The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-13
THE HEBREW TEMPLE
Committee Formed to Erect a
Synagogue in Seattle.
JEWISH CHURCHES IN EUROPE.
Suggestions to the Local Coiony--Nota-
BILE Structures in Other Lands-Ar-
chftecture of the Orient.

l lAC Itltnt lOt Vi VI
| Jewish residents of Seattle for the purpose
| of erecting a suitable temple of worship
| for their people has naturally drawn
| special attention to this interesting sub
| iect. The tenacity with which the Jew
has nourished the tenets of his ancient
creed through unspeakable trial and tribu-
lation has made him fascinating ngure
Of history and endowed him with the at
tributes of religious martyrdom. The
| present movement here to build a new
synagogue, begun, of course, under the
most suspicious conditions, has been al
together successful, and the plans for the
building have been submitted. The style
of architecture will be in the main Oriental,
closely initiating the European temples,
which suggest the antiquity of great
people.
HEBREWS IN THE ETERNAL CITY.
Wherever we tread the traces of the
Hebrews reverence for his Creator are
| strikingly manifest. In ancient and
medieval times, in Rome the Eternal City,
the Jews occupied narrow quarter, for
merly closed by gate. In what was then
the center of Western civilization, amidst
the buildings of the Renaissance type
may be visited today the small synagogue
vi OiiChtdi " PIC, JUST SbuttlflS tue Il laALO
s. Carlo a. Catinari. Its strange cupolas
and fretted minarets, so distinct in archi-
tectural type from the adjoining buildings,
suggest the isolation of the little tribe
who had gathered there for private prayer.
FLORENCE THE GENTLE.
In point of symmetry and architectural
beauty the synagogue at Florence equals
the costliest churches of the old world. 1t
maintains the conservative characteristics
of Oriental design, but it bears an appear
ance of freshness and living attraction that
excites unusual admiration. The building
is of white marble. taken from the i'm
mense quarries of Carrara, each block of
white stone alternated by black block,
thus producing an effective contrast As
one approaches it through the broad ave-
nue. of the Via San Ambrogio, it appears
to the rendering sight as beautiful pile of
black and white stone, arranged like huge
dominoes. The marble is impervious to
the touch of time, and the climate has in
no way furnished the stone, which throws
back today the golden sunlight as it did
when was laid the hrst stone of this hand
some Tempo Israelitico.
IN THE AUSTRIAN CAPITAL.
The Jewish citizens of Vienna, among
whom may be named the eminent philan-
thropist Baron Hirsch, have erected in
the Tempelgasse a handsome synagogue.
1t was built by the famous architect
Forster, and is brick edince, in the
Moorish style. As an innovation upon the
accepted severity of style common to all
Hebrew temples, the atrium of this syna-
gogue has been elegantly decorated with
mosaics.
THE LowLANDs OF HOLLAND.
Complete religious liberation has long
prevailed in Holland. The Jews form one
tenth of the population of Amsterdam, and
possess ten synagogues. The largest is
that of tire Portuguese Jews, in the Muider-
STRAIT, and said TO be an imitation of the
temple of Solomon. 1t possesses large
number of costly jewels. The wealth of
the Jewish community still renders it one
OF the most influential in Amsterdam.
IN THE SWISS REPUBLIC.
Geneva possesses few monuments, but
one of the limited number of interesting
places sought by the tourist is the Jewish
synagogue in the Place Neuve, built in the
Moorish style, and with an interior adapted
to the orthodox creed of the worshipers.
THE JEWS IN PARIS.
The well-known fact that Jewish citizens
are among the foremost celebrities of Paris
fully accounts for the number and elegance
of the synagogues of Paris. There are
four attractive and large places of Worship
The handsomest is in the Rue de Ia Vic
toire, and is an architectural ornament to
the city, and to its tapering spears. point
ing from their huge gilded globes to the
cloudless blue above. the Frenchman
without distinction of creed frequently
refers, with an implied suggestion that
the genius of the people has been inspired
by the vitality of Napoleon's name.
IN LONDON.
There are no fewer than six large and
commodious Jewish synagogues, which af-
ford places of worship for immense con-
gregations. The religious sentiment is not
suppressed in the English Jew. who is a
regular church-goer. The new synagogue.
Great st. Heiens, Leadenhall street. scru-
pulously follows the Oriental architecture.
All of these edihces are solidly built of
stone, and have but slight ornamentation.
The interior httings are profuse. however.
and the carvings of wood artistically i'm
pressive.
From these cursory views of the syna-
gogues erected by the Jews of the old
world, the resident colony will have before
them ample prototypes from which to copy
In the Queen City of the West. From the
enthusiasm prevalent on the subject, il is
safe prediction that the new synagogue
will be a building in keeping with the
progressive spirit of Seattle.
EDWARD LaNDE