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79-554: Schneersohn (or Schneerson ) is a Jewish surname used by many of the descendants of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi , the first Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745 – 1812), founded the Chabad Hasidic movement in 1775. His son, Rabbi Dovber Schneuri (1773 – 1827), the second Chabad Rebbe, adopted the "Schneuri" surname after his father's first name. The first to use

158-405: A kinnui -like system, sometimes choosing between already existing ones (such as Pizarro/Pissarro, Mendes, Fonseca, Calle, Fernandes or Rodrígues); even given names (for example, de Jesus or de Miguel). Julio Caro Baroja , supporting José Leite de Vasconcelos ' thesis in his "Anthroponymy Portuguesa, 4" argues, for example, that the surnames related to calle ( English : "street"), that would be

237-467: A third or fourth century inscription uses a similar term, εὑκτήριον euktērion . The oldest Samaritan synagogue discovered so far is from Delos in the Aegean Islands , with an inscription dated between 250 and 175 BCE, while most Samaritan synagogues excavated in the wider Land of Israel and ancient Samaria in particular, were built in the fourth to seventh centuries at the very end of

316-628: A choir to accompany the hazzan, and vestments for the synagogue rabbi to wear. In following decades, the central reader's table, the Bimah , was moved to the front of the Reform sanctuary—previously unheard-of in Orthodox synagogues. Gender separation was also removed. Synagogues often take on a broader role in modern Jewish communities and may include additional facilities such as a catering hall, kosher kitchen, religious school , library , day care center and

395-463: A common object or tool of a profession: e.g., Hammer for a blacksmith, Feder ("quill") for a scribe, and Lein ("linen") for a dealer in cloth; Balsam a dealer in Balsam. There are other occupational names that are more distinctively related to Jewish culture and religious roles: Dayan (Jewish religious judge in a Beth din); Parnass, Derus, Gabbay, Singer, Cantor , Voorsanger , Chazan , Cantarini , from

474-575: A continually lit lamp or lantern, usually electric in contemporary synagogues, called the ner tamid ( נר תמיד ‎), the "Eternal Light", used as a way to honor the Divine Presence. A synagogue may be decorated with artwork, but in the Rabbinic and Orthodox tradition, three-dimensional sculptures and depictions of the human body are not allowed as these are considered akin to idolatry. Originally, synagogues were made devoid of much furniture,

553-561: A dozen Second Temple period synagogues in use by Jews and Samaritans have been identified by archaeologists in Israel and other countries of the Hellenistic world . Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , who is often credited with reformulating Judaism for the post-Temple era, advocated for the establishment of individual houses of worship since

632-1535: A false patronymic was the first Israeli Prime Minister , David Ben-Gurion , whose original family name was Grünberg,"green mountain" in German, but adopted the name "Ben-Gurion" ("son of the lion cub"), not "Ben-Avigdor" (his father's name). Most of the Jews in Iran had no permanent surnames before Reza Shah . After surnames became mandatory, many Persian Jews employed job related names as their surnames. Many Jews worked in non-Muslim professions like goldsmith, silversmith, dealers of coins, money changing and seller of spirits. Others engaged in medicine, silk manufacturing and weaving, locksmith, tailors, shoe makers, merchants of second hand items. Many other Jews were engaged in jewelry trading, opium and wine manufacturing, musicians, dancers, scavengers, peddlers and other professions that were generally deemed non-respectful. Many Jews adopted these professions as their surnames, such as Abrishami (silk maker), Almasi (diamond maker), Boloorian (crystal maker), Dehghan (wealthy farmer), Fallah (farmer), Zarrinkoob, Javaherian, Gohari (gold seller), Noghrehforosh (silversmith), Mesforosh (coppersmith), Sarraf, Sarrafan, Sarraf Nezhad, Banki (money changer), Zargar, Zarshenas (goldsmith), Hakakian or Hakkakian (connected with raw material, finished product or implements associated with that trade) for example Roya Hakakian. Jews in Iran also employed

711-686: A large number of synagogues across the Roman - Byzantine and Sasanian Empires . Archaeological evidence indicates the presence of synagogues in at least thirteen places across the diaspora, spanning from Dura-Europos in Syria to Elche in Hispania (modern-day Spain ). An especially sizable and monumental synagogue dating from this period is the Sardis Synagogue . Additionally, many inscriptions pertaining to synagogues and their officials have been discovered. In

