David Gray's pictures of the week 12-5-2008

DAVID GRAY photography
	M I D D L E S T R E E T S Y N A G O G U E
	P I C T U R E S O F T H E W E E K 1 2 - 5 - 2 0 0 8

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This week's picture set comes from one of Brighton's finest, but little seen gems - the Middle Street Synagogue. The photos were taken on an open day this month. Built in 1875 (by a Gentile, apparently not unusual at the time), it is a glorious mixture of High Victorian, Byzantine and Italian Romanesque. The interior is sumptuous with particularly beautiful stained glass and many decorative features donated by the Sassoon and Rothschild families. The interconnections between rich Jewish families are illustrated by the fact that the Lectern was given by Sir Albert Sassoon to mark the marriage of his son to one of the Rothschilds. In keeping with tradition, she would have attended services in the upstairs gallery, while he would be downstairs with the men. Judaism, one of the world's great religions, is of course replete with tradition and the decoration of this synagogue is evidence of a rich and beautiful culture. How is it then, as we mark the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, that the Jews in that country behave with such arrogant cruelty and barbarism towards the Palestinians ? I do not know, but I am sure the Jewish community that founded this synagogue in Brighton would be shocked and saddened by what the Zionists are doing in the name of their religion. The Middle Street Synagogue contains windows representing the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Israeli Government has broken the 6th and 8th of these every single day for far too long.

The interior with the Reader's Desk in the middle and the Ark window at the far end (image 2759-63)

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