synagogues

Synagogues Without Jews
$50.00
A well written, poignant journey into the rich, yet non-existent today, past of the vibrant Jewish community of Europe prior to World War Two.

Synagogues (The Great Architecture Series)
$14.98
Gruber is a casual and enthusiastic writer and states up front that he is relatively new to the subject. Its nuggets of information are concise and perfectly appropriate for a beginning student. The photographs alone are worth the price of the book but if you're looking to identify the synagogues and the details in the photos, you may have to do a bit of wandering since the captions are scattered about and are set in very small type. Put aside your qualms about the editorial judgements and the publisher's intent and enjoy this book if you can find it.

And I Shall Dwell Among Them: Historic Synagogues of the World
$35.00
Yes, the photographs and printing are superb, of synagogues around the world. Folberg is a master of the large format camera and lighting. It is not a scholar's book, but one for the pure visual pleasure of hows Jews throughout time have worshipped the Creator, all in their inimitable individual ways,but yet offering prayer to the same divinity. Please see my review of The Venetian Ghetto for a further bibliography for synagogue architectural buffs

Max Mulberg, PhD

American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community
$50.00
This is a wonderful book, full of perfectly realized images and interesting text. For whatever reason synogogues in the U.S. often are designed in quite daring styles. It is intriguing to observe how each congregation says a bit about themselves in the building style they chose for their synagogue. I expecially like the spectacular Temple Emanuel in New York City, it is simple breathtaking, though I liked something about all of these buildings. I highly recommend this book; for someone not that familiar with the Jewish faith or synagogues in general it is quite enlightening.