790-600: A patronymic surname, became common throughout the Iberian peninsula. Among the Jews of Spain and Portugal, it had the hidden meaning "the lion of Israel is on high." A well-known Arias was the humanist and Hebraist Benito Arias Montano . Sephardic Jews who settled in Wallachia , Romania, coming from Trani , Italy, in the 1700s began to adopt Mitrani as their surname with a reference to their city. The Ḥen family appears to have adopted

869-697: A place for communal prayer and reading and studying the Torah . Alexandrian Jews also made a Koine Greek translation of the Torah, the Septuagint . The earliest archaeological evidence for the existence of synagogues is stone dedication inscriptions from the third century BCE prove that proseukhái existed by that date. Philo and Josephus mention lavishly-adorned synagogues in Alexandria and in Antioch , respectively. More than

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948-410: A provision mandating fixed legal surnames for Sephardic Jews, but it was not until the 17th and 18th centuries that the rest of Europe followed suit. The Kingdom of Prussia began sequentially requiring Jews in its eastern provinces to adopt surnames in the 1790s, an edict affirmed by Napoleon Bonaparte following his invasion of Prussia in 1812. Surnames were derived from a variety of sources, such as

1027-555: A replacement for the traditional Hebrew patronymic form. A popular form to create a new family name using Jewish patronymics sometimes related to poetic Zionist themes, such as ben Ami ("son of my people"), or ben Artzi ("son of my country"), and sometimes related to the Israeli landscape, such as bar Ilan ("son of the trees"). Others have created Hebrew names based on phonetic similarity with their original family name: Golda Meyersohn became Golda Meir . Another famous person who used

1106-658: A secular occupation or place names. The majority of Jewish surnames used today developed in the past three hundred years. Historically, Jews used Hebrew patronymic names. In the Jewish patronymic system the first name is followed by either ben- or bat- ("son of" and "daughter of," respectively), and then the father's name. ( Bar- , "son of" in Aramaic , is also seen.) Permanent family surnames exist today but only gained popularity among Sephardic Jews in Iberia and elsewhere as early as

1185-673: A smaller chapel for daily services. Since many Orthodox and some non-Orthodox Jews prefer to collect a minyan (a quorum of ten) rather than pray alone, they commonly assemble at pre-arranged times in offices, living rooms, or other spaces when these are more convenient than formal synagogue buildings. A room or building that is used this way can become a dedicated small synagogue or prayer room. Among Ashkenazi Jews they are traditionally called shtiebel ( שטיבל , pl. shtiebelekh or shtiebels , Yiddish for "little house"), and are found in Orthodox communities worldwide. Another type of communal prayer group, favored by some contemporary Jews,

1264-586: A special chair placed on the wall facing Jerusalem and next to the Torah Shrine was reserved for the prominent members of the congregation and for important guests. Such a stone-carved and inscribed seat was discovered at archaeological excavations in the synagogue at Chorazin in Galilee and dates from the 4th–6th century; another one was discovered at the Delos Synagogue , complete with a footstool. In Yemen ,

1343-875: A translation of the name of their home village, Gracia, near Barcelona . Indeed, among the Sephardi the tendency to adopt family names from localities is largely developed; hence were derived such names as Espinosa , Gerondi , Cavalleria , De La Torre , del Monte , Lousada , and Villa Real . The name Sasportas deserves special attention, as it is really the Balearic dialectal form of La Porta . Many families, especially among New Christians (Jewish converts to Catholicism) and Crypto-Jews , but not restricted to them, took Spanish and Portuguese family names, sometimes using translations (such as Vidal or de Vidas for Hayyim , Lobos for Zev , de Paz for Shalom , and de la Cruz or Espírito Santo for Ruah ); phonetic similarities according to

1422-546: Is another Sephardi Jewish last name and is derived from the root word Torah ( תּוֹרָה ‎) in Hebrew; Avinbruch or Auerbach corresponding to Ibn Baruch ; and Beizaee, corresponding to Iza (Hebrew root for "God is perfection"). Hagen corresponds to Hassan or Hazan ; and the like. Biblical names often take curious forms in the Iberian records, Isaac appearing as Acaz , Cohen as Coffen or Coffe, Yom-Ṭob as Bondia , Ẓemaḥ as Crescas and/or Cresquez . Arias ,

