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 at 10, rue Albert Joly in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of ÃŽle-de-France, ÃŽle-de-France region in Franc ...
in the
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the ÃŽle-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.department, in the
ÃŽle-de-France
The ÃŽle-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...
region of
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Built between 1884 and 1886 by the architect
Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe
Alfred-Philibert Aldrophe (7 February 1834 – 29 October 1895) was a French architect.
Biography
Born in Paris, he worked on the Great Exhibitions held in the city in 1855 and 1867. As the architect of the Consistory of Paris, in 1867 he began ...
, it was inaugurated in 1886, and is one of the oldest synagogues in the ÃŽle-de-France region. Mrs Furtado Heine provided significant financial support to the establishment of the synagogue.
The synagogue was listed as a ''
monument historique
() is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
'' on 27 January 2010. Having historically worshipped in the
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
rite
Rite may refer to:
Religion
* Ritual, an established ceremonious act
* Rite (Christianity), sacred rituals in the Christian religion
* Ritual family, Christian liturgical traditions; often also called ''liturgical rites''
* Catholic particular ch ...
, the congregation now worships in the
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 ...
rite.
Description
From an architectural standpoint, the Ashkenazi synagogue is classical in style with a massive front
buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...
and is embellished with Byzantine Revival ornamentation. There is a desire to make an imposing, monument, on whose pediment is a large
Sefer Torah
file:SeferTorah.jpg, A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema
file:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG, An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue
file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Inte ...
replacing what were hitherto discreet symbols of identity in the city.
The facade of the building is north-facing and never gets the sun, neither do windows to the south which is a facing a wall, this is unusual as synagogues are generally more oriented west–east.
Above the portal are carved in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''Ê¿ÃŽbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
the following Biblical verses:
"Blessed are you at your coming and blessed art thou in thy going out" (
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament.
Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...
28.6)
"Come in turmoil into the house of God" (
Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament.
The book is an anthology of B ...
55.15)
And on top of the building:
"Thou shalt love the Lord" (Deuteronomy 11:1)
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" ( Leviticus 19:18)
The synagogue is in operation (the
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 ...
is Mr. Beldheb) but now follows the
Sephardi
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 ...
rite and the present community is mainly from
Morocco
Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
. The grandfather of the anthropologist and ethnologist
was at one-time the rabbi of this synagogue.
It is possible to visit during certain occasions such as the National Day of Remembrance for Victims and Heroes of the Deportation, when it is open to the public.
To the left of the synagogue is the rabbinic residence.
Jewish cemetery of Versailles
The
Jewish cemetery
A Jewish cemetery ( ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Halakha, Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' (house of s ...
in Versailles is in the same area as the synagogue (Versailles Rive Droite). It is arranged in terraces on a slope surrounded by greenery at 3, rue General Pershing, and contains about 400 graves. The cemetery, which was authorized by King Louis XVI in 1788, is one of the few Jewish cemeteries dating from before the French Revolution. Most date from the 19th century.
There is also a Jewish section in the southwest corner of Cemetery Gonards. There is a tomb bearing the inscription "THE PROMISED LAND TO ITS MEMBERS." "Promised Land" was a Jewish society founded in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, which met until 1970, whose purpose was to render the last honors to ensure a dignified burial for the poor, to prevent them from ending up buried in a common site. The society had several hundred members who paid originally an annual fee of 15 francs.
See also
*
History of the Jews in France
The history of the Jews in France deals with Jews and Jewish communities in France since at least the Early Middle Ages. France was a centre of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, but persecution increased over time, including multiple expulsio ...
*
List of synagogues in France
This is an incomplete list of synagogues, current or former Judaism, Jewish houses of prayer, in France.
In Paris
References
{{Synagogues in France
Lists of synagogues by country, France
Synagogues in France, *
Lists of religious ...