Summary

Architectural history acknowledges a variety of Jewish communal buildings, central among which are the synagogue and its ontological sources the Tabernacle and the Temple. The synagogue architecture of the Renaissance period steadily departed from medieval patterns, drawing instead on Renaissance, baroque, and neoclassicist forms to contextualize itself in the European cityscape. At the same time, it reflected visual interpretations of the Temple produced by theologians, Hebraists, artists, and architects of diverse religious affiliations. Following the emergence of Hegelian phenomenology and the rise of nationalism, synagogue architecture sought a balance between a unique Jewish “national spirit” and loyalty to host nations. More recently, 20th-century and postmodern synagogue architecture has employeda cosmopolitan design vocabulary to reflect themes of retrospection and modernity, mobility and gravity, and the loftiness of ritual space, all while also considering the sustainability of the building.