1501-711: Is commonly used in English , with its earliest mention in the 1st century Theodotos inscription in Jerusalem. Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally used the Yiddish term shul (from the Greek schola , which is also the source of the English "school") in everyday speech, and many continue to do so in English. Sephardi Jews and Romaniote Jews generally use the term kal (from the Hebrew qahal "community"). Spanish and Portuguese Jews call

1580-643: Is no longer practiced in Israel, the United Kingdom, or the United States, and which custom, as in former times, was dependent upon whether or not the wearer considered it a thing of contempt to stand before God while wearing shoes. In Christian countries, where it was thought not offensive to stand before a king while wearing shoes, it was likewise permitted to do so in a house of prayer. However, in Karaite Judaism,

1659-555: Is part of these New Christian families that emerge around the time due to persecution. Members adopted the Portuguese last name of Nunes da Costa and the Curiel family were ennobled by João IV of Portugal June 14, 1641. Jews have historically used Hebrew patronymic names. While permanent family surnames started appearing among Sephardic Jews in Iberia and elsewhere as early as the 10th or 11th century, they did not spread widely to

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1738-742: Is the name of a Prague family that settled in the Netherlands before going over to England. The name Gordon may in some cases be derived from the Russian Grodno but is also said to have been adopted by Jews in the Russian Empire in honor of Lord George Gordon (1751–1793), a Scottish nobleman who converted to Judaism in 1787 in Birmingham. From Poland have come names such as Polano , Pollock , Polack , Polak , Pollak , Poole , Pool , and Polk . The names Altschul or Altschuler are derived from

1817-655: The Frankfurter Judengasse gave rise to the names of some of the best known of Jewish families: Rothschild ("red shield "), Schwarzschild ("black shield"), Adler ("eagle"), Ganz or Gans (" goose "), Strauß (" ostrich "), and Ochs ("ox"). Some names may seem to be derived artificially, but can also refer to towns, e.g., Birnbaum (translated into " Peartree "), Rosenberg , Kornberg , Sommerfeld , Grünberg (hence Greenberg ), Goldberg , and Rubinstein / Rubenstein . The English Crawcour (cf. Siegfried Kracauer ) comes from Cracow , while van Praag (h)

1896-860: The Altschul ("old school/synagogue") of Prague. Sephardic surnames, as already mentioned, are almost invariably local, as Almanzi , Arwa and Aruesti (from Hervas ), Bejarano (from Bejar ), Castro , Carvajal , Espinosa /Spinoza, Silva , Leon , Navarro , Robles , Sevilla (Spanish), and Almeida , Carvallo , Lisbona , Miranda , Paiva , Pimentel , Porto , Pieba and Verdugo (Portuguese). Many Italian names are also of this class, as Alatino , Di Cori (from Cori ), Genovese (from Genoa ), Meldola , Montefiore , Mortara , Pisa , Rizzolo , Romanelli (with its variants Romanin , Romain , Romayne , and Romanel ), Sonnino , Vitalis (from Jaim or Chaim and its variants Vidal, Vidale and Vidas); Verdugo and its variants Berdugo, Bardogo, Paradiso an anagram for

1975-603: The Ashkenazic Jews of Germany or Eastern Europe until later. However, Non-Ashkenazi Jews who had immigrated to what was considered Ashkenaz (such as Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition) would often keep their surnames and/or Ashkenazize them (e.g., "Melamad" was kept; "Leoni" would be Ashkenazized to " Leib "), and some of the already-settled Jews in communities in large cities (such as Prague or Frankfurt am Main ) began to adopt various surnames. Surnames derived from

2054-620: The Edict of Tolerance , the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II issued a decree called Das Patent über die Judennamen which compelled the Jews to adopt German surnames. Prussia did so soon after, beginning with Silesia : the city of Breslau in 1790, the Breslau administrative region in 1791, the Liegnitz region in 1794. In 1812, when Napoleon had occupied much of Prussia, surname adoption

2133-634: The Gospel of John ( John 9:22; 18:20 ) and the Book of Revelation ( Rev. 2:9; 3:9 ). It is used in the sense of 'assembly' in the Epistle of James ( James 2:2 ). Alternatively, the epistle of James (in Greek, clearly Ἰάκωβος or יעקב, anglicized to Jacob) refers to a place of assembly that was indeed Jewish, with Jacob ben Joseph perhaps an elder there. The specific word in James (Jacob) 2:2 could easily be rendered "synagogue", from

