Synagogue means “Peace Oasis”. And for the Hebrew community, maybe the most important one of these synagogues is Neve Şalom Synagogue.
Neve Shalom Synagogue in Karaköy is one of the most important meeting points for the Hebrew community living in Turkey. Karakoy is of course an area where all the religions have been living in peace for centuries.
In 1937, Kesenet (Apollon) and Zulfaris Synagogues became unable to meet the religious demands of the rapidly increasing Jewish population of Galata and Beyoğlu. Therefore, Birinci Karma Yahudi İlkokulu (First Mixed Hebrew Primary School) was converted to Neve Shalom Synagogue.
The dome of the synagogue was built to bear 8 tons of chandeliers and it was decorated in such a way to hide all the fluorescent lamps. Students of the Academy of Fine Arts drew the stained glasses in the synagogue. The material for the Women’s Home and of the other wooden sections was produced using domestic wood.
The synagogue was opened in 1951 to embrace all people rich and poor, young and old, and since that time many significant and meaningful occasions were experienced in this sanctuary.
Perhaps the most important one of those was the reading of a “Prayer of Gratitude” by the grandchildren of the Sepharad Hebrews who were exiled from Spain and took refuge to the Ottoman Empire in 1492, to express their gratitude to the Turkish nation in the 500th anniversary of their acceptance to the Ottoman territory.
Address: Büyük Hendek Street, No: 61 Karaköy
Ph: +90 212 292 03 86
Source: www.istanbul.com
