This is a photograph of the interior of the Bene Mikra Karaite Kenessa (synagogue) of Istanbul. A large, white, wooden bimah sits in the centre of the synagogue. The floor is covered with rugs, and chandeliers hang from the ceiling. Large windows line the walls and a white, wooden ark is by the front wall. The date of the original building is unknown, but there are suggestions that it may go back as far as the Byzantine period. In the sixteenth century the building was destroyed, and it was rebuilt and damaged by fire repeatedly in the ensuing centuries. The building in the photograph is from the 1800s, although it sustained fire damage again in 1918. Today, the synagogue only holds religious services on Passover.
Karaite Judaism recognises the Torah as the supreme authority for Jewish law and not the rabbinical commentary. Karaites view their synagogues as places where only pure and modest people may enter, and thus worshippers must remove their shoes before entering the synagogue, since shoes tread in unclean and impure places. The synagogues include the main prayer area that is covered with carpets and has no seats, the Holy Ark that faces Jerusalem, the Heichal which includes the bimah, and the women’s section.
Would You Like to Know More?
Karaites – Karaite Judaism, dating back as early as the eighth century CE, recognises the Bible (Tanach) as the supreme authority on Jewish law (Halakhah), as opposed to Rabbinic Judaism which accepts the Oral Law (Talmud, etc.). While Karaites will consider the insights of the rabbis as expressed in the Oral Law, they don’t consider their rulings as binding. As a result, many differences in practice arise between Karaites and mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. For example, they do not observe the prohibition of light and heating on Shabbat, they eat meat and milk together provided the meat is not the kid of the animal that produced the milk, they do not celebrate rabbinic holidays such as Chanukah, they remove their shoes in synagogue and prostrate themselves, and they do not require a minyan (quorum) for communal prayer. Karaite Judaism was based in Egypt, Turkey, and Crimea but since the 1950s, when Jews were expelled from Egypt, the largest Karaite communities are located in Israel and the United States.
Synagogue Design – The design of synagogues is influenced by the place, time, and community that built it. All synagogues face toward Jerusalem and include certain features such as the ark (aron hakodesh) where the Torah scrolls are kept, a curtain (parochet) in front of the ark, a prayer platform (bimah) from which the services are led , and a lamp that is kept constantly lit (ner tamid). In Orthodox synagogues men and women sit separately, while in Reform and Conservative synagogues families sit together. In many Sephardi synagogues the congregation sits around the bimah, while in Ashkenazi synagogues the congregation sit in rows facing the ark. Karaite synagogues differ from the more common synagogues and do not have any seats. While some synagogues are very simple in style, others are very ornate and include stained glass windows, intricate designs on the walls, and candelabras. There are very few traditional guidelines for synagogues except that they should include windows and be the tallest building in the area. In many places, however, Jews were not allowed to build tall buildings, and some synagogues were even built below ground level. For these reasons, synagogues were often built hidden within existing buildings or protected by a high wall. The emancipation of the Jews in nineteenth-century Western Europe impacted the architecture of synagogues, and large, elaborate synagogues were built, often in central locations.