2212-684: The Heliopolite Nome . The first synagogues emerged in the Jewish diaspora , several centuries before their introduction to the Land of Israel . Evidence points to their existence as early as the Hellenistic period , notably in Alexandria , Ptolemaic Egypt , the world's foremost Greek-speaking city at the time. There, the first proseukhái ( Koinē Greek : προσευχαί , lit.   'places of prayer'; singular προσευχή proseukhē ) were built to provide

2291-480: The Mishnah – the "Oral Torah") states that communal Jewish worship can be carried out wherever a minyan , a group of at least 10 Jewish adults, is assembled, often (but not necessarily) led by a rabbi . Worship can also happen alone or with fewer than ten people, but certain prayers are considered by halakha as solely communal; these can be recited only by a minyan. In terms of its specific ritual and liturgical functions,

2370-531: The Sephardic , Yemenite , Romaniote or Persian Jews of a town), style of religious observance (e.g., Reform or Orthodox synagogue), or by the followers of a particular rabbi , such as the shtiebelekh ( Yiddish : שטיבעלעך , romanized :  shtibelekh , singular שטיבל shtibl ) of Hasidic Judaism . The Hebrew term is bet knesset (בית כנסת) or "house of assembly". The Koine Greek -derived word synagogue (συναγωγή) also means "assembly" and

2449-435: The Torah (read in its entirety once a year, or in some synagogues on a triennial cycle, in weekly Torah portions during religious services). However, a synagogue is not always necessary for Jewish worship, due to adaptations during times of Jewish persecution in countries and regions that banned Judaism, frequently destroying and/or reappropriating synagogues into churches or even government buildings. Halakha (Jewish law from

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2528-518: The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE, including in Magdala, Gamla, Masada, Herodium, Modi‘in (Kh. Umm el-‘Umdan), Qiryat Sepher (Kh. Bad ‘Issa), and Kh. Diab. Aviam concluded that he thought almost every Jewish settlement at the time, whether it was a polis or a village, had a synagogue. During Late antiquity (third to seventh century CE), literary sources attest to the existence of

2607-612: The heikhal — היכל ‎ or 'temple' by Sephardic Jews , is a cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept. The ark in a synagogue is almost always positioned in such a way such that those who face it are facing towards Jerusalem . Thus, sanctuary seating plans in the Western world generally face east , while those east of Israel face west. Sanctuaries in Israel face towards Jerusalem. Occasionally synagogues face other directions for structural reasons; in such cases, some individuals might turn to face Jerusalem when standing for prayers, but

2686-504: The "Schneersohn" surname was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn , the nephew/son-in-law of Rabbi Dovber and the grandson of Rabbi Schneur Zalman and the third Chabad Rebbe. Solid lines indicate parents/children, dashed lines show marriages, dotted lines show in-laws. Additional members of Schneersohn family are not listed here Jewish surname Jewish surnames are family names used by Jews and those of Jewish origin. Jewish surnames are thought to be of comparatively recent origin;

2765-524: The "sacred" name, used only in religious connections, grew commensurately. Among the Sephardim , this practice was common long before the exile from Spain , and probably became still more common as a result of the example of the conversos , who upon adopting Christianity accepted in most cases the family names of their godfathers. Among the Ashkenazim , whose isolation from the mainstream majority population in

2844-458: The 10th or 11th century and did not spread widely to the Ashkenazic Jews of Germany or Eastern Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries, where the adoption of German surnames was imposed in exchange for Jewish emancipation . European nations gradually undertook legal endeavors with the aim of enforcing permanent surnames in the Jewish populations. Part of the Alhambra Decree of 1492 contained

2923-459: The 19th century and early 20th century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as eclectic. In the post-war era, synagogue architecture abandoned historicist styles for modernism. All synagogues contain a Bimah , a large, raised, reader's platform (called teḇah (reading dais) by Sephardim), where

3002-516: The 19th century, in an Ashkenazi synagogue, all seats most often faced the Torah Ark. In a Sephardic synagogue, seats were usually arranged around the perimeter of the sanctuary, but when the worshipers stood up to pray, everyone faced the Ark. Many current synagogues have an elaborate chair named for the prophet Elijah , which is only sat upon during the ceremony of Brit milah . In ancient synagogues,

