In
the face of claims that synagogues no longer remain in the smaller cities
and towns of central, eastern, and southern Europe, authors/photographers
Rivka and Ben-Zion Dorfman (retired Americans living in Jerusalem) went
in search of these lost synagogues and found their remains
and often, to their delight, their magnificent renovations.
Through
word and over 300 exquisite photographs, Synagogues Without Jews tells
the colorful histories of over thirty Jewish communities
in Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Slovakia, northern Italy, Greece, and
the Czech and Slovak Republics that thrived
before World War II. It is filled with floor plans, elevations, full-color
photographs, and descriptions of the synagogues that were the pride
and joy of their congregations. And there are stories of people
of Jews of the past who helped their communities flourish, and of Jews
of the present who remain, safeguarding their beloved synagogues and
passing their memories on to the next generation.
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About
the authors and their projects: www.eng.bgu.ac.il/sar
Eric Silver, "Old Shuls Never Die," The
Jerusalem Report. |
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Rivka
and Ben-Zion Dorfman, Synagogues Without Jews (Philadelphia:
Jewish Publication Society, 2000)
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