SYNAGOGUE

SYNAGOGUE, a prayer house in Judaism. This is both a religious and community centre. In Ufa, there are records of the prayer house since 1855. In the late 19th century a wooden synagogue was built. In 1915–30, the synagogue complex consisted of two‑storey stone buildings, a prayer temple (now the building of the Bashkir Philharmonic), a heder (a private elementary school for instruction of the Hebrew Bible), and a wooden building of a former prayer house. Since 1930, the Jewish community had conducted worship services in private apartments. In 2000, the Synagogue was reopened in Ufa. It was located in the basement of a residential building. In 2008, a three‑story building (with an area of 6,029 m2) of the Jewish Community Centre of the RB was built as part of the L.Sh. Dubinsky project. The composition of the front of the building, in combination with the glass pyramid located on the roof, forms the Star of David on the facade. The Prayer Hall, which is 12 m high, has 1000 seats. There is a kindergarten, a school, medical and health centers, a charity kosher canteen, etc.