3081-511: The Greek συναγωγὴν. During the first Christian centuries, Jewish Christians are hypothesized to have used houses of worship known in academic literature as synagogue-churches. Scholars have claimed to have identified such houses of worship of the Jews who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah in Jerusalem and Nazareth . There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. In fact,

3160-458: The Hebrew honorific title " ben kavod rabbi ," which signifies "son of the honorable rabbi", Benmohel (one variant of which is Mahler ), son of one who performed circumcision , the sacred rite of Abraham. A number of Arabic names are of similar origin: Al-Fakhkhar , a potter; Mocatta , a mason or possibly a soldier ( Al-Muḳatil ). Synagogue Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for Jewish prayer , study, assembly, and reading of

3239-468: The Hebrew patronymic form (ben or bas/bat with the father's name) is still used in Jewish religious and cultural life. It is used in the synagogue and in documents in Jewish law , such as the ketubah (marriage contract). Surnames were not unknown among the Jews of the Middle Ages, and as Jews began to mingle more with their fellow citizens, the practice of using or adopting civic surnames in addition to

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3318-511: The Jewish congregants in Spain , the Maghreb (North Africa), Babylonia , the Land of Israel and Yemen having a custom to sit upon the floor, which had been strewn with mats and cushions, rather than upon chairs or benches. In other European towns and cities, however, Jewish congregants would sit upon chairs and benches. Today, the custom has spread in all places to sit upon chairs and benches. Until

3397-543: The Jewish custom was to remove one's shoes immediately prior to entering the synagogue, a custom that had been observed by Jews in other places in earlier times. The same practice of removing one's shoes before entering the synagogue was also largely observed among Jews in Morocco in the early 20th century. On the island of Djerba in Tunisia , Jews still remove their shoes when entering a synagogue. The custom of removing one's shoes

3476-491: The Land of Israel, late antiquity witnessed a significant increase in synagogue construction, in Galilee and Golan in the north and the southern hills of Judea , in the south. Each synagogue was constructed according to the means and religious customs of the local community. Notable examples include Capernaum , Bar'am , Beth Alpha , Maoz Haim , Meroth and Nabratein in the north, and Eshtemoa , Susya , Anim , and Maon in

3555-736: The Roman Empire and throughout the Byzantine period. The elements which distinguish Samaritan synagogues from contemporary Jewish ones are: Ancient Samaritan synagogues are mentioned by literary sources or have been found by archaeologists in the Diaspora, in the wider Holy Land, and specifically in Samaria. In the New Testament , the word appears 56 times, mostly in the Synoptic Gospels , but also in

3634-595: The Second Temple in 70 CE had prepared the Jews for life in the diaspora, where prayer would serve as the focus of Jewish worship. Despite the certain existence of synagogue-like spaces prior to the First Jewish–Roman War, the synagogue emerged as a focal point for Jewish worship upon the destruction of the Temple. For Jews living in the wake of the Revolt, the synagogue functioned as a "portable system of worship". Within

3713-523: The Temple was no longer accessible. It has been theorized that the synagogue became a place of worship in the region upon the destruction of the Second Temple during the First Jewish–Roman War ; however, others speculate that there had been places of prayer, apart from the Temple, during the Hellenistic period. The popularization of prayer over sacrifice during the years prior to the destruction of

3792-410: The Torah (reading dais) was commonly placed at the opposite side of the room from the Torah Ark, leaving the center of the floor empty for the use of a ceremonial procession carrying the Torah between the Ark and the reading table. Most contemporary synagogues feature a lectern for the rabbi. The Torah Ark , called in Hebrew ארון קודש ‎ Aron Kodesh or 'holy chest' , and alternatively called

3871-407: The Torah scroll is placed to be read. In Sephardi synagogues and traditional Ashkenazi synagogues it is also used as the prayer leader's reading desk. In Ashkenazi synagogues, the Torah was read on a reader's table located in the center of the room, while the leader of the prayer service, the hazzan , stood at his own lectern or table, facing the Ark. In Sephardic synagogues, the table for reading

