Synagogues built in Europe in the age of Emancipation had somewhat contradictory goals. On the one hand, they were to articulate a proud Jewishness, which by definition meant a distinctive style. On the other hand, they wanted to announce that they were deeply embedded in the European cityscape.
An eruv (or eruv ḥatserot, merger of domains) is a symbolic expansion of an area outside a single home into a larger private domain. Within that eruv, certain activities prohibited in the public…
Though construction ended in 1888 after eight years, the neo-Byzantine and Moorish revival Grand Choral Synagogue in St. Petersburg was not consecrated until 1893. The grand, imposing building, which…