Friday, April 22, 2011

B'nai Israel Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah





This is the former B'nai Israel Temple in Salt Lake City. I don't know the date of the construction of this synagogue, but it's history is explained in the bottom photograph. Interestingly, it's located only one block away from the current St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church, which was also built originally as a synagogue. Like Temple Emmanuel in Denver, this synagogue is no longer used as a synagogue. Unlike the Denver structure, however, this former synagogue is no longer a public building, but houses the offices of an architectural firm.

Perhaps displaying my ignorance on synagogue architecture, this is the third former synagogue I've photographed where I had no idea that I was photographing a building that had originally been a synagogue. These buildings all have the appearance of Orthodox churches to me.

Of some note, this particular synagogue was modeled after Berlin's Fasanenstraße Synagogue which was destroyed during the infamous Kristallnacht by Nazi thugs. For that reason, while it is nice to see that it is so well preserved, it is a bit sad to realize that it no longer serves its original purpose.

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