3950-876: The addition of -jee , thus Benjamin into Benmajee , Abraham into Abrajee , David into Dawoodjee , Jacob into Akkoobjee . Another frequent source for Jewish and German-Jewish surnames is the names of trades and occupations; such names as Kaufmann and Marchant ("merchant") became prominent. Others of the same kind are: Bialasik, Banks , Brauer, Breyer, and Brower ("brewer"); Spielmann ("musician"); Gerber ("tanner"); Goldschmit (Goldsmith); Silverschmit (Silversmith); Steinschneider ("stonecutter"); Graveur ("engraver"); Shoemark or Schumacher ("shoemaker"); Schuster ("cobbler"); Schneider , Schneiders , and Snyders ("tailor"; in Hebrew חייט ‎, Chait /Khait (and at times Hyatt )); Wechsler ("money-changer"); Zimmermann ("Carpenter"). Related, and likewise generically German, names are derived metonymically for

4029-599: The congregation as a whole does not. The Ark is reminiscent of the Ark of the Covenant , which held the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments . This is the holiest spot in a synagogue, equivalent to the Holy of Holies . The Ark is often closed with an ornate curtain, the parochet פרוכת ‎, which hangs outside or inside the ark doors. Other traditional features include

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4108-404: The custom of removing one's shoes prior to entering a synagogue is still observed worldwide. In Orthodox synagogues, men and women do not sit together. The synagogue features a partition ( mechitza ) dividing the men's and women's seating areas, or a separate women's section located on a balcony. The German–Jewish Reform movement, which arose in the early 19th century, made many changes to

4187-442: The end of the 18th century after the Partition of Poland and later after the Congress of Vienna the Russian Empire acquired a large number of Jews who did not use surnames. They, too, were required to adopt surnames during the 19th century. In medieval France the use of Biblical names appears to have been more extended, judging by the elaborate lists at the end of Gross's Gallia Judaica . True surnames occurred, especially in

4266-675: The equivalent in something like a ghetto, are of Jewish origin. This is the case with Alonso Calle, treasurer on the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, who was one of the settlers of Sephardic origin who comprised the crew. Some Sephardic or Hidden/Undeclared Jews for fear of persecution or worse felt compelled to anglicize their names (For example, the original, Italianate Principe thus became Prins in early Amsterdam, and Prince in England or early America later on). Anglicized Sephardic families were also known to have intermixed with similar Christian surname communities and family groupings, often later converting. The Curiel family

4345-463: The family history. The majority of Middle Age surname adoption came from place names (for example Shapiro , from Shpira, Speyer , a Rhenanian city known for its famous Jewish community in the 11th century), often a town name, typically the birthplace of the founder of a rabbinical or other dynasty. These names would permutate to various forms as families moved, such as the original Welsch becoming Wallach, Wlock, or Block. Since these surnames did not have

4424-542: The first known Jewish family names date to the Middle Ages , in the 10th and 11th centuries. Jews have some of the largest varieties of surnames among any ethnic group, owing to the geographically diverse Jewish diaspora , as well as cultural assimilation and the recent trend toward Hebraization of surnames . Some traditional surnames relate to Jewish history or roles within the religion, such as Cohen ("priest"), Levi , Shulman ("synagogue-man"), Sofer ("scribe"), or Kantor (" cantor "), while many others relate to

4503-432: The influence from other local religious buildings can often be seen in synagogue arches, domes and towers. Historically, synagogues were built in the prevailing architectural style of their time and place. Thus, the synagogue in Kaifeng, China , looked very like Chinese temples of that region and era, with its outer wall and open garden in which several buildings were arranged. The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled

4582-458: The lands where they lived was more complete, the use of surnames only started to become common in most places in the eighteenth century. On the other hand, the use of surnames became common very early among the Arabic-speaking Jews, who carried the custom into the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal). Among Sephardi Jews are found such names as Abeldano , corresponding to Ibn el-Danan ; Abencabre , corresponding to Ibn Zabara ; Tongay

4661-657: The largest number. Some refer to well-known cities as Speyer (in the Middle Ages Spira) (hence Shapira or Shapiro ), Posen (hence Posner and Posener , as well as Pozner ), Berlin (hence Berliner and Berlinsky ), Breslau (anglicised to " Bresslaw "), Bingen , Cassel (cf. David Cassel ), Treves (whence, according to some authorities, originated the very popular Alsatian name of Dreyfus ), Dresden , Fulda (hence Foulde ), and Oppenheim ; others, to less familiar towns, like Auerbach , Bischoffsheim , Utting am Ammersee (hence Utting), Hildesheim ( Hildesheimer ), Landshuth , Sulzberg . House signs such as those in

