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Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center

Coordinates: 32°06′45″N 34°48′19″E / 32.11250°N 34.80528°E / 32.11250; 34.80528
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cymbalista Synagogue
Southerly entrance to the synagogue and heritage center
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
OwnershipTel Aviv University
StatusActive
Location
LocationTel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv District
CountryIsrael
Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center is located in Tel Aviv
Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center
Location of the synagogue in Greater Tel Aviv
Geographic coordinates32°06′45″N 34°48′19″E / 32.11250°N 34.80528°E / 32.11250; 34.80528
Architecture
Architect(s)Mario Botta
TypeSynagogue architecture
StyleModernist
Funded byPaulette and Norbert Cymbalista
Completed1998
Specifications
Interior area800 m2 (8,600 sq ft)
Spire(s)Two (towers)
Spire height13.5 m (44 ft)
MaterialsBrick
Website
en-heritage.tau.ac.il

The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center is a Jewish congregation, synagogue, and cultural center, owned and operated by the Tel Aviv University, in Tel Aviv, in the Tel Aviv District of Israel. The building was designed in the Modernist style by Mario Botta in 1996 and constructed between 1997 and 1998. Paulette and Norbert Cymbalista helped to fund the eponymous building.

In 2022, the building was designated as a protected heritage site by the Council for the Conservation of Heritage Sites in Israel.[1]

Architecture

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The floor plan of the building comprises approximately 800 m2 (8,600 sq ft). From a rectangular base rise two matching towers both square in plan and merging to circles at their highest points of 13.5 m (44 ft). A rectangular lobby connects the two towers. The original architectural form of the towers is a realisation in stone of the geometrical squaring the circle.[2][3] In each tower at the circular top is installed a square "canopy" which drapes natural light onto the walls of the hybrid cylinder and rectangle volume. These installations resemble the traditional Jewish wedding canopy,[4] the chuppah, here permanent and poetically cast in light. The Torah Ark is partially lit by translucent onyx. An inscription above it, from Psalms 16:8, reads in Hebrew: שויתי יהוה לנגדי תמיד, lit. 'I have set the LORD always before me'.[5]

Architectural context

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The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center was made early in a time when famous architects where designing many high profile buildings in Israel,[6] and developing a form of creative contemporary architecture around Jewish institutions.[7] One such institution, the Jewish Museum Berlin, hosted an exhibition, Jewish Identity in Architecture which featured the Cymbalista Synagogue.[8] Earlier international architects had designed synagogues in their signature modern ways: Beth Sholom Congregation, in Pennsylvania by Frank Lloyd Wright; and the proposed redesign of the Hurva Synagogue by Louis Kahn.[9] Botta had designed the building for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art a few years before and then the Évry Cathedral, with a similar cylindrical shape,[10] just prior. The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center was the twelfth and culminating project in a series of religious works by Botta which were shown in London at the Royal Institute of British Architects in an exhibition entitled, Architetture del Sacro: Prayers in Stone.[11]

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  • The exterior of the building
    The exterior of the building
  • Closeup of the two towers
    Closeup of the two towers
  • Closeup of the Torah Ark and the onyx around it
    Closeup of the Torah Ark and the onyx around it
  • Detail of the connection of the canopy to the walls of the auditorium
    Detail of the connection of the canopy to the walls of the auditorium
  • View of the auditorium of the synagogue
    View of the auditorium of the synagogue

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Tabac, Alden (July 27, 2022). "Cymbalista Center at Tel Aviv University designated as heritage site". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
  2. ^ "The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center". Tel Aviv University. Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  3. ^ Botta, Mario (Architetto) (2019). "The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center, Tel Aviv, Israel 1996-1998". Retrieved February 15, 2009.
  4. ^ Dawson, Layla (June 2005). "Defining Jewish identity". Architectural Review.
  5. ^ "Psalms Chapter 16". Mechon-Mamre.
  6. ^ Hecht, Esther (December 2004). "Building Israel". Hadassah Magazine. Vol. 86, no. 4.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ Zandberg, Esther (2004). "The Jewish shul of architecture". Haaretz. Archived from the original on November 24, 2010.
  8. ^ "Jewish Identity in Architecture". Jewish Museum Berlin. 2005.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Hollenstein, Roman (2001). "Citadel of Faith". In Botta, Mario (ed.). The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center. Skira. p. 26.
  10. ^ Bradbury, Dominic (November 17, 2006). "Pared-down hymns to a higher level of beauty". Telegraph.
  11. ^ Glancey, Jonathan (December 19, 2005). "Spirit in the skylight". The Guardian.
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