Congregation Beth Israel (Meridian, Mississippi)
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Congregation Beth Israel (Meridian, Mississippi)
Congregation Beth Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Meridian, Mississippi, in the United States. Founded in 1868 and a member of the Union for Reform Judaism, the congregation's first permanent house of worship was a Middle Eastern-style building constructed in 1879. The congregation moved to another building built in the Greek Revival style in 1906, and in 1964 moved to a more modern building, out of which they still operate. The congregation was initially made up of only ten families but grew to include 50 members by 1878. By the time their second building was built in 1906, the congregation included 82 members, and Meridian as a whole had grown to include 525 Jewish residents by 1927. By the 2000s there were fewer than forty, mostly elderly Jews remaining in the city, however, and the congregation no longer has a full-time rabbi. Former rabbis include Judah Wechsler, after whom the Wechsler school was named, and William Ackerman, whose wife Paul ...
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Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous revelation which is closely intertwined with human reason and not limited to the Theophany at Mount Sinai (Bible), Mount Sinai. A highly Religious liberalism, liberal strand of Judaism, it is characterized by little stress on ritual and personal observance, regarding Jewish law as non-binding and the individual Jew as autonomous, and by a great openness to external influences and Progressivism, progressive values. The origins of Reform Judaism lie in German Confederation, mid-19th-century Germany, where Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates formulated its early principles, attempting to harmonize Jewish tradition with modern sensibilities in the age of Jewish emancipation, emancipation. Brought to Am ...
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Rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisees, Pharisaic (167 BCE–73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Clergy, Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis." Further, in 19th-century Germany and the United States, rabbinic activities such as sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside all increased in importance. Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a ...
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Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and its western boundary is defined in various ways. Narrow definitions, in which Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe are counted as separate regions, include Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. In contrast, broader definitions include Moldova and Romania, but also some or all of the Balkans, the Baltic states, the Caucasus, and the Visegrád Group, Visegrád group. The region represents a significant part of Culture of Europe, European culture; the main socio-cultural characteristics of Eastern Europe have historically largely been defined by the traditions of the Slavs, as well as by the influence of Eastern Christianity as it developed through the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Another definition was ...
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Max Raisin
Max Raisin (July 15, 1881 – March 8, 1957) was a Belarusian-born American rabbi. Life Raisin was born on July 15, 1881, in Nesvizh, Minsk Governorate, Russia, the son of Aaron Solomon Raisin and Taube Slutzky. His brother was Rabbi Jacob S. Raisin. Raisin immigrated to America in 1892. In 1903, he received an A.B. from the University of Cincinnati and was ordained a rabbi by Hebrew Union College. He also did post-grad studies at the University of California and Columbia University. He was elected rabbi of Congregation B'nai Abraham of Portsmouth, Ohio in 1901, while he was still a student at Hebrew Union College. By 1903, he wrote ''A History of the Jews of America'' in Hebrew and contributed to Hebrew periodicals in Russia and Germany. In 1903, he was elected rabbi of Congregation Ryhim Ahoovim in Stockton, California. In 1904, he became rabbi of Temple Sinai in St. Francisville, Louisiana. In 1905, he became rabbi of the new Congregation Israel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ...
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Star Of David
The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decorative and mystical purposes by Kabbalah, Kabbalistic Jews and Muslims. The hexagram appears occasionally in Jewish contexts since antiquity as a decorative motif, such as a stone bearing a hexagram from the arch of the 3rd–4th century Khirbet Shura synagogue. A hexagram found in a religious context can be seen in a Leningrad Codex, manuscript of the Hebrew Bible from 11th-century Cairo. Its association as a distinctive symbol for the Jewish people and their religion dates to 17th-century Prague. In the 19th century, the symbol began to be widely used by the History of the Jews in Europe, Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, ultimately coming to represent Jewish identity or religious beliefs."The Flag and the Emblem" (MFA). It became repr ...