4740-457: The name of the matriarch of the family were adopted by some households. For example, the surname Rivkes is derived from the female name Rivkeh, the Yiddish form of Rebecca , so the surname literally means "Rivka's". The Slavic language-influenced counterpart is Rivkin . Other surnames came from the man's trade such as Metzger (butcher) or Becker (baker), and a few derived from personal attributes, such as Joffe (beautiful), or special events in

4819-460: The official status that modern ones do, often the old surname would be dropped and a new one adopted after the family moved their household. Many surnames in the Netherlands derived from the German versions. For example, Waal derived from Wahl and Voorzanger (Chazan) derived from Vorsänger. The process of assigning permanent surnames to Jewish families (most of which are still used to this day) began in Austria. On July 23, 1787, five years after

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4898-489: The personal names of ancestors, place names, and occupations. In the 18th century, a custom developed amongst the Eastern European Jews of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires where surnames began being passed from mother to son as opposed from father to son, but the trend seems to have died out by the early 20th century. An exception was members of the Cohanim (priestly caste) and Levites (descendants of Levi) who performed certain religious duties, who had always appended

4977-856: The race of Japhet and from the Tribe of Levite ). The purpose of Levian at the end is to distinguish from Muslim Jafar nezhad (From the race of Japhet). Many Jews employed the Turkish suffix -chi (meaning "merchant of") to denote their profession. Examples of such include Abrishamchi (silk merchant), Saatchi (watch seller), Talachi (gold seller), Noghrechi (silver seller), Arakchi (merchant of alcoholic drinks), Meschi (copper merchant), Aeenechi (merchant of mirrors), etc. Many modern Jewish surnames are toponyms , names derived from place names. There are general names like Deutsch , Frank , Franco , Frankel , and more localized ones from almost every European country. The Netherlands has contributed Leuwarden , Neumegen , Limburg , van Thal , and various other vans , as van Ryn ( Rhine ), etc. Germany has contributed

5056-433: The race of Japhet). Levite and Kohanim surnames became Lavi, Lavaee, Lavi Zadeh, Lavaeeian, Kohan, Kohan pour (son of a Kohen), etc. Many Persian last names consisted of three parts in order to distinguish from other families with similar last names. Some Persian Jewish families that had similar surnames to their Muslim neighbors added a second surname at the end of their last names. As an example Jafar nezhad Levian (From

5135-622: The right to build synagogues without needing special permissions—synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show not only their wealth but also their newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. These were built across Western Europe and in the United States in all of the historicist or revival styles then in fashion. Thus there were Neoclassical , Renaissance Revival architecture , Neo-Byzantine , Romanesque Revival , Moorish Revival , Gothic Revival , and Greek Revival . There are Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one Mayan Revival synagogue. In

5214-414: The son of or daughter of patronymics, using Persian suffixes such as -pour (son of), -zadeh (born of), -nezhad (from the race of) and -ian (from the group of). Some examples of these names include Davoud pour (son of David), Davoud nezhad (from the seed of David), Davoud zadeh (born of David), Rabbi pour (son of a rabbi), Rabbi zadeh (born of a rabbi), Yaghoub pour (son of Jacob) and Jafar nezhad (from

5293-476: The south, like Farissol, Bonet, Barron, Lafitte; but as a rule local designations were popular, such as "Samson of Sens", etc. Many immigrants to modern Israel change their names to Hebrew names, to erase remnants of exiled life still surviving in family names from other languages. This phenomenon is especially common among Ashkenazic Jewish immigrants to Israel , because most of their surnames were taken recently, and many were imposed by authorities in Europe as

5372-419: The south. Rabbi and philosopher Maimonides (1138–1204) described the various customs in his day with respect to local synagogues: Synagogues and houses of study must be treated with respect. They are swept and sprinkled [with water] to lay the dust. In Spain and the Maghreb , in Babylonia and in the Holy Land , it is customary to kindle lamps in the synagogues and to spread mats on the floor upon which

