WHAT YOU WILL SEE INSIDE A SYNAGOGUE

Descriptive, colorful photography illuminates the vibrant center of Jewish life—the synagogue, a sanctuary for worship, a school for studying and learning and a gathering place for celebration, mitzvoth (doing good work) and commemoration. Hoffman gives clear, informative depictions of the diverse functions within the building, including Hebrew terminology in both transliterated and translated form. Weekly Shabbat services, celebrations of baby namings, to b’nai mitzvahs, to weddings and holidays, are simply illustrated and enhanced with detailed sidebars. The lucid text is written to appeal to most types of synagogue communities in North America: that of the Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform movements with a variety of families—young, old, single—depicting women and men equally participating in the rituals and traditions. Spacious, attractive design welcomes the reader into both the spiritual and cultural world of Judaism. For all multicultural and Judaic collections. (Nonfiction. 9+)