The Sha'ar Hashayamim Synagogue () is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

congregation and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located in

Tondano Tondano is the capital of Minahasa Regency, mainly in the district of West Tondano (Kecamatan Tondano Barat), in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The city is located in the highlands on the shores of Lake Tondano near Mount Tondano, and enjoys cool temper ...

North Sulawesi North Sulawesi () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is mainly located on the Minahasa Peninsula of the island of Sulawesi, south of the Philippines and southeast of Sabah, Malaysia, but also includes various small archipel ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. The synagogue was previously known as the Ohel Yaakov Synagogue. The Spanish and Portuguese

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

congregation was founded in 2003 by

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 t ...

Yaakov Baruch, who also leads the congregation. A house was converted into a synagogue in 2004 and the synagogue was consecrated in September 2019.

History

Initially, Jews in Manado had to move around when they wanted to worship by renting a building in the city. In 2003, the congregation acquired a two-story house that was built on the main street in 1996, by Leo Elias van Beugen. The house was bought by J. P. van der Stoop and his family, from

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, and given to the Jewish community in Indonesia so that they would have a place to worship. The synagogue opened on September 17, 2004 and was initially called the Ohel Yaakov Synagogue (; ). Once established, the synagogue was busy with guests from outside the city and abroad. The synagogue was renovated in 2009, to coincide with the World Ocean Conference which was held in Manado. At the event, Jewish guests were directed to the synagogue in Tondano to worship. In 2009, the regional governments of North Sulawesi and Minahasa helped renovate the building and pave the road in front of the synagogue.

Site features

The synagogue stands on of land and the building area is . The synagogue complex includes a ''

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

'' , a guest room for visiting rabbis, and a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

. The Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue is the second synagogue in Indonesia after another synagogue in the city of

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

, which was built in 1939 by the

Iraqi Jewish The history of the Jews in Iraq (, ', ; , ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity . Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in Mesopotamia, kn ...

community, and demolished in 2013. , the Sha'ar Hashamayim Synagogue was the only active synagogue in Indonesia.

Gallery

Sinagoga tondano.jpg, The ''

'' (left), and the synagogue (right) Shaar Hashamayim2-01.jpg, Synagogue interior Gulungan taurat sinagoga.jpg, Torah scroll, gift from Ben Judah's Jewish family Peresmian sinagoga.jpg, Synagogue inauguration by local government, 2019 Pembacaan Taurat.jpg, Recitation of ''Sefer Torah'' by Congregation of Sha'ar Hashamayim Tisha b'av.jpg, Recitation of Lamentations on the night of Tisha B'av Rabbi Yaakov Baruch-01.jpg, Hanukkah celebration

Notes

References

External links