Inspiring Synagogues in Israel

A few weeks ago we talked about spirituality in Israel and we gave you a lot of new Hebrew vocabulary related to religion. Now, we’d like to be a bit more specific and talk about the most inspiring and beautiful synagogues in Israel.

If you’re expecting to only see old-fashioned buildings, you are wrong. Let yourself be surprised and make a list of the synagogues we mention here, so you can visit your favorite ones on your next trip to Israel.

Get ready to virtually visit these Israeli synagogues and enjoy their beauty, meaning and inspirational communities.

Beautiful synagogues in Israel: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Safed

Synagogues can be very traditional, or more modern. In this list, we want to give you options from all sides so you can choose where to go, or what religious experience you’d prefer to have. From religious synagogues to conservative, and reform ones, in Israel, you can find them all. Are you ready to pray? Great. Now decide where.

Amazing synagogues in Jerusalem

Inside the Hadassah Hospital

Inside the Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, the one near Ein Karem, you’ll find a very small, but beautiful synagogue. In this space, there are a series of gorgeous stained glass windows painted by Chagall himself. You should definitely visit it! No need to get sick to go to the hospital, just go to this small synagogue and be amazed by both its compact size and the beauty of these artworks.

Great Synagogue of Jerusalem

In the heart of Jerusalem, and in the middle of the King George avenue, you can find Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue. This place is huge and gorgeous. If you go there in the middle of the week when no religious service is being done, it can be the ultimate place to find peace and silence. In this synagogue, you’ll find an astonishing mezuzah collection and breathtaking architecture. If you are more religious than conservative or reform, you’ll truly enjoy the religious experience this synagogue offers.

Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv: A different way to live a Jewish life

Beit Tefilah Israeli: Praying at the port

This musical community is just amazing. Throughout the summer, they offer Kabbalat Shabbat services at the Tel Aviv Port (Namal), having hundreds of attendees each week. In every religious service offered by this community, there are several musicians and an outstanding cantor who gives a unique vibe to this remarkable religious experience. During Sukkot, for example, this community builds the biggest Sukkah in Israel, also in the port, where Jewish people from all religious tendencies participate together.

The success of their Kabbalat Shabbat has been so great that many other cities are asking them to organize religious services as well. Last summer, they offered Kabbalat Shabbat in Haifa, Ramat Gan, and Herzliya as well. If you happen to be in Tel Aviv, during the summer, for a Kabbalat Shabbat, don’t miss the musical services of Beit Tefilah Israeli.

Tel Aviv’s Great Synagogue

In the middle of Allenby Street, just a few meters from Rothschild Blvd, you can find Tel Aviv’s Great Synagogue. The building was designed in the early 1920s and completed in 1926 and its latest renovation was done in 1970. With Byzantine-style architecture, this beautiful synagogue perfectly suits the white city.

It is located just across the street from a bunch of bars and restaurants, so if you don’t keep Shabbat, you can end your Friday prayers and have something nice to drink just a few meters away from the synagogue.

Many options in Safed

In Safed, up north and very close to Rosh Pina, you can find a number of inspiring synagogues.  Safed, or Tzfat as it is called in Hebrew, is the highest city in the Galilee, and is considered one of Israel’s holy cities.

According to Safed’s municipality’s website, “Much of life in the Jewish areas of Safed revolved around the synagogue and for this reason there are many synagogues, both ancient and modern, within the city. Although Safed has been ravaged by earthquakes throughout the centuries, most of these synagogues have survived and many of them have mysterious legends surrounding their ability to withstand the devastating earthquakes”.

We totally recommend a trip around Safed, you can find many kabbalistic synagogues there as well, that could be highly inspirational and could offer you a genuine spiritual experience.

Learn Hebrew today and enjoy an even deeper connection during your prayers

Learning the language of our ancestors is another way to connect with our prayers. If you learn Hebrew today, you won’t only be able to come to Israel and meet a bunch of different Israelis, but you’ll also understand very well everything that has been written in our books of prayers for thousands of years.

It is very easy. Register for one of the Rosen School’s online Hebrew classes and start practicing this lovely language today. You’ll be surprised by how fast you start writing and speaking Hebrew… you’ll see. Behaztlacha!