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Menorah (Temple)
The Temple menorah (; , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Since ancient times, it has served as a symbol representing the Jews and Judaism in both the Land of Israel and the Jewish diaspora. It became the State of Israel's official emblem when it was founded in 1948. According to the Hebrew Bible, the menorah was made out of pure gold, and the only source of fuel that was allowed to be used to light the lamps was fresh olive oil. The menorah was placed in the Tabernacle. Biblical tradition holds that Solomon's Temple was home to ten menorahs, which were later plundered by the Babylonians; the Second Temple is also said to have been home to a menorah. Following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 CE, the menorah was taken to Rome; the Arch of Titus, which still stands today, famously depicts the menorah being ...
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Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten Commandments appears in three markedly distinct versions in the Bible: at Exodus , Deuteronomy , and the " Ritual Decalogue" of Exodus . The biblical narrative describes how God revealed the Ten Commandments to the Israelites at Mount Sinai amidst thunder and fire, gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed with the law, which he later broke in anger after witnessing the worship of a golden calf, and then received a second set of tablets to be placed in the Ark of the Covenant. Scholars have proposed a range of dates and contexts for the origins of the Decalogue. “Three main dating schemes have been proposed: (1) it was suggested that the Decalogue was the earliest legal code given at Sinai, with Moses as author, and the Amphictyony con ...
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Ionic Order
The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite order. Of the three classical canonic orders, the Corinthian order has the narrowest columns, followed by the Ionic order, with the Doric order having the widest columns. The Ionic capital is characterized by the use of volutes. Ionic columns normally stand on a base which separates the shaft of the column from the stylobate or platform while the cap is usually enriched with egg-and-dart. The ancient architect and architectural historian Vitruvius associates the Ionic with feminine proportions (the Doric representing the masculine). Description Capital The major features of the Ionic order are the volutes of its capital (architecture), capital, which have been the subject of mu ...
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Temple Of Athena Nike
The Temple of Athena Nike (Greek: Ναός Αθηνάς Νίκης, ''Naós Athinás Níkis'') is a temple on the Acropolis of Athens, dedicated to the goddesses Athena and Nike. Built around 420 BC, the temple is the earliest fully Ionic temple on the Acropolis. It has a prominent position on a steep bastion at the south west corner of the Acropolis to the right of the entrance, the Propylaea. In contrast to the Acropolis proper, a walled sanctuary entered through the Propylaea, the Victory Sanctuary was open, entered from the Propylaea's southwest wing and from a narrow stair on the north. The sheer walls of its bastion were protected on the north, west, and south by the ''Nike Parapet'', named for its frieze of Nikai celebrating victory and sacrificing to their patroness, Athena and Nike. Nike was the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, and Athena was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war. The citizens worshipped the goddesses in hopes of a s ...
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Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, and Greece following that nation's independence in 1821. It revived many aspects of the forms and styles of ancient Greek architecture, including the Greek temple. A product of Hellenism (neoclassicism), Hellenism, Greek Revival architecture is looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture, which was drawn from Roman architecture. The term was first used by Charles Robert Cockerell in a lecture he gave as an architecture professor at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1842. With newfound access to Greece and Turkey, or initially to the books produced by the few who had visited the sites, archaeologist–architects of the period studied the Doric order, Doric and Ionic order, Ionic orders. Despite its un ...
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Temple Beth Israel Meridian, Mississippi
A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in English, while those of other religions are not, even though they fulfill very similar functions. The religions for which the terms are used include the great majority of ancient religions that are now extinct, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion and the Ancient Greek religion. Among religions still active: Hinduism (whose temples are called Mandir or Kovil), Buddhism (whose temples are called Vihar), Sikhism (whose temples are called gurudwara), Jainism (whose temples are sometimes called derasar), Zoroastrianism (whose temples are sometimes called Agiary), the Baháʼí Faith (which are often simply referred to as Baháʼí House of Worship), Taoism (which are sometimes called Daoguan), Shinto (which are often called Jinja), Confuciani ...
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