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Social History of the Synagogue in Eastern Europe in Modern Times
My research concentrates on the synagogue (and its subtypes: beit midrash, kloyz, shtibl etc.),
which was the main public institution and main public space of Jewish communities.
Its functions went far beyond the narrowly defined realm of religion and it played
an extremely important role in many aspects of Jewish life. Therefore I research
the synagogue as a social institution, which stood at the center of the traditional
Jewish society and passed with that society through processes of modernization
and change, gradually loosing its centrality with the development of secular public
institutions. At the same time, the synagogue is architecturally defined space and
its spatial features clearly reflect its social functioning.
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