5451-467: The surnames Cohen and Levi respectively (modern spelling in English may vary), which were usually preceded by ha- meaning "the" in Hebrew. These names are seen in many various forms today, all coming from this root. For example, the name Levine in English-speaking countries, the name Löw in Germanic countries and the names Levi, Lévai, or Lévay in Hungary, Europe, or America. Although Ashkenazi Jews now use European or modern-Hebrew surnames for everyday life,

5530-428: The synagogue an esnoga and Portuguese Jews may call it a sinagoga . Persian Jews and some Karaite Jews also use the term kenesa , which is derived from Aramaic , and some Mizrahi Jews use kenis or qnis . In the earliest period, Jewish communal worship primarily revolved around the Temple in Jerusalem , serving as a central focal point and significant symbol for the entire Jewish nation. As such, it

5609-491: The synagogue does not replace the symbol of the long-destroyed Temple in Jerusalem . Any Jew or group of Jews can build a synagogue. Synagogues have been constructed by ancient Jewish leaders, by wealthy patrons, as part of a wide range of human institutions including secular educational institutions, governments, and hotels, by the entire Jewish community of living in a particular village or region, or by sub-groups of Jewish people arrayed according to occupation, ethnicity (e.g.,

5688-410: The synagogue officials who were so called; Shochet , Schaechter , Schechter , from the ritual slaughterer (also Schub or Shub: Hebrew acronym for shochet u-bodek , ritual slaughterer and kosher meat inspector); Shadkun , a marriage-broker; Rabe , Rabinowitz , Rabinovich , Rabinowicz , and Rabbinovitz , rabbis (occasionally Anglicized to Robinson or Robbins ); Behar /Bahar, abbreviation of

5767-616: The synagogue, Jews worshipped by way of prayer rather than sacrifices, which had previously served as the main form of worship within the Second Temple. In 1995, Howard Clark Kee argued that synagogues were not a developed feature of Jewish life prior to the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE). Kee interpreted his findings as evidence that the mentions of synagogues in the New Testament , including Jesus's visitations of synagogues in various Jewish settlements in Israel, were anachronistic. However, by 2018, Mordechai Aviam reported that there were now at least nine synagogues excavated known to pre-date

5846-601: The temples of other cults of the Eastern Roman Empire . The surviving synagogues of medieval Spain are embellished with mudéjar plasterwork. The surviving medieval synagogues in Budapest and Prague are typical Gothic structures. With the emancipation of Jews in Western European countries in the 19th century—which not only enabled Jews to enter fields of enterprise from which they were formerly barred, but gave them

5925-467: The traditional look of the synagogue, keeping with its desire to simultaneously stay Jewish yet be accepted by the surrounding culture. The first Reform synagogue , which opened in Hamburg in 1811, introduced changes that made the synagogue look more like a church. These included: the installation of an organ to accompany the prayers (even on Shabbat , when musical instruments are proscribed by halakha ),

6004-563: The word diaspora (dispersion). Even in the East there are names of these last two classes, Barron (from BarOn ), Galante , Veneziani , though there are a few Arabic names like Alfandari and Ḥaggis; Greek, as Galipapa and Pappo ; and a few Turkish, as Jamila , Gungur , Bilbil, and Sabad . Going still farther east, the curious custom which prevails among the Bene Israel may be mentioned of changing Biblical names to similar Hindu names with

6083-482: The worshippers sit. In the lands of Edom ( Christendom ), they sit in synagogues upon chairs [or benches]. The Samaritan house of worship is also called a synagogue. During the third and second centuries BCE, the Hellenistic period , the Greek word used in the Diaspora by Samaritans and Jews was the same, proseukhē Koinē Greek : προσευχή , lit.   'place of prayer', plural προσευχαί prosukhái );

6162-453: Was mandated for the unoccupied parts; and Jews in the rest of Prussia adopted surnames in 1845. Napoleon also, in a decree of July 20, 1808, insisted upon the Jews adopting fixed names. His decree covered all lands west of the Rhine; and many other parts of Germany required surname-adoption within a few years. The city of Hamburg was the last German state to complete the process, in 1849. At

6241-631: Was the destination for Jews making pilgrimages during the three major annual festivals commanded by the Torah : Passover , Shavuot and Sukkot . There are several known cases of Jewish communities in Egypt with their own temples, such as the Temple at Elephantine established by refugees from the Kingdom of Judah during the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt , and a few centuries later, the Temple of Onias in

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