The Iosefin Synagogue is a

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 worshi ...

in the

Iosefin Iosefin ( hu, Józsefváros; german: Josephstadt) is a historic district of Timișoara. Its name comes from that of Emperor Joseph II, during whose reign it was founded. Unlike most of the other Timișoara districts, the historic Iosefin is not div ...

district of

Timișoara ), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor) , image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg , map_caption = Location in Timiș County , pushpin_map = Romania#Europe , pushpin_ ...

. Built in 1895, it is one of the three large synagogues in the city, and the last still functioning.

History

The community of

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Jewish theology, Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Or ...

in Iosefin, formed in 1871, met until 1894 in rented premises. The synagogue was inaugurated on 18 September 1895, on the eve of

Rosh HaShanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

. Rabbi Bernát Schück, as the leader of the community, made an effective contribution to its construction. Carol Telbisz, the mayor of Timișoara, was also present at its inauguration. Built according to the plans of the architect in an

eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact th ...

with

neo-Moorish 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 centur ...

neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

and

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

ornaments, the synagogue is modest in size compared to the other two large synagogues in the city. In 1910, the synagogue was enlarged, but photographs from 1914 and 1915 show that the synagogue had only one central dome. Later it acquired its current appearance, with two central domes and two smaller, lateral ones. In the courtyard of the synagogue there were a ''

cheder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

'' (kindergarten), a ''

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

'' (ritual bath) and a ''

shechita In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; he, ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to ''kashrut''. Sources states that sheep and cattle should be slaughtered ...

'' slaughterhouse. The Orthodox primary school, established in 1918, moved ten years later to a new building at the end of the courtyard. The marble plaque inside the synagogue commemorates the construction of the school in 1928, honoring the names of those who contributed: First Rabbi Bernát Schück, Community President Jakab Rothbart, architects Arnold Merbl and Jakab Klein and others. At present, the Iosefin Synagogue is used only on Friday evenings, Saturday mornings and holidays.

History

References

See also