very rarely will you find fully humanistic representations in synagogues, as this is thought to infringe on the Second Commandment (against "graven images").
The diversity of architectural and decorative options in the contemporary American synagogue signals two things:
1. The sense of diversity and creativity that is expected in houses of worship of even the most traditional and conservative religious institutions (see, for example, the recently opened Los Angeles cathedral, which likewise takes traditional elements and transforms them in creative ways).
2. The balance most U.S. Jewish congregations attempt to strike between distinctiveness (or authenticity) and familiarity (or acculturation): a synagogue is distinctive in its Jewishness, yet recognizable as a typical "house of worship."