The Art and Architecture of the Synagogue with Dr. Samuel D. Gruber Part 1- Synagogues of the World

Part 1- Great Synagogues of the World Jews are the “People of Book,” but they are also “People of the Building.” This lecture with Dr. Samuel D. Gruber illustrates the architectural and artistic heritage of synagogues with historic and contemporary images and introduces many lesser known “great synagogues” and recently restored buildings. Given the opportunity, Jews have built beautiful synagogues for their communities for hundreds of years. Inspired by the detailed architectural accounts in the Bible and also by their contemporary surroundings, Jews in many places have fulfilled the concept of Hiddur Mitzvah (glorifying the commandment) through architecture and architectural decoration. Though great synagogues have been built in Europe since the Middle Ages, the stream of impressive Jewish buildings has continued with little interruption on every inhabited continent throughout the world since the lavish inauguration of the Portuguese synagogue in Amsterdam in the late seventeenth century. Samuel D. Gruber, Ph.D, accomplished researcher, author, curator and consultant, is the founder and managing director of Gruber Heritage Global (GHG) - a cultural resources consulting firm. For more than 35 years, he has been a leader in the documentation, protection, preservation, and presentation of Jewish cultural heritage sites around the world. He has written two books about synagogue architecture; American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (2003) and Synagogues (1999), and has contributed numerous chapters, articles, and conference papers to other publications. Since 2008, he has written a popular blog, "Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments." Dr. Gruber has a B.A, in Medieval Studies from Princeton University, and an M.A, M.Phil. and Ph.D. Degrees from Columbia University in Art History and Archeology with a specialization in the history of architecture. He is a Rome Prize winner and Fellow of the American Academy of Rome and has received numerous research grants and has participated in many grant-funded team projects. Dr. Gruber has taught in the Jewish Studies Program at Syracuse University since 1994 and has given courses at Binghamton, Colgate, Columbia, Cornell, and Temple Universities and LeMoyne College where he has taught about medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and Jewish art and architecture; Holocaust art and memory; and the history of plastics. Dr. Gruber lives in Syracuse, NY where he is an active member of Temple Concord, is past president of the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY), and is active in local art, history, and architecture efforts.