Grand Synagogue of Edirne, aka Adrianople Synagogue (Hebrew: , tr, Edirne Büyük Sinagogu) is a historic

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

located in Maarif Street of

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis ( Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders ...

, Turkey. It was designed in the

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...

style and restored in 2015.

History

The destroyed more than 1,500 houses and also damaged several synagogues in the city. The twenty-thousand strong Jewish community urgently needed a place of worship. Following the permission of the Ottoman Government and the edict of Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdülhamid or Abdul Hamid II ( ota, عبد الحميد ثانی, Abd ül-Hamid-i Sani; tr, II. Abdülhamid; 21 September 1842 10 February 1918) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 31 August 1876 to 27 April 1909, and the last sultan to ...

, the construction of a new synagogue began on January 6, 1906 at the site of the ruined synagogues Mayor and Pulya in Suriçi (Citadel) neighborhood. It was designed by the French architect France Depré in the architectural style of the Sephardi

Leopoldstädter Tempel The Leopoldstädter Tempel was the largest synagogue of Vienna, in the district (Bezirk) of Leopoldstadt. It was also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt. It was built in 1858 in a Moorish Revival style by th ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria. Costing 1,200 gold coins, it was opened to service on the eve of Pesach (

Passover Passover, also called Pesach (; ), is a major Jewish holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt, which occurs on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan, the first month of Aviv, or spring. ...

) in April 1909. Capable of accommodating up to 1,200 worshipers (900 men and 300 women), it was Europe's third-largest temple and the largest in Turkey. In 1983, the synagogue was abandoned after most of the Jewish community left the city, emigrating to Israel, Europe, or North America. In 1995, the temple by law came under the control of the governmental Turkish Foundations Institution.

Restoration

The abandoned and ruined synagogue as well as its outbuilding were restored by the Turkish Foundations Institution in five years, spending 5,750,000 (approximately US$2.5 million). On March 26, 2015, the synagogue was reopened with a celebration and a

Shacharit ''Shacharit'' ( he, שַחֲרִית ''šaḥăriṯ''), or ''Shacharis'' in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning ''tefillah'' (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers. Different traditions identify different primary components o ...

, morning

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...

service, attended by a large number of Jews including Ishak Ibrahimzadeh (leader of the Jewish community in Turkey), Rav Naftali Haleva, deputy to

Hakham Bashi ''Haham Bashi'' (chachampasēs) which is explained as "μεγάλος ραβίνος" or "Grand Rabbi". * Persian: khākhāmbāšīgarī is used in the Persian version of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. Strauss stated that there was a possibil ...

(

Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

)

Ishak Haleva Ishak Haleva (born 1940 in Istanbul, Turkey) is the current Hakham Bashi (Chief Rabbi) ( tr, Hahambaşı) of Turkey. Chief Rabbi Haleva was the deputy to David Asseo for seven years and became the new Hakham Bashi after his death in 2002.

Bülent Arınç Bülent Arınç (; born 25 May 1948) is a conservative Turkish politician. He served as the 22nd Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey from 2002 to 2007 and as a Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey between 2009 and 2015. Early life and education He w ...

Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey The Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey is the abolished official deputy of the head of government of Turkey. Conventionally all of the junior partners in a coalition get one deputy, and they are ranked according to the size of their respective par ...

, and some other Turkish high officials. The worship was overseen by

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

David Azuz, who had led the service on the closing day 36 years before. The Municipality of Edirne hung a banner in the street of the synagogue and greeted the guests with the words "Welcome home, our old neighbors".

Gallery

Image:Edirne Buyuk Sinagogu.JPG, Facade of the ruined Synagogue before restoration Image:GrandSynagogueEdirne (5).JPG, Interior of the synagogue File:GrandSynagogueEdirne_(10).JPG, Interior of the synagogue File:GrandSynagogueEdirne_(11).JPG, Interior of the synagogue File:GrandSynagogueEdirne_(15).JPG, Interior of the synagogue File:GrandSynagogueEdirne_(6).JPG, Interior of the synagogue File:GrandSynagogueEdirne_(2).JPG File:GrandSynagogueEdirne.JPG, Administrative building backside Grand Synagogue of Edirne

References

External links

The Jewish community of Edirne
at the

Jewish Virtual Library Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

Chief Rabbinate of Turkey

Shalom Newspaper - The main Jewish newspaper in Turkey

Pictures of the synagogue before and after restoration
{{Edirne Synagogues in Turkey Buildings and structures in Edirne Synagogues completed in 1909 Sephardi Jewish culture in Turkey Sephardi synagogues Tourist attractions in Edirne Rebuilt synagogues Moorish Revival synagogues

History

Restoration

Gallery

See also

References

External links