Inside The Satu Mare / Szatmár Synagogues

Both synagogues are Orthodox; the smaller one (on the right) was built about 30 years after the other, apparently, because the bigger Shul became too small to accomodate everyone. The following photographs show the bigger Shul as it is in 2017. It is no longer used for prayers but as a cultural venue.

The smaller Shul is were prayers are held, nowadays.
Here some views of the interior. Much of the design seems to be influenced by Viennese Art Nouveau. However the Aron haKodesh is different. It is not clear if the artist who built the Aron was simply more conservative-minded, or if the Aron was taken from an older synagogue, elsewhere.

Today, actual Shabbes prayers take place in the smaller Ante-Room. Though the Nussach is Sefard (i.e., the manner of prayer is Chassidic, not, Heaven forbid, Reform or Neolog), there is no Mechitza (division, such as a curtain) between the men sitting in the west side and the women on the east.

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hersh

Born and raised in Vienna, Austria.

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